After Succession and Barry’s finales aired, HBO viewers were wondering what could possibly replace them. Luckily, HBO has no shortage of good TV. The Righteous Gemstones season 3 has just started and it’s already looking great. The humor is still on point, the acting is great, and the story is so far engaging. However, why should you jump in?
What’s The Gemstones’ Humor Like?
One thing that the show does really well is its comedy. The show utilizes a form of humor that can only be described as off-base. The show has a heavy emphasis on dark, and unexpected jokes that can get you out of your comfort zone. Sometimes it’s characters saying things you’d never expect. Such as someone’s marriage being officiated by Prince Eric.
The show specializes in zany situations and odd occurrences so much that you just have to laugh. Simple things, such as demanding to pray over a KFC knock-off dinner aren’t that funny on paper. In these characters’ hands, the show is able to make a joke like that a lot funnier.
Other times it’s characters doing things that seem so outlandish that you have to laugh. A great example is a horde of people throwing shoes at a stage. That would never happen in our world (hopefully). The show has tons of jokes like that, which begs the question. Why should we care? Sure if it’s funny that’s great, but what about the other stuff. Like the characters?
What Characters Populate the Gemstones’ World?
The Righteous Gemstones follow the Gemstones family. They are run by Eli Gemstone, with his three children in their own roles. The show also follows various other members of the family, such as Eli’s brother-in-law, the respective children’s spouses, and other characters new to the season. The show does a great job of balancing what characters need screen time. Each character feels like they have a lot going on and feel distinct.
It also helps that most of the characters are hilarious. Each of the Gemstone children is hilarious in their own right and drives the plot forward. For example, when the oldest son Jesse decides to swear at all of the ministers in the church body and throw his shoe for mentioning his dead mother. That’s when the shoes were thrown at him and his siblings. Now everything’s in a bigger mess because of him. Not only did the humor succeed at being funny, but it also drove the plot, which is great, because the story is very engaging.
How Interesting is the Story?
One of the Righteous Gemstones’ Biggest strengths is that it has an engaging story in each season. In season one, the family has a scandal that needs to be covered up along with a heist to pull. In season two, it’s more character focused with a combination of ghosts from the past coming back to bite them and a deal with another church. In season 3 so far, it seems to be focused on a passing of the torch with the church, and more character drama. The show does a great job of weaving character drama and development with an engaging story that leeches off of it.
Like any good drama, everyone is broken. The head pastor has a lot of dirty secrets. the children are stuck-up brats, and everyone else is trying to play around them. This makes the show great because people are walking around eggshells just to talk to these man-children. They believe they deserve the best, and it makes it all the funnier when things don’t go their way.
Nothing and no one is sacred. Each character, no matter how irrelevant is allowed to be deconstructed. Even characters that are treated as holier than thou, such as the dead mother and wife of the Gemstones, are open for questioning. That’s what makes the show so successful. Just because the characters and situation seem holy, that doesn’t make it any more evil or corrupt. But alas, the characters also grow and change despite that. That’s the sign of a great show.
If you want to read about something else under the Warner umbrella, check out this article about the Flash opening weekend here!
