With a story of repressed homosexuality & plenty of male nudity, ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ is gayer than ever

Earlier this year, we said goodbye to Succession, one of the “peak TV” era’s best shows. So if you’ve been looking for another HBO series about toxic, spoiled siblings fighting for control over the lucrative family empire to fill that Succession-sized whole in your heart, look no further than The Righteous Gemstones.

The dark comedy series—which just wrapped up its third season—follows the conniving Gemstones, a family of evangelical pastors who operate an extravagant megachurch. The great John Goodman plays the patriarch, with comedic scene-stealers Danny McBride, Edi Patterson, and Adam DeVine as his quibbling adult children.

Now, much like Succession, The Righteous Gemstones isn’t necessarily a quote-unquote “queer show” on its surface. However, it has long relied on bawdy humor and homoerotic tension to both comment on the hypocrisy of the church and—*mild spoilers ahead*—tell a surprisingly nuanced tale of repressed homosexuality.

Oh, and did we mention there’s lots and lots of male nudity? (More on that in a minute.)

In a show about awful people being awful to each other, one of its most genuine and non-toxic relationships has been between the youngest Gemstone, Kelvin (DeVine) and his loyal friend and follower Keefe (Tony Cavelero), an ex-Satanist he took under his wing.

Since the beginning, these two have been close—and we mean close. They live together, they’re one another’s confidantes, and they clearly can’t stand to be apart. Every one of their interactions is charged with both a romantic and sexual tension, which is of course played up for laughs.

But the joke isn’t on homosexuality; it’s on how the veil of evangelical Christianity keeps Kelvin and Keefe from allowing themselves to acknowledge how they really feel—even as they’re giving one another deep tissue butt massages.

However, in the latest season’s penultimate episode, after surviving a kidnapping, Kelvin reunites with Keefe and, in the heat of the moment, kisses him. It’s the culmination of three season’s worth of homoerotic tension, and it’s honestly kind of sweet!

Though the kiss goes largely unremarked upon, the series has been picked up for a fourth season, so we’ll be curious to see how the relationship develops—and whether or not Kelvin and Keefe’s love is accepted by the Gemstones’ devout congregation—down the road.

The development also shines a whole new light on the series up until this point. While, yes, it’s full of gross-out gags and foul-mouthed humor, it’s also been a sly portrait of suppressed queerness, with a great and cathartic pay-off for Kelvin’s long-simmering arc.

So, if you’ve been looking for a reason to give The Righteous Gemstones a shot, now’s the perfect time to get caught up.

The Righteous Gemstones isn’t afraid to show some skin

And, if you still need another reason (or two or three) to tune in… did we mention there’s lots of nudity? It’s sort of a trademark of the show!

Take, for example, the recent episode “For Out Of The Heart Comes Evil Thoughts,” which features a ridiculous and unforgettable fight scene in which one of the characters is completely nude.

For some context, Gemstone daughter Judy (series MVP Edi Patterson) is married to the hapless BJ (Tim Baltz), but this season revealed she’s been having an affair with her church band’s guitarist, Stephen (Stephen Schneider).

After intercepting a booty call meant for his wife, a jealous BJ decides to take matters into his own hands and shows up to Stephen’s house. There, he encounters a completely nude Stephen masturbating and immediately instigates a fight.

The sequence is brutal, gross, and riotously funny—and Stephen remains completely naked the entire time. (It’s sort of like Lee Pace’s big naked fight scene from sci-fi series Foundation, only way more chaotic.)

As revealed in a behind-the-scenes piece for Vulture, actor Stephen Schneider debated using prosthetics to film the scene, but ultimately decided to let it all hang out and do it himself. “To me, comedically, it feels like the most authentic and the most funny if I’m really just putting myself out there,” Schneider shares. “So I gave them the go-ahead on that, and then I just began to panic for six f*cking straight months.”

The piece details the intense planning and choreography that went into the sequence, including stunt doubles and prosthetics for key moments—like BJ’s fight-ending ball grab—but, otherwise, that really was Schneider putting it all on camera. The folks over at OMG Blog certainly have the (NSFW) proof.

Nudity aside, there’s really nothing erotic about the wild fight scene, but it does highlight the comedy’s unwavering commitment to the bit. A series unafraid to show a little (or a lot of) skin to make you laugh, there’s no better time to check out The Righteous Gemstones—now gayer than ever.

All three seasons of The Righteous Gemstones are available to stream exclusively on Max.