From the very beginning of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, which centers on the darkly hilarious inner-workings of megachurch pastor Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) and his less-than-holy offspring, the recent death of matriarch Aimee-Leigh Gemstone (Jennifer Nettles) is an open wound affecting the family. Throughout the first season, Eli laments that his televangelist dynasty is falling apart without Aimee-Leigh’s presence to bring he and his children together. Although, future flashbacks will reveal that Jesse (Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam Devine) weren’t the most well-behaved angels even with Aimee-Leigh around, and they definitely didn’t improve with age.
However, the big question is just how did Aimee-Leigh die? In the Season 1 finale, the family is seen praying over her hospital bed before a wayward bee arrives to descend the scene into chaos. While the audience is led to believe that the elderly Aimee-Leigh died of some form of disease (there are also references to “Mama being sick” throughout the show) her cause of death is never fully revealed. Could there be more to the story? Very possibly, including the fact that she might — maybe, who knows, anything can happen — might not even be dead?
In Season 2 of The Righteous Gemstones, journalist Thaniel Block (Jason Schwartzman) starts digging into the Gemstones empire after exposing the sexual indiscretions of a nearby megachurch pastor. More specifically, Thaniel is interested in allegations that Aimee-Leigh was an abusive employer. When he informs Eli of his intentions to investigate Aimee-Leigh, Thaniel is found murdered not long after. As of this writing, his killer has not yet been revealed, but clearly, he knew more about Aimee-Leigh than the audience, and perhaps, even her own family.
The Righteous Gemstones airs on HBO with episodes available on HBO Max.