'The Righteous Gemstones episode 7 is all about betrayal and the resulting repercussions
From the stills released by HBO before airing episode 7 of 'The Righteous Gemstones', it looked like Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) would be the one to keep his daughter Judy (Edi Patterson) out of the Gemstones business - the showbiz part of it.
However, the episode revealed that it was Judy who betrayed her father after being influenced by her uncle Baby Billy (Walton Goggins). The episode also saw Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) make the choice to stay true to his family, but in the process, he betrays his friend Scotty (Scott MacArthur), which resulted in a bigger problem than Gideon had anticipated. All of this occurred over the Easter weekend, which is befitting considering Jesus did resurrect after being crucified, which was a result of betrayal by his disciple Judas Iscariot.
The episode begins with Scotty being introduced to Jesse Gemstone (Danny McBride), his wife Amber (Cassidy Freeman), and Gideon's brothers Pontius and Abraham. He shares with the family his background as a stuntman and even scores an invite to stay at their home. Gideon, who has had second thoughts about betraying his family since he returned doesn't like anything that is happening. To keep Scotty from blurting out the truth, he, however, keeps mum for the moment.
Judy, on the other hand, is surprisingly handed a spot to perform with Baby Billy at the Gemstones' Easter meet which would be televised and broadcast not just in the US, but in other parts of the world as well. Initially, Judy is ecstatic with the opportunity, but when she delivers the news to her uncle, he refuses to perform and help increase the Gemstones' popularity. He also says that what Eli has offered is too little, too late. Judy is forced to make a choice between her father and uncle Billy, and she chooses the latter. Of course, she doesn't inform her father beforehand either and ends up walking out in the end.
The meet then sees Kelvin perform with the youth wing of the church and Jesse is finally given the chance to give the main sermon, which until last year was something that his father did himself. As a part of the sermon, Jesse chooses to tell the tale of Judas' betrayal which led to Jesus Christ being crucified. Which is befitting, considering not just Judy, but also his son's struggle with betrayal.
It is at this moment that we see Gideon make a choice to stay true to his family and fight Scotty to get his hands on the hard disk that has now been repaired. He does succeed and before he leaves Scotty, he says that the man is only talk and not big on action.
This provokes Scotty and he ends up visiting Gideon and Jesse's home with a gun. He blackmails Jesse at gunpoint to help him get access to the vault with money, he uses Gideon to get his hands on Eli's key card, and leaves them in the empty vault with their hands and legs tied.
While Judy struggles with missing a chance at what she had wanted forever, Gideon and Jesse are left on their own to try and get out of a situation that Gideon had triggered. Will Amber come to her family's rescue or will the Gemstones stand to lose all the money that they had made during the Easter weekend?
That we will have to see in episode 8 which will air on October 7 at 10 pm ET on HBO.