The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 Episode 3 Review: For Their Nakedness Is Your Own Nakedness
The Gemstones, despite their foolishness, know how to pack an emotional punch. The family comes together in a time of crisis on The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 Episode 3, “For Their Nakedness Is Your Own Nakedness.”
Before the episode gets to the sentimental stuff though we are treated to the delightful return of Uncle Baby Billy. Walton Goggins’ recurring role on the show never fails to provide an absurd yet delightful plot that supplements the main story.
You may not be rushing to book your tickets to Zion, the Gemstones’ Christian all-inclusive resort, but the idea of seeing Baby Billy perform nightly is a tempting offer. Only on The Righteous Gemstones could it dress up a man in a seashell-themed suit for a dream sequence set to a Christian diddy. If only the tracking shot was one long take, it would come for other prestige TV’s lunch money.
So far this season, there isn’t a propulsive central plot like in Season 2, which could be a bad thing if the show leaves it that way too long. Since we’re only three episodes in you’ll enjoy just watching these characters goof around.
The Cousins Night set piece with the Gemstones and the Montgomerys (and baby Lionel, who we are reminded is a cousin!), is the highlight of the episode. Partially because we finally get to see Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers gameshow in action, but also because it provides the Gemstones a chance to be decent.
Despite all their threats (Judy taking off her earrings, Jesse and Chuck getting into a ridiculous knife off), the Gemstones help out when cousin Karl almost chokes to death. Yeah, not letting someone die is the bare minimum but it’s a big deal for the self-centered Gemstones.
This sweet instance of them coming together lends nicely to Eli visiting his sister after learning she’s living out of the rundown church. Somehow in all the madness, Eli manages to be a grounded figure holding everyone together, and this season finds an even softer version of himself than in previous seasons.
John Goodman is the beating heart of The Righteous Gemstones and would easily be an Emmy contender in a less crowded field.
There are some areas the story should explore more, and I’ll be disappointed to see if it doesn’t happen at least later in the season. For one, Amber’s role in the church is only lightly touched upon in her standoff with Judy.
Cassidy Freeman is a great actress who can go toe-to-toe with Edi Patterson and is underused so far this season. She deserves more than just Jesse-centric plotlines, and this detente with Judy is a start.
The will-they-wont-they played for laughs with Kelvin and Keefe also deserves a real shot. Others may disagree but I think there are only so many innuendos and parallels to couples it can play before the joke gets tired. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to see the Gemstones be a little progressive?
This episode is relatively quiet in terms of the external threats the family is facing, with the church dissidents, cousins’ father, and Judy’s ex-lover all only referenced. All of those potential catastrophes loom in the distance though, meaning there are still some stakes.
It’s only a matter of time until poor BJ’s heart is broken, and mine will be broken for him.
Additional Thoughts:
- Would I buy a CD of international superstar Baby Billy? Yes, yes I would.
- How much time has passed that baby Lionel is already walking? I may have missed where that was established in the premiere.
- As someone who was on the academic quiz bowl team in high school, the nonfunctioning buzzers bothered me too.
- The monster truck scene is a nice callback to the premiere.
- They 100% left Lionel behind after leaving the Cousins Night.
What did you think of this episode of The Righteous Gemstones? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Righteous Gemstones airs Sundays at 10/9c on HBO.
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Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture fanatic who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing and podcasting about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama.