On Sunday, March 9, HBO’s Emmy Award-winning absurdist comedy series The Righteous Gemstones returns with its fourth and, sadly, final season. The show has followed the world famous religious media empire and its controlling, extremely wealthy, deeply southern family: televangelist patriarch Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) and his three grown, ridiculously immature, power-hungry children Jesse (Danny McBride), Kelvin (Adam Devine), and Judy (Edi Patterson).
The Gemstones might be rich and powerful, but their history is full of blood and secrets, a lot of which we saw last season. Before season 4 arrives, here are 6 key things to remember about The Righteous Gemstones season 3.
1. Cataclysmic changes in the church
After the secret-exposing antics of seasons 1 and 2, church numbers dwindled, as did Gemstone Ministries’ financial stability when key donors discontinued their contributions. In fact, they lost the support of their biggest donor, professional aging race car driver Dusty Daniels (Shea Whigham), who was a funny addition to season 3. Furthermore, looming threats from other wealthy religious families, such as the Simkins, who are a trio of orphans (led by Stephen Dorff) who’ve had to work for the role the Gemstones inherited, so there’s a lot of jealousy there, slowly closed in on Gemstone territory and set up multiple locations, then waited with open doors to receive the Gemstones’ fleeing flock.
Eli watched as his kids selfishly argued over the future direction of the church, agreeing on nothing, and decided it was time to semi-retire. In his absence, Judy, Jesse, and Kelvin would share controlling responsibilities, and you can imagine how well that went: Those 8-year-olds used resources to build a de facto throne room intended to “[make people] feel a little less” when they come to meet with them. It’s ridiculous but funny, and it’s exactly the kind of absurdity we expect from Danny McBride.
Gemstone Ministries also faced harsh backlash from youth ministry parents with Kelvin and Keefe’s (Tony Cavalero) new moral crusade “the Smut Busters," whose mission was to shut down local sex shops by buying out all their inventory, then burning it, which Keefe was always charged with doing, meaning he was always seen handling whips, chains, feathers, dildos, and everything else that horrifies parents of children. So, pressure from said parents and sights of the kids connecting with another employee forced Kelvin to fire Keefe, but in the end, he came back after Kelvin finally accepted and confirmed his homosexuality when he kissed Keefe and the two officially became a couple.
2. Judy cheated on BJ, and BJ found his manhood
At the beginning of season 3, Judy returned from a singing tour, where she spent a lot of time playing tonsil hockey with her guitar player, Stephen (Stephen Schneider). The sports didn’t stop once they got home, but once Jesse and Amber busted them, Judy ended things with Stephen and broke his heart, as he was allegedly planning to leave his wife and kids for her. BJ (Ted Baltz) remained oblivious until Judy confessed, leaving him heartbroken and completely deflated.
Instead of giving up, Jesse taught BJ how to fight with brass knuckles. So, when BJ intercepted a message from Stephen to Judy, BJ went to his house to confront him and found him naked in bed, waiting for Judy. What ensued was one of the best butt-naked fight scenes between two men fighting over a woman I (and I’d be willing to bet you) have ever seen. Inside the house and out in the yard, butts and dongs were exposed and flying everywhere as neighborhood children watched BJ beat the ever-loving (no pun intended) Christ out of Stephen and claim his wife back—a huge feat that left BJ feeling for the first time in his life like a man.
3. Juicy Gemstone drama unfolded
Season 3 introduced us to Eli’s younger sister May-May (Kristen Johnston), from whom he’s been estranged since 2000, when she was wielding a wrench, angrily chasing Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles) through the parking lot of a monster truck rally sponsored by Gemstone Ministries. Before she could do any harm, though, she was hit by a car. Don’t worry, she survived, but the rift between the Gemstones and the Montgomerys was already created, and there was no mending it. We’ll get to why in a minute.
May-May married Peter Montgomery (Steve Zahn) and together had two boys, Chuck (Lucas Haas) and Karl (Robert Oberest). The Montgomery’s were nothing like the Gemstones, but they were family and respected one another… for a time. They were simple folk, a radical family who had their own church with a small, rural congregation. Peter was a simple pastor. He and his people didn’t handle money and opulence. They handled snakes and hoarded canned goods in preparation for the apocalypse.
