‘The Righteous Gemstones’ S2 Finale Recap: Unpleasant and Heartwarming Lessons

Danny McBride and company have been at the top of their game all season Virtuous Gemstones, and this week’s finale is no exception. “I Will Tell All Your Deeds” sticks to the landing, answering every question and settling every loose end while hammering out its message about how generations should relate to each other. Also, a baby was born in a port-a-john. Precious stonesbow…

The first order of business in the finale is to finally reveal what really happened to reporter Thaniel Block (Jason Schwartzman). During his campaign to expose corrupt evangelicals, Block hires Texas pastor Lyle Lissons (Eric André) to smear him on competing churches. Block expects Lyle to help him destroy Eli Gemstone (John Goodman), but now that Lyle is going into business with Jesse, it’s no longer in his interest. When Block attempts to blackmail Lyle into cooperating, a gunfight erupts between Block and Lyle’s henchmen. While Block is technically responsible for his own death (thanks to eagle-eyed viewers who noticed the wall of cast iron cookware and suspected a ricochet weeks ago), it’s Lyle who decides to burn all the evidence, including his own friends, just in case. This prologue is the best kind of reveal; now the audience could have guessed the broad outlines, but the details (all the stuff with the grenades) are fresh and fun.

Lyle Lissons is the dark mirror of Jesse Gemstone in every way, an awkward fool with occasional flashes of brilliance who yearns for power and prestige, resents his reluctant father, and takes his friends for granted. But where Jesse has a conscience, Lyle is ruthless. He and his wife Lindy (Jessica Lowe) have taken power from his elderly father (John Amos), whom they physically abuse. Jesse purposely puts his drinking buddies in dangerous or embarrassing situations, but he at least half cares what happens to them. Lyle also has a bit of Kelvin in him, running an orphanage that’s also a training ground for his gang of dirt bike assassins, to whom he shows no loyalty. The Cycle Ninja jailbreak from the end of last week’s episode turns out to be an unauthorized operation, with the gang protecting each other because Lyle won’t protect them. Now they’re rocking him for $200,000, and they won’t be very happy if he doesn’t pay.

Meanwhile, gemstones are more united and functional than ever. Eli has thrown his full support behind Jesse (Danny McBride) and Amber (Cassidy Freeman) and invested in Zion’s Landing, the Christian timeshare resort they share with the Lissons. Jesse and Amber, in turn, show their respect for Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) by visiting him on the set of his new movie. Judy (Edi Patterson) and BJ (Tim Baltz) have more or less adopted Tiffany (Valyn Hall), who is due to give birth any day now, and Keefe (Tony Cavalero) finally has a spot at Sunday brunch next door. by Kelvin (Adam Devine). The whole happy family heads together to Zion’s Landing groundbreaking ceremony, where they dance, drink and hang out with pop star Joe Jonas (Joe Jonas). Even Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) shows up at the beach party in Florida, broken nose and all, looking to make things right with Tiffany.

In a moment of panic and indecision, Tiffany runs away from Baby Billy and takes refuge in a portable toilet to cry and get her bearings. It’s surely an enlightening moment for attentive fans, who remember the story of Tiffany’s own birth in the Baptism episode. Tiffany was born in a toilet bowl, and even before she goes into labor, you know history is about to repeat itself. Along with the high-stakes drama of the rest of the episode, Tiffany gives birth alone on shit and her baby falls into the blue sludge of the septic tank. This becomes the final checkpoint on Baby Billy’s path to redemption, as he unflinchingly degrades to save his newborn son, plunging into filth to retrieve him. This proves to himself and Tiffany that he is no longer afraid to be a father. It’s the last big rude gag of the season, and true to Virtuous Gemstonesit’s kind of both naughty and heartwarming at the same time.

During the party, Eli receives a phone call from Junior (Eric Roberts), who is once again his friend and ally. Junior uses his shady connections to trace one of the Ninja Cycle’s salvaged guns to Texas, which is all Eli needs to put the puzzle together. At the same time, Lyle slips in front of Jesse and ends up confessing all his role in the plot of this season. He expects Jesse to understand, as he believes they are alike and that Jesse wants his father dead. But Jesse has never been this far, and he and Lyle end up fighting. Jesse nails Lyle in the head with his Bible sling, which he apparently keeps on him all the time now. He gets the job done in one fell swoop, redeeming his poor marksmanship in the shootout with the Cycle Ninjas after the baptism. Also, when Lyle is unresponsive, Jesse immediately asks his family for help in how to handle the possible murder of their business partner. An older Jesse may have tried to cover his tracks on his own, but he’s done hiding secrets from his loved ones.

The arrival of Lindy Lissons turns the tables, and she and a resurrected Lyle hold the entire Gemstone brood at gunpoint (minus Tiffany, Baby Billy, and Keefe, who have been queuing for the bathroom this whole time. ). The family shows solidarity, letting the Lissons escape in exchange for BJ’s safety. Cut to a month later, and that bond is holding up. Judy has come to appreciate the people around her, especially BJ, who finally feels like he belongs. Kelvin and Keefe lead a new youth team of juvenile athletes, but let’s hope Kelvin’s gleeful objectification of his young proteges’ muscle development won’t be any scarier than it is here. Eli stepped back in church, letting his children share the limelight without him.

But in the final moments of the season, we see that Eli hasn’t totally put the Maniac Kid inside aside, as he has apparently hired the Cycle Ninjas to find the Lissons in their Alaskan hideaway and execute them. . The Lisson murder, which is intercut with a triumphant musical number by Gemstones, evokes the famous “settle all family matters” montage of The Godfather, juxtaposing a false claim of religious righteousness with the performance of evil deeds. The staging and performance of the Lissons’ execution is half funny, half horrifying, and as the credits roll to the sound of Lyle being torn apart by wolves, it’s as if the storytellers are daring us to laugh. , although we should definitely be judged. for that.

This season of Virtuous Gemstones focused on what the generations owe to each other, a relevant subject in an America whose youngest are should live shorter, less prosperous lives than their parents. What will we inherit, and when? Precious stonesThe thesis is that children should not view their parents as obstacles to be broken down, but also that parents should not make obstacles themselves in the first place. Progress must come from a place of mutual trust and the acceptance that passing on a legacy means letting it change under new leadership. Eli accepts that his children do what he did, but differently. Jesse and Amber accept that Gideon will not do what they did at all. Everyone learns the value of loving and trusting their family. Judy finds fulfillment in caring for Tiffany, who is younger than her, but also her oldest on the family tree. Baby Billy apologizes to his first son and gets a second chance at being a father. Lyle and Lindy attempt to summarily dispose of their elders and receive a gruesome death. It doesn’t get much clearer than that.

This episode could easily stand as a series finale, but Virtuous Gemstones has been renewed for a third seasonand creator Danny McBride sees this saga continue indefinitely. What will these corrupt but lovable rascals learn next year? God only knows.