The "Righteous Gemstones" Episode 2.6 s*x scene, a frame-by-frame analysis

 

In case you're new here, The Righteous Gemstones is a HBO Max sitcom about the famous, ultra-rich televangelist Eli Gemstone and his three children, who live in separate mansions on his compound and get into constant squabbles and scrapes.  But of course they love each other deep-down.  Kelvin (Adam Devine) is the youngest son, 29-34 years old during the four seasons, a muscle enthusiast who usually works in the low-prestige teen ministry, and has to constantly prove himself.  Keefe (Tony Cavalero), a former Satanist whom he saved, is his boyfriend.  

Kelvin has a standard fiction coming-out process, one that we've seen a hundred times in movies and tv-shows.

Season 1: Falling in love with his best friend, sexual experiences, feeling guilty, denial, then recognizing that he is gay.

Season 2: Becoming obsessed with the *rotic, refusisng to admit that he and Keefe are romantic partners, eventually coming around and coming out to the family.

Season 3: Trying hard to stay in the closet, refusing to call Keefe his boyfriend, leading to their breakup and reconciliation, and a kiss.  

The problem is, up to the Season 3 kiss and even after, many viewers insisted that the two were straight buddies.  The queer codes were all misdirections or misreadings.

Which brings us to Season 2, Episode 6: Kelvin is standing n*aked in front of the mirror; distraught:  he has lost the respect of the God Squad, his cadre of muscle men; his father hates him; he is worthless, nothing, no better than a beast.  Keefe suggests that he will feel better if he gets dressed for the day.  His hands are broken, so Keefe will have to dress him.

What happens next is about as explicit as a s*x scene can get on television, yet some viewers insisted that Keefe is just helping Kelvin on with his underwear.  Even after Season 4, when they two are out as boyfriends and eventually get married, viewers insist that they didn't do any bedroom stuff until the after the wedding.  

Maybe a frame-by-frame analysis will convince them.

The frame-by-frame analysis is on  RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

Or see my review of the whole episode: Gemstones Episode 2.6: Yep, they have s*x. Plus Judy grows a heart, Torsten a brain, and Amber the noive.

"The Righteous Gemstones": Kelvin and Keefe Have Sex, So Why Can't They Kiss?

 

I admit, I'm obsessed with the relationship between Kelvin and Keefe on The Righteous Gemstones, about a family of rich, famous, glitzy televangelists (Season 2 ended in February 2022, but I just signed up for HBO Max, so I just watched.  Season 3 will drop this summer.)

Kelvin (Adam DeVine) is the youngest son, a muscle enthusiast, generally responsible for the youth ministry at the anchor church.  Keefe (Tony Cavalero) is his sweet , slightly-muddled mansion-mate, a former Satanist whom Kelvin saved.  I read reddits and reviews and interviews, watch youtube clips, re-watch episodes, accumulating evidence that they are gay and romantic partners:

Season 1:

1. Neither express any heterosexual interest, nor does anyone ever suggest that they should.  If an event calls for a date, Kelvin always brings Keefe.  

Keefe states that he "never dated (girls) much, saw no need to," and that "Baywatch didn't affect me."  At the Satanist Club, he recoils in literal disgust at the sight of a naked lady (you can see him saying "Ewwww"), but naked men are fine.

2. Keefe used to dance naked in a cage at the Satanist Club.

3. They break up after an argument, and Keefe returns to the Satanist Club.  He is heartily greeted and hugged, but only by men.

4. Kelvin is distraught.  One of the teens surmises that he is upset about his "boyfriend," and helpfully uses social media to find out where Keefe is.  Kelvin stutters: "No...um...we're not gay...we're just two guys who like to hang out...and stuff."  Maybe he didn't want to come out to a teenager? 

5. But he rushes to save Keefe from the Satanists, and finds him in a sensory deprivation tank (with a probably prosthetic arousal).  He jumps in, pulls out the wires, and hugs and holds Keefe, crying, kissing his forehead.  Keefe: "Hold me."  Kelvin: "Hush!  I'm here now."  

The full post is on Righteous Gemstones Beefcake and Boyfriends

"We Summon the Darkness":: Gay Heavy Metal Fans?

It's the distant, magical summer of 1988. Thursday night means Cosby, A Different World, Cheers, and Night Court.  Saturday is movie night: Die Hard, Cocktail, Rambo, Who Framed Roger Rabbit,   Everyone is listening to Cheap Trick, Tracy Chapman, and Madonna, or if you are into heavy metal, Bon Jovi, David Lee Roth, and Thrasher  And in the distant, magical country of Indiana, three little girls are driving to a heavy metal concert.   Their names are Alexis, Beverly, and Val, but that's not important. What's important is that they are just like millions of other little girls growing up in the distant, magical summer of 1988, discussing sex and fashion and Teen Bop magazine  and who ate the last Ding Dong.

At a gas station, the attendant is watching a televangelist scream about the evil of heavy metal music.  This is the summer of Satanic panic, the unfounded fear that thousands of kids were being abducted by their neighbors, the pastor, the school principal, or the mayor and sacrificed to Satan.  Somehow the two are connected. Foreshadowing? The girls scoff and move on.

You are probably guessing what will happen next.  You are wrong.

Continuing down a rural road in Indiana, they are passed by a blue van, which chucks a milkshake at their windshield.  OMG, what's wrong with people?

The girls arrive at the concert, negotiate scalpers and "Jesus Saves" protestors, and guess what?  There's the blue van!  Makes sense -- where else would anyone be going on that desolate country road?  They get revenge by throwing firecrackers into the van.  Three boys emerge:

Mark (Keean Johnson, top photo), Kovacs (Logan Miller), second photo, and Ivan (Austin Swift, left).

Turns out that they are aspiring musicians.  Yeah, in 1988, who wasn't?

Surprisingly, they don't do a ot of flirting with the girls. One might suspect that they are gay, except there aren't a lot of gay heavy metal fans.

They discuss Ozzy Osbourne and the epidemic of Satanic ritual murders. 15 so far this summer.  Gulp!

They go to the concert together, jump up and down, yell "Hail Satan!"

You're probably wondering, when are the real Satanists gong to show up?'''

Spoiler Alert:  




There aren't any real Satanists.

After the concert the girls invite the boys to "my dad's gigantic, elegant mansion," 30 minutess away.

Wait -- if they live 30 minutes away, what was with the driving for hours through the Indiana wilderness?

There they tie the boys up in their underwear, and prepare for the sacrifice.

Turns out that the girls belong to Daughters of the Dawn, the church of the pastor on the tv at the gas station.  They kill people and make it look like Satanic ritual murder, in order to illustrate the evils of heavy metal music.

What follows is a melange of unexpected visitors showing up to disrupt the plans, Pastor showing up to help, a lot of beefcake, and a lot of "I'll save you!" buddy-bonding.

One of the girls has a change of heart, and escapes with the Last Boy.

But other than the heteronormative ending, there's no  hetero-romance, and endless gay subtexts. (No texts, unfortunately).

And plot twists that I actually did not see coming.

My grade: B