The Righteous Gemstones Finale: Danny McBride Explains the Ending

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The Righteous Gemstones Finale: Danny McBride Explains the Ending

The Righteous Gemstones creator and co-star, Danny McBride, reflected on the show’s ending and why he and his collaborators decided to go in that direction in a new interview. The comedy series premiered on HBO on August 18, 2019, and aired for four seasons before concluding yesterday, May 4, 2025.

Danny McBride discusses the happy ending of The Righteous Gemstones

McBride spoke on why the titular megachurch-running family got a happy ending in the Righteous Gemstones finale during an interview. He revealed that he considered giving the Gemstones some amount of “comeuppance” for their actions throughout the series. “There were always thoughts about, ‘Does the church go down? Do they get arrested?'” he recalled, before explaining why he and his colleagues decided against it. (via Variety)

“Ultimately, for me, I don’t know if I really want to see that,” McBride added. “The design for me is, I want people to watch this again, and I want it to be something that ultimately feels fun,” he further stated.

In The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 Episode 9, “That Man of God May Be Complete,” Corey Milsap shoots all three Gemstone siblings: Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin. However, they survive with the help of Dr. Watson, BJ’s service monkey, and Corey is eventually killed. Kelvin and Keefe get married, with Eli officiating. Baby Billy is shown spending time with his family. Elijah’s gold-plated bible from earlier in the season is placed on display at the headquarters of the Gemstone Ministries. As for Eli, he reads a letter left behind by Aimee-Leigh and is later visited by Lori on his yacht in Florida.

Co-writer and co-star Edi Patterson echoed McBride’s sentiments, noting that one of the consistent themes of the show was that the Gemstones won regardless of whatever happened to them. “Ultimately, the fun thing about the Gemstones is they win,” she pointed out, adding, “Do what you f—— want to them. You cannot make them not win.”

All four seasons of The Righteous Gemstones are available on Max.