‘The Righteous Gemstones’ ending explained

After four seasons of faith-based, foul-mouthed tomfoolery, The Righteous Gemstones is bound for the pearly gates.

Created in 2019 by Eastbound & Down‘s Danny McBride, the filthy HBO comedy centers around a family of corrupt, fast-talking televangelists led by John Goodman’s aging and regretful Eli Gemstone. As Eli retreats into the background of church business, his three children — Jesse (McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam DeVine) — throw shoulders and insults as they try to find their place in the new hierarchy.

Sunday night’s finale, the McBride-directed “That Man of God May Be Complete,” wraps up a season that sees Lori (Megan Mullally), an old friend of late Gemstone matriarch Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles), find romance with Eli amid complications related to her ex-husband Cobb (Michael Rooker), her son Corey (Seann William Scott), and an ancient golden Bible essential to Gemstones lore.

The episode also concludes the series itself, which routinely bounced between toe-curling raunch and a fierce sentimentality that sometimes clashed with its trademark cynicism. But that’s partly the point, as The Righteous Gemstones often highlights how even the most soulless grifters can be capable of acts of love.

Read on for a breakdown of The Righteous Gemstones series finale.

What happened at the end of The Righteous Gemstones?

The series finale primarily revolved around the Gemstone family’s relationship with Corey, who we learn was complicit in the crimes of his father, Cobb. That includes the assaults, murders, and kidnappings of Lori’s boyfriends, but also the theft of the Gemstones’ antique gold Bible, which has been a thread throughout the season.

Eli suggests the family take Lori, Corey, and Corey’s wife, Jana (Arden Myrin), to their lake house to help cheer Corey up after he was forced to kill his father in the penultimate episode. Things seem to be going well at first, with Corey emulating Michael Jackson in a bedazzled British Army jacket. But things quickly get tense when Corey demands $7 million from the Gemstones so he can buy his late dad’s gator farm.

“I killed my daddy to save Dr. Gemstone,” Corey says. “He has millions of dollars but he can’t help me?”

Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin try to calm Corey down as the rest of the family takes a boat onto the lake. But the situation escalates when Kelvin, with assistance from the spirit of Aimee-Leigh, finds a handgun and the gold Bible in Corey’s bag after going inside to change out of his “doo-doo shirt.”

After Kelvin divulges this to his siblings, Corey confesses to how his father roped him into his schemes. He covered for his dad, he says, because he always hoped his parents would get back together.

Fearing he said too much, Corey begins firing on the siblings, cranking up UB40’s “Red Red Wine” to cover the sound of gunshots. He shoots all three siblings, but not fatally. As he retreats to his truck for an assault rifle to finish them off, we get a humorous sequence in which Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin crawl the hallways in agony, leaving behind streaks of blood.

Their savior is B.J.’s monkey, Dr. Watson, who retrieves Jesse’s gun from his “everyday carry bag for men” (don’t call it a “purse”). When Corey returns, Jesse lands a headshot. As Corey dies, he apologizes and asks the siblings to pray for him.

In an echo of the season’s premiere — a flashback episode about criminal-turned-pastor Elijah Gemstone (Bradley Cooper) — the flawed, self-serving siblings actually deliver a lovely prayer that brings Corey comfort as he dies.

“Maybe he’ll make a better angel than he was a man,” Jesse concludes, a sentiment that speaks to how even the crude and corrupt can serve as vessels for salvation.

Did Vance Simkins get his comeuppance?

One of the primary antagonists over The Righteous Gemstones’ past two seasons is Vance Simkins (Stephen Dorff), a rival pastor who, in last week’s episode, had an on-air meltdown after losing Top Christ-Following Man of the Year to Kelvin. (That Kelvin also came out as gay didn’t help the loudly homophobic Simkins.)

The finale begins with a humiliated Simkins challenging Jesse to a duel at the Cape and Pistol Society, the pastors’ Illuminati-aping social club. “To the death,” Simkins declares.

This gives way to the hilarious reveal of vintage dueling pistols. There’s also an escalating series of cloak-and-dagger theatrics, which are in line with McBride’s penchant for lampooning the retrograde behaviors and rituals of the Southern aristocracy.

Eli tries to talk Jesse down from the duel and encourages him to quit the Cape and Pistol Society. Jesse is hesitant: “If I quit, I have absolutely no association with anything that lets people know that I’m special, that I’m better than them,” he says.

Eli gasses him up, saying Jesse’s always impressed him and that his son is a better father than he ever was.

But the duel goes on. Simkins fires first, but misses. As Jesse approaches, gun raised, Simkins begs for mercy. But when Jesse shoots, he purposely misses. (The ricochet, however, strikes the leg of an observing pastor.)

