The Final Season of Danny McBride’s Awesome Comedy is Extraneous and Aimless, But Offers A Great Series Finale

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When the third, and ultimately penultimate, season of Danny McBride’s wild, raunchy, and occasionally legit intense megachurch satire “The Righteous Gemstones” finished with a bona fide perfect stretch of episodes and an awesome finale, I thought “Damn, what a way to go out. Bra-fuckin-vo, Master McBride.”

 

But then out of nowhere they announced that the third season wouldn’t be the show’s final season, and that it would return for one more. As big a fan of RG as I am, I was down, of course, but a little reticent that it would maybe be too much of a good thing. And, unfortunately, I found I was sort of right, at least in the opinion of Your Humble Reviewer.

 

One of the biggest strengths of RG is that, while maintaining its absurd levels of goofiness and literally laugh-out-loud comedy as we follow the insane lives of Jesse (McBride), Kelvin (Adam Devine), and Judi Gemstone (Edi Patterson, maybe the show’s MVP), their father, Eli (John Goodman), and their uncle, Baby Billy (Walton Goggins, continuing to dominate television), the enjoyably corrupt megachurch family, is that the show also has a knack for crafting some pretty impressive plots. In its first three seasons, the show hurdles towards and through its climaxes with plots that are almost “Breaking Bad”-ian in their tense construction and All Hell Breaking Loose vibes. McBride and Co sets the stage, and then lets the chips fall with thrilling gusto, season after season.

 

But the show’s final season, while still managing some moments of hilarity in plotlines like Uncle Baby Billy starting a teen drama about Jesus (“Teenjus”), Judi’s husband BJ getting a pet monkey, and the kids’ horror at Eli entering into a sexual relationship, really doesn’t have any sort of propulsive and aortic plot that drives the season. It’s mostly just wandering gags that are, of course, funny, and some potent dramatic moments that RG is great about injecting into the silliness. But the season overall just feels like it has no real destination.

 

Having said all that, the series finale is legitimately awesome. There’s actual stakes, suspense, honest emotion, and some organic and redemptive character arcs that come to a really satisfying close. But all of that probably could have been accomplished with one additional episode last season, and not a whole unnecessary season overall.

 

But “The Righteous Gemstones” has three seasons that are so, so strong that I can’t help but still recommend it. But maybe just be done after that.