In Episode 3, we meet Uncle Baby Billy, the Montgomery Boys join the family, and the marital problems are resolved.
Title: "For Their N*kedness is Your Own N*kedness." From Leviticus 18:10, ESV: "You shall not uncover the n*kedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their n*kedness is your own n*kedness." This is a prohibition of doing stuff with your grandchild. Where, in this episode, does anyone mention doing that? A review in the AV Club intreprets it as: the vulnerability of one member of the family is everyone's responsibility. "We're all in this together."
The Greek Chorus: The white-haired, grinning Baby Billy, dressed like a clam, sings"There will Come a Payday," while walking through the Gemstone resort, Zion's Landing. He sings incessantly in a swimming pool area with absolutely no beefcake, while viewers grate their teeth and snarl "Get the f*k on with it." Yes, we know he's a Greek Chorus, singing about the "payday" coming to the Gemstones. We don't need ten minutes of it, in a show that is already squeezing in too many plotlines.
Finally, long after we put on the mute, Baby Billy returns to his penthouse, where his very pregnant wife Tiffany and their three-year old son Lionel are watching the old game show Family Feud. The Baby Billy/Tiffany plotline this season will be about trying to get the Gemstones to invest in a Christian-based Family Feud show, Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers.
Timeline problem: Tiffany had her first baby in the last episode of Season 2. Now he's at least three years old. But three years have not passed in the Gemstone universe.
.
"We don't like you": The Montgomery Boys (Robert Oberst, top photo, Lukas Haas) in bathrobes in Eli's house, eating breakfast, discussing Peter's militia with Eli, May-May, and the siblings:
Peter thinks that his sons and Gemstones tipped off the feds, so now he's gunning for all of them. May-May wants the boys to come home with her, but they refuse: "We'd rather be homeless bums living under a bridge." Or living in a mansion with a staff of 17?
Afterwards, the siblings go down to the Aimee-Leigh memorial, discuss how much they hate their cousins, and give them the finger as they peer through an upstairs window. Eli insists that they have a Cousin's Night and try to get along.
The Redeemer: Amber brings a copy of her marital-problem System to BJ, who claims to be unaware of any problems between him and Judy. Does everyone in the church know that Judy has been withholding sex? Or did Jesse tell Amber about the affair?
Meanwhile, Jesse and his youngest son Abraham head for the Gemstone garage to unwrap The Redeemer, the monster truck he used at the 2000 County Fair. The Montgomery Boys, who happened to be passing by, are in awe, and ask if they can drive it. Nope. "We ain't cool cousins, and we never will be again."
A Complete Lack of Knowing How to Fit into the World: Kelvin and the teens are making anti-smut posters in the parking garage outside the Salvation Center Stage, for some reason, when Keefe drives up in the Smut Busters van. Kelvin flitters over, laying on the femme stereotypes, and says "Hey, Bud." Keefe calls him "Bro." This must be facade language: they are pretending to be buddies and co-pastors in front of the kids.
Keefe drove to an adult store and bought out their inventory. Again, almost everything we see is marketed to gay men.
"You've been having all the fun lately!" Kelvin exclaims, wishing that he could have been there to help pick out butt buzzers. He does his usual titty-tweak display of affection, then reveals that his Daddy is forcing him to go to Cousins' Night with the Montgomerys. They have "a complete lack of knowing how to fit into the world around them."
Sounds exactly like Keefe! He tries to guilt his way into an invitation.
Wouldn't he be invited automatically? He was admitted to the family as Kelvin's partner back in Season 2. But maybe, to stay closeted, Kelvin only brings him to events where a lot of people are invited, like the dinners at Jason's Steakhouse and the Zion's Landing ground-breaking. This is a family-only event, and not even the entire family. It's limited to Montgomery cousins by blood or marriage. If Kelvin brings Keefe, no one will be able to pretend that they are just coworkers or platonic pals.
Keefe's bribes are: his special sausage dip and his "flames and swords." The dip is served with crackers on a ph*llic dish.
Let's look more closely at the "flames and swords." Kelvin knows exactly what Keefe is talking about: he doesn't have to say "Remember that fire dance I performed that one time?" He must perform it regularly, but you wouldn't do it for just one person, and the family has never seen it. We can conclude that the guys are involved in the local gay community, attending gay events with sausage dip and Keefe's "flames and swords"
The Best Dude Friend of a Cousin Kerfluffle: Kelvin is happy to invite him, but that's not enough. Keefe pushes him to name their relationship: "I ain't a cousin, though."
An odd way to put it; he means "not the Montgomerys' cousin."
"I know you're not a cousin," Kelvin responds. "You're my b...best...dude...friend of a cousin." He was starting to say "boyfriend," but couldn't say it, then tried "best friend," but couldn't say that either, since it is obviously not true. Why can't he say "boyfriend"? Because they are in public with the teens nearby, or because he won't admit it to himself?
Notice the profound sadness in Kelvin's eyes. He is in pain. He is desperate to Say the Word, but he can't. Why not?
I see someone who has been closeted for so long that he must remain closeted, even in private. Despite their forays into the local gay community, despire their wedding rings, despire sharing a house, a bed, and some "good buddy" sexual activity, he cannot admit that Keefe is his lover. Remember Leonard Bernstein's Mass:
What I say, I don't feel.
What I feel, I can't show.
What I show, isn't real.
What is real? Oh Lord, I don't know.