“Capes and pistols? That stuff doesn’t mean s—,” Jesse says to the assembled masses. “Your actions make you an impressive man. So I quit.” Eli follows suit, and the pair leaves together.

Did B.J. reunite with Dr. Watson?

One of the silliest storylines of The Righteous Gemstones‘ final season found Judy’s husband, B.J. (Tim Baltz), bonding with Dr. Watson, the service monkey who helps him recover from a pole-dancing injury. (A fantastic sentence, that.)

Last week, B.J. was forced to say goodbye to his little friend, but the finale (thankfully) brought them back together again.

Despite Judy’s hatred of Dr. Watson (who, to be fair, threatened to drop a hair dryer in her bath last week), she was the driving force in reuniting B.J. with his monkey. “Men with mustaches don’t often cry,” said a teary-eyed B.J., breaking all of our hearts.

Judy sets up a meeting between B.J. and Dr. Watson at the house of a disabled veteran, but the monkey ignores them while adorably doing dishes. “He’s obviously moved on,” says a despondent B.J. “I was just another job to him. I see that now.”

Judy gets to work out a bit of her own trauma as she convinces Dr. Watson to forgive them. “Maybe you got some deeper s— going on. Maybe because your mama died you got a great big hole of pain inside you,” she tells the monkey, a nod to her own grief over Aimee-Leigh’s absence. “It’s making you put up a front. Know how I know that? ‘Cause I got that same hole inside me. I feel you, dude. But acting like a little c— to people that care about you? That don’t fix nothing.”

This wins over the “little punk-ass bitch” monkey, who gleefully hops atop B.J.’s shoulders. “Hey, buddy,” she says to the veteran, “we support the troops, but you gotta find somebody else to wipe your ass. This monkey’s coming home with us.”

(And thank goodness he did. As previously noted, Dr. Watson is the one who saves Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin from imminent death.)

Did Baby Billy finish Teenjus?

Last week, Uncle Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) nearly died at the hands of Cobb. His brush with death (or maybe it was that snort of “blessed” cocaine) triggered a newfound appreciation for life in the enterprising old-timer. He shuts down production of his big-budget, teen-focused Passion Play so he can focus on his neglected wife, Tiffany (Valyn Hall), and their children.

A shame, obviously, but we’ll always have “Turn the Other Cheek.”

Did Kelvin and Keefe get married?

After finally coming out in last week’s episode, Kelvin reveals to Keefe (Tony Cavalero) that he’s no longer afraid of “spiders in the toilet” or “that old lady puppet from Mr. Rogers.” Most importantly, he’s no longer scared of marriage. After four tumultuous seasons for Kelvin and the loyal former Satanist, the two finally get engaged.

The episode ends with their nuptials, which give way to a wild dance party bringing all of the characters together.

Was Aimee-Leigh in The Righteous Gemstones finale?

Despite Aimee-Leigh dying prior to the events of the series, Nettles’ late Gemstone matriarch (and June Carter and Tammy Faye Messner mashup) maintained a strong presence thanks to flashback episodes. She surfaces twice in the finale, first as a spirit and then as a voice.

Her first appearance comes when Kelvin retreats to the lake house to change out of his “doo-doo shirt.” Kelvin sees her in the hallway, and she silently leads him to Corey’s room, where he finds the bag with Corey’s gun and the stolen gold Bible.

Elsewhere in the episode, Lori gives Eli an old box with some keepsakes from her friendship with Aimee-Leigh. In the box is a letter that Aimee-Leigh wrote to Lori following Lori’s divorce from Cobb. During the wedding, Nettles read the contents of the letter in voiceover. In it, she movingly asserts that she’ll always be there to “share my love,” just as God is there for those who believe.

How does The Righteous Gemstones end?

The Righteous Gemstones ends with a teary-eyed Eli reading Aimee-Leigh’s letter to Lori. We’re then transported to “somewhere in Florida,” where Eli is getting ready to set sail for a fishing trip all by his lonesome. Lori appears then with a suitcase, asking if she can be his first mate.

The pair’s love story hit a number of roadblocks this season. In addition to her ex-husband and son both trying to murder the Gemstones, Lori suffered through the Gemstone children seeking to sabotage her relationship with Eli due to her old friendship with Aimee-Leigh.

In the finale, the kids apologize for their schemes. “Seeing as your daddy c— still works, we wanted to let you know that we support you in using it,” says Kelvin. But it still looked like the couple would leave the series as friends and nothing more.

But the episode ends with Eli softening, offering Lori a big smile, and welcoming her aboard.

Where can I watch The Righteous Gemstones?

All four seasons of The Righteous Gemstones are currently streaming on Max.

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