PREACHERS, GREED, AND ONE LAST MESS
- Heart Of Hollywood Team
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Nail Their Final Season
With Holy Chaos, Big Laughs, and a Wild Bradley Cooper Cameo
By Gilda Baum Lappe and Sandy Rodriguez
The final season of The Righteous Gemstones delivers absurd comedy with a side of redemption. After what seemed like a very long wait, the fourth and last season of the brilliant creation of Danny McBride is available to stream on HBO Max.
The show has always been a loud, ridiculous, and biting satire of faith, family, and unchecked greed. Season 4, doesn’t just go bigger. It also gets smarter. The Gemstones are still absurd, still selfish, and still spiraling, but this season adds reflection without losing its edge.
The Characters (and Why They’re Irresistible)
• Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) — The patriarch. He’s tired, trying to hold the family together, and occasionally reminds you he’s capable of real menace. Goodman’s quiet power grounds the chaos.
• Jesse Gemstone (Danny McBride) — The eldest son. Loud, insecure, and desperate to prove he’s a leader. Jesse’s combination of bravado and vulnerability hits harder this season.
• Judy Gemstone (Edi Patterson) — Completely unfiltered and unpredictable. Judy is the show’s wild card and remains one of the most entertaining characters on TV.
• Kelvin Gemstone (Adam Devine) — The youngest son, still juggling between boyish faith and adult narcissism. His dynamic with Keefe (Tony Cavalero) remains a hilarious highlight.
The Big Surprise
Bradley Cooper shows up in a prequel storyline, playing a young, power-hungry criminal posing as a preacher. It’s bizarre and hilarious, and it completely works. His unhinged energy feels like someone dared him to go off the rails — and he took it personally.
Favorite Scenes
Gilda Baum-Lappe: There’s a standout mid-season scene where the siblings accidentally destroy a massive new church installation, and the moment turns from slapstick chaos into a strangely sweet family bonding scene as they try (and fail) to fix it together. It’s pure Gemstones: absurdity laced with surprising heart.
Sandy Rodriguez: Seeing John Goodman on his boat with grown out, unkept hair, ending a casual fling and trying to enjoy retirement, and then having his grown children stop by was hysterical.
Why We Recommend It
Gilda Baum-Lappe: Because The Righteous Gemstones balances outrageous comedy with sharp commentary on family, religion, and American excess. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, but also smart enough to make you squirm.
Sandy Rodriguez: If you love satire like I do, you will enjoy the flashy costumes, the depiction of greed, and the over-the-top characters.
What Works in Season 4
The pacing is tighter than before. The show dials down the chaos just enough to give characters room to evolve. The finale doesn’t just wrap things up; it actually gives closure without losing the show’s absurd bite. Also, the flashbacks with Bradley Cooper add real weight and context to Eli’s character.
Fun and Unexpected
• Bradley Cooper acting melodramatically in preacher robes.
• A musical number that’s so wild it feels like Spinal Tap by way of a megachurch.
• A genuinely moving moment between Judy and Eli that no one saw coming.
• Judy still saying things that make you pause the show just to process.
• The wardrobe department deserving an award for Jesse’s collection of increasingly awful jackets.
• Kelvin and Keefe’s on-again-off-again bromance, which is like watching two Labradors trying to start a rock band
Bottom Line
Season 4 of The Righteous Gemstones is the chaotic, absurd, surprisingly tender send-off this ridiculous family deserves.
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