BJ and Judy are having problems of their own: BJ is watching the instructional video for Amber's System. Now we see how it works: when you are tempted to say or do something wrong, you drop a blue or pink gemstone into the jar, and your spouse doesn't get hurt. But they'll know how often you've been thinking about it. Judy enters and becomes irate over the implication that they need marital counseling.
Dig the BJ in the photograph over the mantle.
It's hanging in the parlor, where they entertain company? Compare with the man on display in Kelvin and Keefe's dining room -- no visible p*nis.
We cut to the women's group, where Amber quotes Ruth's speech to Naomi and asks the women to think about "the commitment we have made to the people we love," implicitly validating same-s*x marriages. Judy bursts in and throws the System carton at her. But they need the System, Amber insists, because "the decline is real," people aren't showing up, and the scandal of marital infidelity could destroy it altogether. What about the scandal of a gay youth minister living openly with his boyfriend in the Gemstone compound?
Next, the siblings, in their throne room...um, executive board room, reject Baby Billy's pitch for the Bible Bonkers game show.
Timeline Problem: In Episode 3.2, the board room is still under construction, with Percy making rough sketches, on the same day the Montgomerys flee the militia. Cousins' Night has to be just a few days later. Percy works very fast!
The Night, and a lot of vulnerability, next.
More after the break
Cousins' Afternoon: The Gemstone siblings and their partners sits on cabana chairs, insulting their cousins, the Montgomery boys, while they swim in the trout pond. Kelvin lays on the femme stereotyping, even flashing a limp wrist. This will be important later.
Keefe, who of course looks at men's crotches a lot, points out that Cousin Karl has a lot of pubic hair. Kelvin quips "Looks like he's got a chinchilla up there!" It sounds like he is making a mean joke to draw attention away from his interest in what men really have up there.
The Fire Dance: For their entertainment, Keefe performs a highly erotic fire dance in the waning light, near a path lit by a thousand fires. I am reminded of Coleridge's "Kublai Khan":
A savage place! as holy and enchanted as e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted by a man wailing for his demon lover.
Keefe here is the demon l*ver, pure erotic energy. He is the new Messiah of Muscle, rejecting cozy, tepid phileo, friendship, for the desire that promises ecstasy or damnation.
Top photo: the real Fire Dancer
Why would anyone perform an adult dance for his boyfriend's family? What does Keefe hope to accomplish? I think he is showing the family -- and Kelvin himself -- that he is Kelvin's boyfriend, not a "good buddy."
Early in the episode, Kelvin couldn't admit that they were boyfriends. Now Demon Keefe shows him that they are. He has never been sure if his interest in Keefe will lead him to heaven or hell. Now he knows -- both.
Background note: The dark, disturbing music playing is "Balkan S*x God" from
A Serbian Film, 2010, which regularly appears on lists of "the most disturbing films of all time." It features Srđan Todorović as a retired actor drawn into starring in * film.
Cousins' Evening: A huge dining hall, with the family and cousins using just one table, Keefe and Kelvin sitting across from each other instead of side by side! Why does the staging back off from depicting them as a couple?
Kelvin pours on the femme stereotypes thickly, limping his wrists constantly as if he's in a 1920s pansy act, and coincidentally or not puts his "wedding ring" on full display.
Uncle Baby Billy pretends he's the host of his Bible Bonkers game show, where families compete at Bible trivia. He goes around the table and asks each of the "contestants" their name and what they do for a living. The Montgomery boys work in landscaping. Then it's Keefe's turn. He is ready to speak, but Baby Billy skips him with a rude "nuh-huh," angering him. But it's not a homophobic snub: Baby Billy skips over BJ, too: "You ain't family." Only born Gemstones count.
Next it's "the weirdo boy with the puffy muscles," the second and last reference to Kelvin's physique this season, and maybe a euphemism for "gay." But Kelvin refuses to participate.
Lick his what?: Jesse and Cousin Chuck pair off for a question from Genesis 40, where Joseph, in prison, interprets the dreams of the Pharaoh's butler and baker. It should be familiar even to non-Evangelical viewers from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, but Jesse gets the answer wrong. The trivia contest devolves into a knife fight, which ends when Cousin Karl begins choking. Everyone rushes to help. Jesse yells "Heimlich his *ss!"
Keefe asks "Lick his what?" Of course he has misunderstood, but the line emphasizes the interest in backsides that he has displayed all season. .
You never disappoint: As he evening ends, Amber and Jessie offer to give the Montgomery Boys a ride home, identifying them as friends.
Then we see three couples heading home and discussing s*x.
First Baby Billy and Tiffany. They decide to stop on the way to have s*x, followed by waffles.
Geography problem They live in Zion's Landing, in Florida. The Florida border is nearly four hours by car from Charleston. Are they going home tonight?
Next, Kelvin and Keefe. Kelvin praises Keefe's sausage dip and fire dance, and gives him some loving glances. Keefe raises his ph*llic swords from their hilt, while the darkness surrounding them makes the scene very intimate. When Kelvin says "You never disappoint," it is nearly the equivalent to "I love you," as well as a precursor to what will happen in the next episode.
Then BJ and Judy hug while singing "Gonna have some hot s*x tonight."
The couples are presented in parallel. Although Kelvin and Keefe don't mention bedroom activities, they are bookended by couples who do, making it obvious that they, too, will be "having some hot s*x tonight." Kelvin is no longer withholding s*x. For the time being. The end.
Bonus Balkan muscle gods and what Baby Billy really said on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment
No offensive, insulting, racist, or homophobic comments are permitted.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.