'The Righteous Gemstones' episode 8 sees Jesse's truth surface after Gideon's sacrifice
'The Righteous Gemstones' episode 8, in the most unexpected of ways, sees Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) get access to the Gemstones' fortune in what is possibly one of the best scenes of the season. I mean, who would have thought a blowjob could give Baby Billy access to millions of dollars and a chance at exacting revenge against Eli Gemstone (John Goodman)?
In the previous episode, Scotty (Scott MacArthur) stole the money from the Gemstone Church vault and left Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) and his father Jesse tied up in the empty vault, bid adios to his best friend Gideon who had betrayed him just hours before and took off in a van. As he crossed an intersection, he crossed paths with uncle Baby Billy who was getting a blowjob from his wife Tiffany (Valyn Hall). Baby Billy was not paying attention, of course, and that's how he ended up getting rammed on the side by the red van.
Baby Billy tries to check the driver's (Scotty) pulse, finds none, while his wife comes across all the cash in the back. Somehow, Baby Billy realizes that it is the money from Gemstones' vault and begins to put it together. For now, he assumes that the driver is dead. Tiffany sees the gun on the dashboard and picks it up, plays around with it. Unexpectedly, Scotty gains consciousness and starts gasping for breath when a shocked Tiffany shoots him in the head, unintentionally. The scene transitions from disturbing to comic in mere minutes and the fact that Baby Billy has got his hands on millions of dollars because of Scotty is ironic.
Speaking of the Gemstones family itself, things are falling apart. After realizing that Gideon was the one behind the blackmail, we had expected Jesse (Danny McBride) to lose his calm, instead, it is Eli. Gideon's grandfather is ashamed that his own family would be a part of such a heinous plot that could have resulted in the death of someone. When Amber (Cassidy Freeman), Gideon's mother, tries to take his side and even gives him a chance to absolve himself of his crimes, he doesn't take it. Gideon doesn't tell the truth about his father and leaves Amber heartbroken and betrayed.
Eli is unable to fathom all of this and is shaken, a part of him has broken down. When Kelvin (Adam Devine) sees his dad after, he sees a weak man who confesses to his son that he cannot handle it all anymore without his wife Aimee Leigh. There are tears in his eyes as he looks at the stage that has only seen him smile and give sermons. This weakened man affects Kelvin deeply, who drowns deep in self-doubt and even chases his most loyal follower Keith away. Kelvin feels that he isn't fit to lead people away from darkness when he is surrounded by it all.
Then we have Judy (Edi Patterson) who is left high and dry after Baby Billy took off with all that cash that he found. She no longer has her church singing career. BJ (Tim Baltz), her boyfriend had also broken up with her in the previous episode. When she tries to patch things up with him, things do not go as planned as she sees BJ befriending another woman, Dennis. Judy takes out her pent up frustration by intentionally damaging Dennis' car and ends up in jail. When she doesn't have anyone to call, it is her father who serves as her get out of jail free card.
Finally, we have Jesse. The man who let his son leave, but comes to realize that he wants his son exonerated. So he decides to tell the truth. Not only to Amber, but the family of his friends as well. Jesse uses the hard disk that Gideon handed over to him and plays the video that was used to blackmail him for everyone. He continually tries to convince Amber that he is a flawed man, who only did drugs, unlike one of his friends Chad who had sex with a prostitute that night. Amber waits until everyone leaves and then she goes all out. She accuses him of being dishonest and she threw things at him. While that doesn't calm her down, she picks one of her beloved rifles that she has collected, aims at a fast retreating Jesse and takes a shot. Jesse falls, with a bullet wound on his behind and only then does Amber calm down.
As the Gemstones fell apart one after another, Baby Billy and his wife Tiffany enjoy the luxury that money has to offer, without realizing that their crime may surface very soon. The next episode of 'The Righteous Gemstones' will air on Sunday at 10 pm ET on HBO.