Over the last fifteen years, it’s been fascinating to watch Danny McBride evolve throughout the three different HBO series he’s created. Eastbound & Down—which McBride co-created with Ben Best and Jody Hill—introduced us to the former baseball pitcher/consummate scumbag Kenny Powers, in a show that didn’t truly find its heart until its fourth and final season. Vice Principals—also co-created with Hill—was intentionally created as a two-season series, but showed the scope and vision that McBride could have in a show.

But with The Righteous Gemstones, McBride has blessed us with his pièce de résistance, a sprawling, absurd, ambitious, and brilliant comedy that has only gotten better over the course of three seasons. McBride once said of Righteous Gemstones, “This one, I’ve set to be longer than anything we’ve done before. If I had my way, when this is done, it’s like this epic, sprawling tale, like the fucking Thorn Birds or something.” With this excellent third season of The Righteous Gemstones, here’s hoping we’re not even close to the end.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

RELATED: In ‘The Foot Fist Way,’ Danny McBride Changed Comedy, Whether You Like It or Not

What Is ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Season 3 About?

Image via HBO

Season 3 begins with the Gemstone family seemingly thriving, as they now own their own vacation resort, Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) has retired, and the three Gemstone kids have taken over the church. Jesse (McBride) is moving up in the spiritual world, Kelvin (Adam DeVine) and his extremely-close friend Keefe (Tony Cavalero) are running a teen outreach group together, and Judy (Edi Patterson) has just returned from her first tour. Yet the church questions the new leadership as Jesse, Kelvin, and Judy can’t come together to work as one.

Complicating matters even further is the appearance of May-May Montgomery (Kristen Johnston), Eli’s sister, who is worried about her sons Carl and Chuck (Robert Oberst and Lukas Haas), who have gone off with their extremist and religious militia leader father Peter (Steve Zahn). The Montgomery and Gemstone families have had a contentious relationship that has lasted decades, and with the broke Montgomery not approving of the lavish lifestyle and worshipping style of the Gemstones, these two families clash in major ways.

Season 3 of ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Is a Perfect Mix of Heart and Insanity

Image via HBO

What makes The Righteous Gemstones the best show McBride has been involved with thus far is a remarkable handling of the balance between absurdity and genuinely touching emotion. While both Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals had moments of heart, The Righteous Gemstones makes this a much more integral part of the series. Season 3 has some of the most insane moments you’ll see in a TV show all season, and there’s more male frontal nudity than you probably thought was allowed—even on HBO. But this is also the rare show that can make someone driving a monster truck over shit an actually moving moment. The Righteous Gemstones already handled this mixture of craziness and sentimentality well, but Season 3 makes this accomplishment feel even greater.

The fact that The Righteous Gemstones can do this while also being deeply, deeply weird is a testament to the show’s greatness. Nowhere is this more true than in the relationship between Judy Gemstone and her husband BJ (Tim Baltz), as in this season, Judy has cheated on BJ while on her five-state concert tour, making out with and dry-humping twice with a member of her band (Stephen Schneider). Judy and BJ are like if Tom and Shiv in Succession never mentally progressed beyond the age of 11, and this indiscretion from Judy only gets stranger with each new season. And yet, we still want these characters to find each other again and end up on the other side even stronger than before.

It’s impossible to not mention the strangeness of Gemstones without bringing up Baby Billy (Walton Goggins), the show’s MVP who steals every scene he’s in and has never found a moment he couldn’t claim as his own. Goggins remains the wildest and most hysterical character on a show full of weirdos and can make even the simplest turn of a phrase one of the funniest things you’ve ever seen. Just try to watch this season and not get the phrase “Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers” out of your head. It’s a performance that still remains so hilarious, you’ll want to run around the house with a pickle in your mouth.

The Gemstone Family Is Growing in Season 3

Image via HBO

It’s also wonderful to see how Gemstones expands the family in Season 3, which opens up this series to a whole new realm of possibilities. Zahn could’ve played Peter as a complete nutjob, but Gemstones knows that’s not nearly as effective as making him a sympathetic and tragic character who feels like he’s out of options. The same is true of the equally great Johnston, who also seems like she could be off her rocker, yet shows herself to be a mother and wife who has hardened herself to the difficulties of life and her faith. Haas and Oberst are also great counterparts for the Gemstone kids, as two eventually lovable kids who just want to do right by their parents. After meeting the Montgomery side of the family, it’s exciting to see how McBride and co. can grow this family tree in a way that feels natural and like there are plenty of tales to be told from within this bloodline.

While The Righteous Gemstones manages to give all of its primary characters and the Montgomery family hilarious and often lovely arcs, there are a handful of characters that often get lost amongst all this season is attempting to do. Jesse’s son Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) gets a storyline that minimizes his character’s involvement in the story a bit but does set him up for big things in the future. This season also introduces a rival religious family (led by Stephen Dorff) competing with the Gemstones for the wealth of Dusty (Shea Whigham), a race car driver who, after being a part of the Gemstones’ church for years, now questions the new leadership. The competition between these families does get a satisfying conclusion, but it takes a backseat for most of the season for the Gemstones vs. Montgomery feud that the season primarily focuses on.

Season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones takes one of the best families on TV, and one of the best comedies, and makes both even better than before. McBride has found the perfect mixture for his style of comedy where he can explore ideas like the cost of wealth, the choices that destroy families, and the power of faith in a way that feels both poignant and entertaining. Season 3 improves an already excellent comedy, and hopefully, McBride will continue this ingenious series for years to come.

Rating: A-

The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 premieres on June 18 on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.