The Righteous Gemstones (2×01) I Speak in the Tongues of Men and Angels Early Review

For our review of the last episode of The Righteous Gemstones, click here.

Synopsis: As Jesse eyes a business opportunity with an Evangelical couple on the rise, the media cracks down on a fellow preacher. Meanwhile, Eli reconnects with a figure from his mysterious past. (HBO)

The first season The Righteous Gemstones was a surprise showing the hypocritical underbelly of a world-famous family of ministers infused with Jody Hill and Danny McBride’s sardonic wit. It is a series that takes aim at many of the stereotypes that populate the pastoral scene and the business of churches all with a wink and a smile behind each joke that leaves just enough uncertainty of whether or not these moments are born from a slightly exaggerated truth or simply made up for fun. In short, it’s hilarious but can be cutting in its delivery that can equally make the agnostic or devout uncomfortable. And so with the beginning of its second season, there is a large amount of pressure to deliver on the level that made the first season stand out so well.

I Speak in the Tongues of Men and Angels begins with a flashback to Eli Gemstone’s early days as a small circuit wrestler prior to his religious conversion. The scenes help reinforce Eli’s strict upbringing but also exposes a darker side of him that existed, one that seemed to have been stamped out once meeting his wife and beginning his church. As the episode shifts to the present day, it picks up just beyond where the first season ended, finding the Gemstones all within their individual paths of greed and absurdity. Jesse and Amber are in the early stages of a possible business venture that could see them expand the Gemstone empire into new territory, while Kelvin continues to modify his “God Squad,” a muscular men’s group bent on completing missions for the Lord, and Judy is once again trying to ensure that her husband BJ is seen as a true member of the Gemstone family.

But just as things are settling into a rhythm, a growing media pressure surfaces as fellow pastors are being exposed for their various misdeeds and shady business practices, putting the entire Gemstone family on notice for the inevitable spotlight to find them only for one of Eli’s ghosts from the past to emerge stirring up a force long thought dormant.

As the season’s longest episode, this premiere struggles to create anything new even as various season-long storylines are introduced. More of the same is often not a bad thing, but hopes of this season creating opportunities to evolve past the similarly written tropes and jokes of its first are slowly diminished over this episode’s running time, leaving a bitter taste for what lies ahead as the credits roll. That being said, hope still exists as the series has built up more than enough cache with its audience that should allow for a longer story arc to be delivered in patience.

In the end, it is fun to be back with the Gemstones and all of their craziness and despite an okay start to this second season, the journey will surely still feature plenty of greatness.

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