Four seasons, six years, and countless f-bombs later, The Righteous Gemstones has finished its run on HBO and left broken hearts everywhere. But just as the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, true believers are holding out hope that there will be a second fifth coming of TV’s best-worst family. So…
Probably not. HBO gave The Righteous Gemstones a Season 4 order back in July of 2023, but sometime between that announcement and a January 2025 press release, this latest bunch of episodes began being framed as “the fourth and final season” of the series.
That said, just ahead of the release of Season 4, DECIDER sat down with cast members Adam DeVine, Cassidy Freeman, Edi Patterson, and Tim Baltz, all of whom expressed interest in revisiting the characters down the road. Series creator and star, Danny McBride, also shared that just because this is the so-called series finale does not mean it’s the last we will be seeing of Jesse (McBride), Judy (Patterson), Kelvin (DeVine), and the rest of the gang.
“Who knows? If there was a story to tell, maybe. I think what would be fun to do is a live show. I feel like it’d be fun to do a traveling tent revival with the Gemstones. We’ll see,” he said as Freeman, his TV wife, added, “I think it’d be really fun.”
DeVine, who plays the antagonistic youngest Gemstone sibling added of the live show idea, “That’s what Danny’s saying […] I think he just doesn’t want to write a whole movie.”
Sunday night’s finale surely left the door open on the idea, too. In the series finale, the Gemstones flock to Galilee Gulch, their family lakehouse, for some R&R with Corey (Seann William Scott) and Lori Milsap (Megan Mullally). The episode quickly goes off the rails though when Corey decides to take revenge on the Gemstones for the destruction of his own family.
Season 4 Episode 8, “That Man of God May Be Complete,” ultimately comes to a head when Corey guns down Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin, nearly killing them only for Dr. Watson — BJ’s therapy monkey — to deliver a gun to them just in time to kill Corey. The series concludes with a happy ending for the family, complete with a wedding for Kelvin and Keefe (Cavalero).
That said, there is certainly more to explore with these characters if you ask the show’s stars. Some of them (cough cough, Patterson and Baltz) even have ideas on what it could look like.
“In a heartbeat, I would return to these characters and this world,” Patterson told DECIDER. “Honestly I just would hope to see more shenanigans. I just love these people. I love Judy and I love BJ and I just like to see them get into some stuff and I know they will.”
“Maybe like a holiday theme or something,” chimed in Baltz, Patterson’s on-screen husband. “Whether it’s Easter or Christmas or Thanksgiving. I think it’d be special.”
Of course, a Gemstones reunion of any kind would be incomplete without arguably the best member of the extended family, Baby Billy Freeman (Walton Goggins), the kooky uncle who has become one of television’s most beloved characters. Hot off his huge successes on The White Lotus Season 3 and Prime Video’s Fallout, would he still have time for misbehavin’?
“Of course, absolutely. Danny is one of my best friends and this cast and this experience that is one of the best among a lifetime of best experiences,” Goggins said, adding that he has no reservations but would love to pick McBride’s brain about what it could look. Even if he doesn’t like it though, rest assured Baby Billy will be in attendance.
“However big or however small, you can bet I’m gonna be there,” Goggins said.
All four seasons of The Righteous Gemstones are currently streaming on Max.