Review: The Righteous Gemstones, "Burn for Burn, Wound for Wound, Stripe for Stripe" | Season 3, Episode 7
Nothing brings feuding siblings together like adult abduction and monster trucks
Back in the first review of this season, I talked about the signature comedic style of The Righteous Gemstones as a juxtaposition of big and small. I wrote:
A show like Gemstones thrives on spectacle … The style that Hill, Danny McBride and David Gordon Green (among others) have developed in their work relies on juxtaposing those spectacles—action-movie tropes, extravagant sets, over-the-top costuming—with the pettiness of the characters and the low stakes of their personal dramas.
The thing about action movie tropes is that they are designed to be exciting! Even disturbing! And the way tonight’s episode starts disturbed me greatly. Judy getting crushed by a monster truck and then dragged out of her car and abducted by mask-wearing dudes? Nightmare fuel, especially the way it’s filmed and edited here, like something out of Duel: blinding headlights in the rearview mirror, claustrophobic closeups from inside of the crumpling car, Judy screaming right into the lens as she’s pull…