The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 Review

Season 4 of Danny McBride’s The Righteous Gemstones on HBO provides thrills, laughs, and a few tears as we bid farewell to the Gemstone family.

The three young Gemstones, Jesse (Danny McBride), Kelvin (Adam Devine), and Judy (Edi Patterson), are truly on their own. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) has left the compound for the open seas, and the kids are working to keep his legacy alive. Jesse and Amber (Cassidy Freeman) are introducing “prayer pods,” a personalized space where the believer can go for some quick alone time with the Almighty. While this idea doesn’t work the way Jesse intended, Kelvin and Keefe (Tony Cavalero) are finding success with PRISM, their LGBTQ inclusive ministry. Judy and BJ (Tim Baltz) are trying to find their niche, with BJ focusing on competitive pole dancing. 

While the Gemstone children learn how to run their father’s empire, Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) is busy building his own empire. He is riding the wave of Bible Bonkers and is about to debut his new show, Teenjus, about a teenage Jesus. While Tiffany is trying to get him to spend more time with her and their children, Baby Billy is focused on creating something to pass on to his progeny. 

In season 4 we also see Jesse and Amber’s children learning the family business. Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) seems most primed to follow in the family business, but rather than looking to his father for guidance, he sits at the knee of his grandfather, leaving Jesse feeling unsettled. Jesse is also passed over for Best Christian Man, with Kelvin receiving the prestigious nomination. 

The family dynamics are further complicated when Aimee-Leigh Gemstone’s (Jennifer Nettles) best friend, Lori Milsap (Megan Mullally), comes back to perform for the big Aimee-Leigh Give-a-Thon event. Lori’s past and present converge in a manner that makes life difficult for all of the Gemstones. 

Season 4 of The Righteous Gemstones follows in the footsteps of previous seasons, offering an insightful and satirical look at the business side of religious zealotry. The humor is sharp as ever, skewering some of the most absurd behaviors seen in megachurches while contrasting them against the brutality of the Gemstone family. It also manages to provide this insight without being too ham-fisted and preachy, which is really something from a show about a family of preachers. 

The series continues its parade of guest stars, and, as it has been in previous seasons, they are all excellent. The Righteous Gemstones seems to understand how to use its additional star power better than a lot of shows, and this season is no exception. The show continues to give us another cavalcade of people with an axe to grind against the Gemstone family. The guests this season provide some of the best set-ups for the primary cast that we’ve seen and it remains impressive that the show is able to use them so effectively.

What really makes this season sing is the focus on the family’s growth. McBride and the other writers have done an exceptional job of creating some of the most shallow, one-note characters we’ve seen, so character growth might not feel as important. Yet within those confines, season 4 creates scenarios in which the family shows some genuine maturity. 

Judy and BJ continue to show an offbeat and loving relationship. This season, they encounter new difficulties that could threaten their marriage, but we see them work through these challenges in a way that works for them. This is a reminder that not every relationship will look the same, and it’s important to allow people to find their way, even if it looks wrong to us.

Kelvin has one of the most interesting arcs in season 4. We better understand his struggle with fear and his desire to hide away. For a show that is loath to have its characters engage with their emotions on any kind of deep level, Kelvin’s story is refreshingly honest without stepping into something that is overly sentimental. And, as always, every single scene between Kelvin and Keefe is a gift. 

McBride makes sure to save some juicy moments for Jesse as well. He maintains his abrasive manner, but we see some of those edges starting to smooth down just a little. Jesse still isn’t Eli, but as the show draws to a close, we can see that he is getting closer to that than he has thus far. There is a scene in the finale that shows some of the most restraint that we’ve seen from Jesse in the show, and it is a credit to McBride both as an actor and a writer that it works. 

Season 4 does have some pacing issues here and there. There are a few time jumps that can slow things down in terms of the narrative, but overall, each episode clicks along. My primary complaint is barely a complaint at all, but the final two scenes felt like they could have had a little more emotional gravity if they had been switched, just because of the focus of the show. But I never expect to cry watching this show, and the finale managed to get some tears from me.

At its heart, The Righteous Gemstones is less about faith or religion or American megachurches and more about what it means to be a family. It’s about how we protect the people that we love. It’s about how we make space for the things we don’t understand but need to support because we care about the affected person. It’s about discovering that sometimes the financial well-being that we can provide is less important than the simple act of being there. And it’s about having the courage to look at Uncle Baby Billy when he’s pantsless and shaking what his mama gave him. After all, he’s family.

The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 Premiere was released on Max in the U.S. on March 9, 2025. New episodes are currently being released weekly, every Sunday, with the Finale scheduled to air on May 4, 2025. The show is also available to stream on Crave in Canada, and on Sky Go, Now TV & Digital Platforms in the U.K. & Ireland and globally, following the same release schedule.