So, when the Y2K scare hit and the Gemstones started selling survival kits, Peter invested his family’s entire savings into the gear, thinking it would save them. Only, when Y2K came and went and nothing happened, Peter freaked out. Eli tried to buy back the product to restore a hefty chunk of the Montgomery’s change, but May-May’s pride (and anger) would not allow it. Peter’s desperation for money grew and led him to rob a bank, where he not only killed a security guard but was also shot himself: once in the face and once in the hip. He survived but then went to prison.
So, in season 3 after Peter was released from prison, he went after Eli with a vengeance and used his own sons to do it. He built a compound out in the woods and founded a fundamentalist militia of violent doomsday preppers called The Brothers of Tomorrow’s Fires. Next, he infiltrated his sons’ love and kindness then recruited them to be his right-hand men, whom he then used as wooden horses to enter the Gemstone estate and steal whatever they could. When May-May found out, she went to Eli in hopes he would put the past behind him and help her save her sons.
4. The Gemstone siblings were kidnapped, then righteously rescued
When Eli’s attempts to smooth things over with Peter failed, Peter ordered his militiamen to kidnap the Gemstone siblings to teach Eli a lesson, and they did. Peter then demanded a $15 million ransom. While in captivity, Peter forced the siblings to perform an impromptu church service, where he berated and belittled them for being “inept preachers."
When Eli refused to pay the ransom, the militiamen planned to kill one of the hostages, which forced the siblings to reflect on their lives, actions, and loved ones in a moment that encouraged each of them to grow not just up but together. Before they had the chance to meet their maker, though, Gideon showed up in Jesse’s bad-ass old monster truck “The Redeemer” and made one unforgettably exciting rescue before destroying Peter’s compound on the way out, with May-May and Karl in tow.
5. Uncle Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers
Uncle Baby Billy is the funniest, most ridiculous, flamboyant, arrogant, filthy rich southern religious man on the planet. I’d have him as my uncle any day and twice on Sundays. Not only is he engaging to watch, but he’s also impossible to avoid. He is, without a doubt, a series favorite.
At the end of season 2, Zion’s Landing—the Gemstone’s Christian-themed beachside timeshare resort—was up and running, and Uncle Baby Billy was its resident performer. Now, feeling like his fame was stagnating, he dreamt of becoming a TV personality. So, he came up with one of the best game show versions of “Family Feud” I’ve ever heard of or seen in my life: “Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers." It’s okay to laugh. The Gemstones siblings laughed right in his face, then ridiculed him when he asked for money to produce it. He was certain it would be a hit… and it was.
But that’s not all Uncle Baby Billy had up his sleeve. To lure Dusty Daniels back to Gemstone Ministries, he suggested the Gemstones and the Simkins be the first to face off on "Bible Bonkers," and the first to win would receive Daniels’ estate. Daniels agreed. And while everyone was having seriously competitive fun, it seemed like the Simkins knew their Bible trivia better than the Gemstones.
Just as the Gemstones started losing, a swarm of locusts Baby Billy used during the show suddenly invaded the church and attacked the set during the middle of filming, causing pandemonium in a most chaotic (and entertaining) apocalyptic event. On the way to safety, Vance Simkins (Dorff) pushed Dusty to the ground, which left a wide-open opportunity for Jesse to rush in and rescue Dusty. With everyone safe and the swarm having subsided, Dusty died and left his entire estate to the Gemstones, which saved not only the church but also the Gemstone legacy.
And one could say it was all thanks to Uncle Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers.
6. Gideon finds his path as redemption finds the Gemstones and Montgomerys
Look, the Gemstone siblings were mad when their father refused to pay their ransom, and as they confronted Eli and cut him out of their life, Eli smiled because it was the first time his kids operated as a united front. This gave Eli the confidence he needed to leave the church in their hands.
Furthermore, after the whole kidnapping-and-revenge fiasco, where Peter tried to rob Eli and blow up his church, in the end, the Gemstones and the Montgomerys—having survived it all—were able to put their differences aside and come together as one happy family. And it’s bittersweet: Everyone was there physically, except Aimee-Leigh.
And finally, after spending season 2 as Eli’s personal driver, Gideon finally saw the path before him, and it lead right to him being his grandfather’s protégé, which couldn’t have moved Eli more. All this time he has wondered which of his kids was best suited to run the ministry when it was never meant to be any of them in the first place. I mean come on: The first-born grandchild’s name is Gideon. OF COURSE the church is bound to wind up in his hands.
The Righteous Gemstones season 4 airs Sunday, March 9, 2025, on HBO and Max at 10 p.m. ET.