'The Righteous Gemstones' episode 5 reveals the reason behind Eli Gemstone and Baby Billy's animosity
'The Righteous Gemstones' in its fifth episode veered away from the present. We did not see what happened between Amber and Jesse Gemstone after the latter pulled out a gun to shoot at strangers who ran out of a car. We did not see how Scotty and Gideon got away from Jesse and if they will continue to plot his downfall. Instead, we are treated to a sneak-peek into Eli's life when he was younger and when his wife Aimee-Leigh Gemstone was still alive.
The episode began with Aimee announcing to her husband that she is pregnant with their child just before a live show. We then see how Judy and Jessie react to the news and it is as expected. Eli's kids are spoiled brats who compete with each other for everything including their parents' attention, so the thought of a third child doesn't really go down well, especially with Jesse.
Then we see Baby Billy, Aimee-Leigh Gemstone's brother, also getting the news and receiving it no better than Jesse himself. Billy has already gone through a number of divorces which have dwindled his finances and forced him to depend on his sister as they go on tours across the country singing fun religious songs to earn money.
She, of course, refuses initially since the tour dates clash with her due date but Billy doesn't give up easily.
In fact, to exact revenge from the Gemstones for ruining his plan, Billy goes to the extent of manipulating the already unhappy Jesse at Judy's birthday party. He even sneaks in some beer, which he offers Jesse and eggs him on to stand up to his father against the baby.
Billy, to serve his own purpose, not only gets a child drunk but also goes to the extent of blackmailing his sister with the ancestral land which he claims he will sell now that she won't perform with him. Aimee, who is attached to the land because it belongs to her parents and her ancestors has no other option, but to give in to Billy's demands and they even announce the tour date a bit earlier so that Aimee can perform along with him.
Billy, however, is a manipulative man and all that he can think of is to find ways to make more money. So what he does do is sell the land anyway and this causes a rift between not just Billy and Aimee, who cancels the tour, but Eli as well. What brought them back together and why Eli has decided to let Baby Billy take care of the newest Gemstone church in Locust Grove, is something that we will have to watch out for.
The next episode of 'The Righteous Gemstones' will air on Sunday at 10 pm ET on HBO.