The Righteous Gemstones (The Righteous Gemstones episode)

In Chengdu, the televangelist and megachurch pastor family, the Gemstones, hold a 24-hour baptism marathon. The patriarch, Eli (John Goodman), is annoyed by his children, Jesse (Danny McBride) and Kelvin (Adam DeVine), who constantly fight each other. They return home to South Carolina, where Eli's daughter, Judy (Edi Patterson), expresses disappointment that she is often excluded from the trips.

The family lives in a complex terrace, all in separate mansions. Jesse returns to his mansion with his wife Amber (Cassidy Freeman), who always supports every decision he makes. While his relationship with his youngest son, Abraham (Gavin Munn), is normal, he has a hard time dealing with his middle son, Pontius (Kelton DuMont). One of his arguments with Pontius reveals that Jesse's oldest son, Gideon, ran away years ago. Kelvin lives with his roommate, Keefe Chambers (Tony Cavalero), an ex-satanist who works as a security guard at the Gemstones’ church. Judy lives with her fiancé, Benjamin Jason "BJ" Barnes (Tim Baltz), and their relationship proves to be fairly mediocre. Eli is widowed and still misses his wife, Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles), often thinking about her during dinner and watching old videos of themselves.

Jesse is contacted by a blackmailer, who reveals that he is in possession of an incriminating video of Jesse snorting cocaine while partying with his friends and prostitutes, demanding to see him at a deserted parking lot. There, a man with a devil mask demands that he pays $1 million the following Sunday, or the video will be released to the media and ruin Jesse's career. The next day at the Gemstone Salvation Center, Eli is visited by four reverends, led by John Wesley Seasons (Dermot Mulroney). Seasons is concerned that Eli's plan to expand into Locust Grove will drive their smaller churches out of business; Eli refuses to cede to their demands. Unable to find money, Jesse is forced to confess to Kelvin and his buddies about the video, asking his brother to withdraw $500,000 to avoid suspicion. Kelvin refuses to help, as he is certain Eli watches all of his moves.

On Sunday, the Gemstones gather to eat at a restaurant after church. Seasons confronts Eli for his actions at Locust Grove, but Eli mocks the fact that his followers never supported him. Jesse and Kelvin get into a fight and both end up getting slapped by Eli. Jesse later confides to Kelvin that Seasons may be the blackmailer, and that he intends to expose him. That night, Jesse and his buddy don ski masks to attack Seasons at his house. However, Seasons surprises them with a shotgun, wounding one of them and forcing them to flee. Due to the severe blood loss, they leave in a van for the hospital.

Jesse calls Kelvin, only to discover that Judy already knows about the video. He laments not having the money until Judy offers to pay it herself. Kelvin and Judy go to the Gemstone Salvation Center, where Judy retrieves embezzled money she has hidden over the years. They drive with Jesse to the parking lot, meeting with the blackmailer and his driver. After dropping the money, the blackmailer hands over a hard drive containing the video. Seeing that he brought Kelvin and Judy, the masked man suggests that he may continue blackmailing them. As he takes the money, Jesse and Kelvin attack the blackmailer. The siblings then go back to the car, just as the driver shoots at them. In a panic, Judy accidentally drives over the blackmailer, forcing the driver to leave his car to check on him. Jesse then takes the wheel and goes back to run over the driver, and the siblings flee the parking lot.

In July 2019, HBO confirmed that the episode would be titled "The Righteous Gemstones", and that it would be written and directed by series creator and lead actor Danny McBride. This was McBride's first writing credit, and his first directing credit.^[1]