All season on The Righteous Gemstones the family has been learning hard lessons and confronting their own selfishness and immaturity. This week’s episode, “The Prayer of a Righteous Man,” feels like graduation day, not just for the younger Gemstones but for patriarch Eli (John Goodman) and Uncle Baby Billy (Walton Goggins), who each confront the sins of their past.
We open in Memphis, 1993, shortly before the events of “Interlude II,” where a frustrated Junior (Eric Roberts) tries to convince his father Glendon Marsh, Sr. (Wayne Duvall) to retire and let him take over their local pro wrestling league. The business is rapidly changing and Junior wants to contemporize the family’s brand. For a moment, it seems that Junior has talked his father into liquidating his gambling investments to finance Junior’s regime, but it’s a trick. Glendon holds up his own son, takes the money, and runs. Wayne Duvall’s Glendon, Sr. is basically a cartoon, and he seems to push Eric Roberts a bit beyond the boundaries of his character as we know him. Thirty years is a long time, but Younger Junior is so nasal and over the top that he reads more like a teenager than a man in early middle age. Still, the scene immediately recontextualizes the Marshs’ relationship, and should be another clue (if you still need it) that Junior hasn’t been out to avenge his father’s death.
In the present day, the police are having no luck identifying the captured Cycle Ninjas, a group of teenagers with no records and no interest in answering questions. Nevertheless, the Gemstones are safe for the time being, and Eli is overjoyed that his convalescence has brought the family together. He heaps praise and support upon Judy (Edi Patterson), Kelvin (Adam Devine), and his grandson Gideon (Skyler Gisondo), but doesn’t single out Jesse (Danny McBride), and announces his plans to resume leadership of the church. This frustrates Amber (Cassidy Freeman), who imagined she and Jesse would get to retain the power they acquired while Eli was incapacitated. Amber’s ambition is a bit intense and her words a little harsh, but she’s also verbalizing one of the themes of the season, that the older generation has to step aside and let a new one take charge before they become too old themselves. Jesse seems confused on the subject, one moment bitter over not getting enough respect from Eli, the next too scared to assert himself with either Eli or Amber.
It’s only later that Eli decides to support Jesse and Amber by agreeing to help finance Zion’s Landing, the timeshare community run by power couple Lyle and Lindy Lissons. This change of heart seems unprompted by anything in particular, apart from the writers’ desire to maintain tension between the characters for an extra ten minutes. It’s a rare moment when the characterization feels reverse-engineered to fit the story. Eli also decides that this is the time to reveal the truth about Glendon Marsh, Sr.’s death to his children. Eli plans to come clean to Junior (against the kids’ wishes) and end their feud.
The other two Gemstone kids use their time this episode to demonstrate their character growth. After trying to get Tiffany (Valyn Hall) out of her house for half the season, Judy finally accepts that her baby aunt is basically the daughter she never had and invites her to come live with her and BJ. Kelvin returns with Keefe (Tony Cavalero) to confront the God Squad and challenge Torsten (Brock O’Hurn) for the title of “messiah of the musclemen.” Kelvin successfully completes the “Bear the Cross” ritual wearing leather boots and a knit sweater, which might be the most The Righteous Gemstones has ever stretched my suspension of disbelief. (And this episode has a ghost in it.) After proving his worth to himself, Kelvin dissolves the God Squad, putting an end to his long, elaborate power trip.
While shilling some of his COVID-curing “health elixir” at a nursing home, Baby Billy Freeman (Walton Goggins) is visited by a vision of his sister, Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles). Whether Aimee-Leigh is an actual ghost or a symbolic one doesn’t matter, though it’s hard to imagine that the most virtuous Gemstone would be visiting her brother but not her husband and children, who need a conscience nearly as badly. In any case, these visits from his late sister are apparently old hat to Baby Billy, as he treats it as unremarkable. She encourages him to face his fear and guilt and visit his son, who lives nearby, and he builds up the courage to ring the bell at Harmon’s impressive upper-middle class abode.
Harmon (Macaulay Culkin!) is still not much of a talker, but he’s done well for himself. He’s married to an attorney, has a kid of his own, and flatly rejects Baby Billy’s notion that losing his father ruined his life. He claims that he’s moved on — but that doesn’t mean he isn’t pissed. Culkin is terrific here, playing a man who wants very much for his absent father’s return not to affect him, but is broken up regardless. When Baby Billy asks if there’s anything he can do to make things right, Harmon asks for one free punch at his father’s face. With this act, both father and son get some satisfaction, and Baby Billy is newly baptized in his own blood.
Eli no-shows his big return sermon at the Salvation Center so that he can confront Junior. At the VFW hall from which Junior runs his business, Eli bravely steps into Junior’s ring and confesses to his role in Glendon’s death. This is one of many moments on Gemstones, particularly this season, when Eli is so decent that it’s easy to forget that he makes his living off tax-free donations to his predatory, industrialized religious organization. His recitation of his side of the story feels rehearsed, and a bit nervous, but it is the whole truth, and he hands Junior his father’s gold-plated pistol as both evidence and a gesture that he is prepared to be judged. But, as it happens, Junior has been under the assumption that Eli was his father’s accomplice, not his killer. Upon learning the truth, Junior actually seems less angry than before, and the two make peace. This doesn’t mean that the family is out of danger, though, because (as you may have suspected) Junior reveals that he is not responsible for the contract on Eli’s life.
Which brings us to the episode’s final moments, in which the incarcerated Cycle Ninjas are broken loose by their brethren in a highly-professional fashion. It’s been evident for a while now that the Gemstones face a more dangerous foe than a small-town wrestling promoter, and next week’s season finale should finally reveal the true masterminds behind the violence. With most of our characters (save Jesse and Amber) seemingly at the end of their personal growth for the season, there’s not much left to do but to wrap up the whodunnit, likely in some explosive fashion.