Walton Goggins has emerged as the undisputed ruler of HBO's screens this season, dominating the network with his dual roles in "The White Lotus" and "The Righteous Gemstones," much in the same manner he did years prior on FX, where he stole the show with his iconic performances in "The Shield" and "Justified." While "The Righteous Gemstones" has at times faltered in matching the soaring heights of its Civil War-inspired premiere this season, Goggins has flourished as Baby Billy, a coke-addled auteur of church television, navigating his freelance role amidst the sprawling dramas encompassing Vance Simkins, Cobb Milsap, and the myriad threats to the Gemstone dynasty. Baby Billy's fortunes are but a side note in the grand tapestry of the Gemstones, allowing his portrayal (and the script) to soar as freely as Billy's uninhibited libido.
As the writer, director, producer, and star of "Teenjus," a stylish, budget-conscious period piece, Baby Billy embodies the spirit of the 1970s Movie Brats—rebellious creative forces who ran the studio like inmates in charge, bending the major studios to their whims (and occasionally indulging in a little cocaine, as legend has it). Though frustrated by the budgetary constraints that have compromised his vision, Billy has been granted virtual carte blanche by the preoccupied Gemstone offspring, who are mired in their own shenanigans. This has allowed him the liberty to cast himself in the role of a teenage Jesus, among other audacious decisions.
The set scenes in this episode are a comic treasure trove, from Billy darting to his tent for generous snorts between takes to a musical sequence culminating in Teenjus miraculously healing a young man, who promptly discards his crutches and breaks into a dance routine. ("I got your miracle right here, nerd.") There's even a moment where Goggins' comedy is so side-splitting that it seems to elicit a genuine laugh from John Goodman the actor, rather than his character Eli Gemstone. Over lunch on the "Teenjus" set, Billy attempts to console Eli over his breakup with Lori with the crude, Judd Apatow-esque advice one might expect from such a character: "We just need to get you a layup," Billy suggests. "Find you a big, corn-fed girl. Get your ball rolling again." Goodman bursts into laughter in a manner that Eli certainly wouldn't, powerless against Goggins' honey-dipped Southern accent delivering such golden lines. Small touches, like Goggins' habit of punctuating sentences with the word "now," breathe special life into his dialogue. The writers, too, have gifted him with brilliant material, such as Billy comparing Sola's pipe-smoking habit to that of "Bilbo Baggins" ("This ain't no hobbit house"). Though his character grapples with minor conflicts as an absent father and husband, Goggins' primary directive in the show is to entertain—and entertain he does, with effortless charm and comic brilliance.
Of course, the remainder of the ensemble casts an equally compelling and humorous spell, but in this penultimate chapter of both the season and the series, there's a wealth of narrative threads that demand tying up. Last week's meltdown of Vance Simkins at the Top Christ Following Man gala seemed to quash his aspirations of exposing the Gemstones and rescuing his ministry from financial oblivion. ("That's the visage of a defeated man, right there," gloats Jesse over the disaster's news footage. "I want to make it my homepage's damn wallpaper."), Leaving aside the budgetary abyss of the "Teenjus" production, Cobb Milsap emerged as the lone loose thread, and this episode diligently works to tie it up while also providing room for Eli and Lori to mend their fences. At times, the narrative engineering stretches a bit too thin.
Eli, still grappling with the aftermath of their breakup, mournfully shaves off the hair that embodied his post-retirement bachelor scruffiness and returns to the church table in such a state of despondency that he barely registers Dr. Watson smoking a menthol cigarette and indulging in self-pleasure. (And this, after last week's flashback where his younger self reprimanded children for using vulgar language in the sacred space of Jason's.) Unable to reach Eli on his cell phone, Lori finds herself humbling herself before the Gemstone offspring to seek their assistance in contacting him. The encounter unfolds as expected ("You betrayed our mama when you started snacking on Daddy's dingus wing," Kelvin scolds), but Lori reminds the kids that she was once their mother's closest friend and aided Aimee-Leigh in penning songs dedicated to them. The children relent easily. ("The song stories are pretty much working their magic on me.")
This scenario leaves Michael Rooker portraying Cobb, a character woefully underdeveloped in terms of comedic spin, despite the rich potential inherent in penning for an Extremely Divorced man who heads a gator farm and serpentarium. Similarly, Seann William Scott, a dependable goofball from films like "American Pie" and "Goon," finds himself in a precarious position as Corey Milsap, caught between his mother and Cobb. A scene at Corey's birthday bash takes a dark turn when Cobb slaps the birthday boy for withholding updates about his mother's relationship with Eli, serving mostly as a prelude to the climactic confrontation at the gator farm. When Cobb abducts Eli and Baby Billy from a Cybertruck (if nothing else, the show has proven that the Cybertruck is a comedic vehicle unto itself) and dumps them in a damp, concrete cell, there are scattered moments of humor, such as the presence of the half-naked, delusional Big Dick Mitch. However, once again, it's Goggins who steals the show when a cowardly Baby Billy snorts some powdered courage akin to Popeye's spinach and rushes to Eli's aid, only to be squared in the face by Cobb.
As the episode draws to a close, a heartwarming spectacle unfolds as all the children and their significant others eagerly rush to reunite with Eli, Baby Billy, and Corey, following Cobb's fateful feeding to his beloved gator. This tender reunion serves as a poignant affirmation of the optimistic vibe that has pervaded the past few episodes, where external adversities have unexpectedly forged stronger bonds within the Gemstone clan. Yet, a lingering question lingers in the air—why invest an entire episode into unraveling the Gemstones' origin story if the golden Bible, at the heart of it all, is destined to remain unresolved? Nevertheless, "The Righteous Gemstones" revels in these grotesque, dysfunctional characters with an almost loving embrace. Perhaps, if their colossal sins can be forgiven, it offers a glimmer of hope that ours might be forgivable too.
