'The Righteous Gemstones' Season One Review: Surprisingly high budget and pretty funny

[namiks]

Thanks to glancing over the IMdb page of Walton Goggins, I found The Righteous Gemstones and my curiosity had me instantly want to check it out, and that was joined with the cast of Danny McBride and Adam DeVine, two comedy actors with similar styles of humour despite having made rather different productions throughout their careers. I've never been a massive fan of Danny McBride, but I liked the idea behind Eastbound and Down. And I am a big fan of Adam DeVine for his contributions to the show Workaholics that unfortunately came to an end. It was a nice surprise to see DeVine working on a comedy again that wasn't some odd feature length title that misses its mark. I do think that actor is best acting in television series more than anything, and the same applies to McBride. The Righteous Gemstones is a clear example of this, to which their presence within the story certainly adds something to it, and any other actor wouldn't necessarily have the same weight to the show. Mostly due to the fact that The Righteous Gemstones is an odd story to begin with. It's a show that you'd find surprising in this era, where the rest of television is pushing these massive budget, grand narratives with stylish cinematography. And to be honest, I think HBO has been on a steep decline for a while now as its greatest shows either fell flat, got cancelled, or came to a regular end. Oh, how I miss Curb Your Enthusiasm! Though the last few seasons also fell a bit flat.

For this style of series, even 9 episodes seems like a lot. Again for this era of television. Where comedy shows often run large in their number of episodes, ranging from upwards of 12 - 24 depending whether it's a comedy or a sitcom styled show. I do think for one season the show managed to utilise its 9 episodes quite well, telling a running narrative throughout them while also expanding a bit on various characters as it introduced them and gave us insights into who they are. Within these nine episodes we see what sort of family The Righteous Gemstones are. Where they were once a massive family that thrived on spreading religious narratives into the world, now with the loss of the mother in the family a significantly smaller family that clings to its former glory while having lost its direction in the pursuit of money and materialism. The Gemstones being the family name itself, with each character now an adult with their own problems and struggling lifestyles. I think the size of the family helps keep things fresh as it does jump between characters quite often throughout its episodes. Some episodes having more focus on others, whereas most tend to just juggle a large number of little stories at once: McBride's character and his secrets, the Baby Billy narrative to which the family greed is evident. Also the struggling father played by John Goodman which sees the sad nature of the present and how much better the past was with his lost love.

This contrast in the characters keeps the show a bit more grounded given it doesn't just prioritise the humour at all times. There are actual stories unfolding here and they are given some serious weight. Especially when McBride's character is blackmailed, or when the Gemstones are struggling to expand the business into new regions where others are ultimately rejecting them. These bits of drama almost serve like breaks from the comedy, giving the episodes some pacing that is important in keeping us actually engaged in something beyond jokes. And when the characters do feel like real people with their own chaotic lives, it's definitely a bit more immersive even if cartoonish in certain aspects. Like when characters claim they aren't in a car chase but just playing 'car pranks' with some friends, even if that car has rolled over several times and people come running out and into the woods. It's how the characters handle these situations that gives the show most of the comedic elements, most of the time they're so caught up in their lies or are so distanced from the normal lifestyle that they stick out so much with their idiocies. It also removes some of the seriousness of the family and their background, to which they're supposed to be these leaders in a church that guide people to God, where they're supposed to be the last people of sin around.

I mentioned in my first impressions post on the show that I was surprised to see a show like this, with this style of humour, with a significantly large budget. That production quality was felt throughout the entire season, even more so towards the end where some episodes focus more on events that take place around Easter, where the most people are present and the biggest shows will take place. The general set design and environments were done really well, even down to having really big crowds arrive and in the seats for the events. Usually this is where shows might try to hide some of the lower budget side of things. Where they might try to improvise and give the illusion of a large event hall full of people, though they didn't do that here. Again these bits of attention to detail really do help the show, since it still gives us this feeling of it being a real, breathing world beyond our main characters, and again not all about the comedy. And the size of a crowd does nothing if the environment they're in also doesn't feel like it's authentic. I'm not sure how McBride manages to convince people over at HBO to throw money at his silly ideas like this, but it's great that it works somehow. This isn't a show that I'd say is perfect, it's not one that seems to have everything figured out so far, but it's really not a bad concept within its first season.

I would recommend this show so far. The performances are great and the cast perfectly suit their characters. But I'm not sure this is a show for everyone. I can see how this might filter out certain people. And perhaps that's why it still, with its fourth season now, somewhat remains under the general radar for most. Not to forget that it's a HBO show and they aren't likely to add the show elsewhere. But hey, maybe it's your sort of thing if you like these main actors in the show.