'The Righteous Gemstones' episode 3 stills feature Gideon back at his father Jesse's household
In 'The Righteous Gemstones' we last saw Gideon, Jesse Gemstone's son come home after realizing his plan to blackmail his father did not work. His father, of course, is unaware that one of the three blackmailers happens to be his son, who orchestrated the entire plan.
When Judy Gemstone and Jesse ran over two of the kidnappers - unintentionally and intentionally - they could have very well ended up hurting Jesse's own son. With Gideon back home, however, the show's upcoming episode will probably explore how their frayed relationship will further push Gideon to do things against his father or, perhaps, he may be trying to leave a tough life behind.
From the stills released by HBO, it looks like Gideon is trying to sway his family and get them to trust him again. In one of the pictures, Gideon is seen talking to his brother Pontius, who already hates his father Jesse and has been a rebel since we first met him.
Pontius doesn't think twice before swearing at his father and for that, he gets grounded, but nothing affects his outlook on his father's life or the Gemstones' for that matter. The rather lavish lifestyle of the Gemstones is based on getting people to trust them, to support their version of the faith and as a result them by making donations.
This is why Eli Gemstone is hell-bent (pun intended) on starting a new church in a neighborhood with a large number of believers despite the presence of the Locust Grove Church run by Johny Seasons. All of this tends to mess with the minds of the teenagers and this is also one of the main reasons Gideon ran away from home in the first place.
He did not believe in the faith that his family was preaching to the masses and instead ended up in Hollywood where he became a stunt man. Amber and the kids keep in touch with Gideon, something Jesse found out quite recently and he is clearly unhappy Amber would hide something as important as this.
He is also unhappy she did not show a united front to their son, who Jesse feels abandoned his family. He is still angry and from the way he speaks of Gideon's experience in Hollywood when Pontius tried to stand up to his father and feel proud of his brother, there is a sliver of jealousy, or perhaps scorn that we see.
All of these conflicting feelings between the father and son and the real intentions of Gideon returning home will be explored in the coming episode, which will also clue us in about how long Gideon can fool his family. Episode 3 airs Sunday at 10 p.m.