“It’s a type of person, one who doesn’t like to do stuff and is scared of everything.”) She believes in Eli and their mission, and would almost certainly take his side in the argument with his accountant over why it’s important for the Gemstones to “go big” because “Jesus’s message was bigger than life.” She isn’t as driven by vanity as her husband and her brother she really seems convinced that it’s great to speak about God through the biggest megaphone.īut she has her limits. In front of the huge Gemstone Studios Christmas tree in 1993, she leaves Eli to mediate a fight between young Judy and Jesse over whether “pussy” is a curse word. And for looking like Jim Henson.)Īimee-Leigh cringe-smiles through the filthy banter that’s always been the white noise of the Gemstones’ family life. (Save for maybe his accountant, who he fires for not telling him what he wants to hear. The odd thing about “Interlude II” is that it doesn’t dim the halo over Aimee-Leigh’s head, but quite the opposite - she appears to be the one person trying to hold Eli back from the abyss. That cannot be a trivial matter on a show as intricately plotted as The Righteous Gemstones, which has always worked surprisingly well as a stylish, Coens-influenced thriller when it’s not sending up its grotesque corner of American excess.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the late, lamented prize-winning Brooklyn reporter Thaniel Block was working on a story about Aimee-Leigh when he was murdered. “Interlude II” moves ahead to Christmas 1993, when young Kelvin has a “boring haircut,” and Aimee-Leigh once again plays referee to Eli and Baby Billy, who’s crashing in their house for the holidays. “Interlude” took place in 1989 and dealt with Eli’s contentious relationship with Baby Billy, who’s constantly in debt and who throws a fit when Aimee-Leigh’s unexpected pregnancy (with Kelvin) foils his plans for a lucrative tour with his sister. “Interlude” and “Interlude II” each holds off on huge mid-season cliffhangers for an episode-long flashback that fills in the Gemstone backstory and helps us understand more about the tensions within the family - and the particular corrosives that have chipped away at decency. That last part is important in “Interlude II,” just as it was in “Interlude,” the standalone episode dropped right in the middle of last season, too. And how far they’ve traveled down the slippery slope.
Whenever it seems like the Gemstones have no limits at all to their sinfulness and venality, something will stick in their craw, and it’s always worth puzzling over why. Amid the absolute filth of any given episode of The Righteous Gemstones - the ornate swearing, the conspicuous greed and avarice, the petty and not-so-petty criminality, those free-for-all Sunday brunches - it’s always fascinating to take note of those moments when moral objections are raised, or somber religious sentiments are offered.
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