Like many of Danny McBride’s other shows, the religious spoof The Righteous Gemstones has amassed a devoted cult following over its past three seasons on HBO. For its fourth and final season, everyone involved with the show is on their A-game, delivering a consistently funny, smart, and exciting conclusion that reminds us of how great of a comedic mind McBride is.
The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 Review
This season of The Righteous Gemstones follows the eponymous family of pastors as they unearth past tensions that threaten to destroy their future. As always, we get to see this family of people who often live on a pedestal come crashing down, dealing with everything from wacky conspiracies to salacious scandals.
Although The Righteous Gemstones has always been a fun show, it’s also largely existed in the shadow of its peers and predecessors. Early episodes felt like Eastbound & Down in a different setting, while later seasons started to become a more comedic version of Succession. This season becomes something entirely different and much more unique, but still offering the humor and thematic depth that fans have come to love.
The humor also manages to strike a consistent, perfect balance between the crude and the satirical. In past seasons, it has often felt like these two elements are disparate. There were funny raunchy scenes, and there were funny scenes that ridicule the type of megachurch that inspired the show. Season 4 gives us several moments that are edgy but biting — the type of humor that the show has been chasing since its origin.
Yet, despite taking this new direction, The Righteous Gemstones keeps its eye firmly on what has always made the series so successful: the charm of its cast. It’s always fun getting to spend time with the trio of Danny McBride, Adam Devine, and Edi Patterson, whether they’re bickering or working together in mischievous ways. However, all three performers keep finding new things to explore in their characters, and that is what makes the performances so memorable.
Playing the patriarch, John Goodman feels much more mellow this season than he did in the past, but it suits him. It allows the character’s arc to really dive into the themes of grief and sadness that have been present throughout the entire show but never really able to be explored because of the constant zaniness. It’s nice to see him (both the actor and the character) get a chance to be more vulnerable.
And as has been the case with past seasons, this final season of The Righteous Gemstones adds some incredible new recurring and guest stars to the mix. The big additions are Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) and Seann William Scott (American Pie), who are both very funny. Mullally, in particular, is impressive, taking a role that easily could have felt archetypal and adding some depth and nuance. There are also some surprising guest stars — one of whom jumps to mind as especially Emmy-worthy. Although we won’t spoil *who* they are, just know they’re glorious.
The show’s final season also takes its technical ambition to an even further level, laying all its cards on the table for one last hurrah. While there have been a few memorable action set pieces scattered throughout the show, this season is packed with them — sometimes having more than one in an episode. It feels like McBride and co. wanted to let loose as many of their wild and zany premises as they could fit into a nine-episode run, but shockingly, it does not feel scattershot or overstuffed.
Is Season 4 of The Righteous Gemstones worth watching?
Indeed, while it may be sad to say farewell to our favorite spoof family of televangelists, The Righteous Gemstones goes out with a bang. Danny McBride saved the best for last, upping the ante in a way that makes this final season feel like a satisfying conclusion and earns it a spot as one of the best comedies that HBO has had in a long time.
The Righteous Gemstones debuts on HBO on March 9 at 10pm ET/PT, with new episodes airing subsequent Sundays. All nine episodes reviewed.
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