'The Righteous Gemstones' season 1 episode 2 focuses on the perspective of the people behind the mask
If episode one of 'Succession' was about showing us the truth about the Gemstones, especially Jesse (Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson) and Kelvin (Adam DeVine) , episode 2 was about the three of them trying to fix the mess that they created in the first place by running over their blackmailers. What they do not realize is that despite being run over, their blackmailers - three of them - made it out alive. Not just that, the head of the gang claims that he has a copy of the footage and now wants 2 million instead of 1 million.
The episode sees the incident with the blackmailers pan out again, this time from the perspective of the people behind the mask. Not only are the two who got run over not dead, but there is also a third person who worked with them as well. The Gemstones get their hands on the security camera where the incident happened and find out about the third person still masked. They even find ways to track Scotty (Scott MacArthur), Lucy and later revealed as Gideon Gemstone's (Skyler Gisondo) -Jesse's eldest son - hideout spot. However, conflict rises within the gang after Lucy finds out that Scotty tried to ditch Lucy while he thought she was dead. She leaves the gang behind right on time causing them to light out from their hideout as well.
As Jesse continues to tell wife Amber (Cassidy Freeman) that families don't keep secrets, we see how hypocritical this man is. As Jesse tries to broker a deal with his sister over the money that she embezzled over what was then supposed to be two dead people, his selfish and inconsiderate nature comes to fore. He thinks he is free now and only has to erase the tracks of what went down with the blackmailers, but what he doesn't realize is that there is a snake at home in the form of Gideon that is ready to bite him when the time is just right.
While Jesse, Judy and Kevin are out trying to clean up after themselves, the scene with their father Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) in a way alludes to what is to come on the show. He sees a snake in his kitchen, hissing and slithering. He serves the snake a tasty dish and just when the time is right, he squeezes the snakes head to death. It is gruesome, but what isn't at this point on the show? This snake is possibly an allusion towards Gideon who is finally back home after he abandoned his family for how they lived life and what they sold on TV or second, to Judy and Jesse, both of whom are betraying their father.
What is underlined interestingly in the entire episode is none of these individuals' actions. There is no stress on Jesse's need to lie to his family while he expects them to be completely honest with him. The hypocrisy is underscored through his words and this is true for every character. The portrayal of who they are as an individual lies more in their language than in their action. If we were to think back to Jesse and Kelvin's sibling rivalry in episode one, their actions are immature, to the extent of it coming off as juvenile but the words that they speak tell a different story.
For instance, Judy has not been allowed onto the business side of the church because she is a woman. She has been equated with a source that could procreate and in the right manner. So when she flashes a man at a motel counter for information it is a tiny form of rebellion against everything that she has been told. Similarly, Jesse's way of running his family is something that he learned from his father and so, how he treats his three sons is reflective of how Eli treats his three children. So when we see the episode end with the return of the prodigal son, all we can think of is how this is going to affect Jesse and his siblings. After all, Jesse's son is the witness to their crime.
The next episode of 'The Righteous Gemstones' will air on HBO on Sunday.