S01.E04: Wicked Lips

[formerlyfreedom]

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Judy and Martin take Gideon behind the scenes of the Gemstone enterprise; Eli tasks Kelvin with doing a satanic sweep for Dot, the rebellious daughter of the church's donors; Chad's wife finds some disturbing emails.

Airing Sunday, September 8, 2019

[patty1h]

Who dug up Marla Maples to play the wife of the couple with the troubled teenage daughter?  I didn't know she acted. 

"Car pranks".  Hee!

[Armchair Critic]

So what's Jesse's wife's game, she seems to know he did all that stuff yet doesn't do anything about it. Keefe is a strange duck.

[Aileen]

9 minutes ago, Armchair Critic said:

So what's Jesse's wife's game, she seems to know he did all that stuff yet doesn't do anything about it. Keefe is a strange duck.

She doesn’t want to be poor again. If she looks the other way, she stays rich.

[thuganomics85]

Toby Huss!  Between this and his recent appearance on GLOW, I'm glad to see him showing up in the comedies I watch.  He already did an appearance on Brooklyn Nine-Nine years ago, so he just needs to pop in on The Good Place, and I'll be set!

Can't say I'm really religious in any way, but if this episode was any indication, Satanists seem to have way more fun!  I do like the overall story with Keefe and him being torn between his past and present/future, and I definitely think he's my favorite character now.

I have to think Amanda knows that Jesse is lying to her, but wants to maintain her status, in order not to go back to being poor.  Still, I think that montage of her being an expert with guns is going to come into play somehow.

Gideon's plan is to rob the church's vault: possibly on Easter of all days!

Next week's episode could be very interesting, judging from the previews.

[patty1h]

I cracked up at the wife who found the emails having a meltdown during Amber's girls lunch.  When she swept the stuff off of the table and then fell down after attacking the rolling cart, I LMAO.  This show hits my funny bone for some reason.

I was bracing myself that Kelvin was going to make a move on the troubled teen girl, and was pleasantly surprised that he kept it platonic.  I also keep getting this vibe that Kelvin and Keefe are gonna have some kind of... relationship.   Just me?

Edited September 9, 2019 by patty1h
wrong name

[Phishbulb]

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Next week's episode could be very interesting, judging from the previews.

Yeah, it's always interesting when they stop a show mid-season to have a "flashback" episode showing the earlier lives of the characters. They did this on "Atlanta" too.

I don't know if the whole episode will be one long flashback, but it appears that way.

[tennisgurl]

Toby Huss is everywhere lately, between showing up here and on GLOW earlier this summer! Always great to see him, especially in a comedy, after I've gotten used to see him in more dramatic series. 

I suspect that Amanda knows that Jessie is lying to her, but she wants to keep her wealth and status, refusing to be poor again, and she was upset that one of the wives was trying to upset the status quo by not turning a blind eye. I think she will stick it out, but her being a gun expert makes me think that it will come into play later, maybe something to do with her kids. 

Kelvin is a dweeb and just as hypocritical as the rest of his family, but he actually seems like he might be a decent youth counselor, his man child personality might be good at relating to kids in a "Jesus was way cool" kind of way. I also continue to suspect that Kelvin and Keefe might be a little more than just Jesus buddies. Keefe might be my favorite character so far. 

I liked seeing the behind the scenes of the highly organized way that the church handles both money and prayer requests, religion as a corporate monolith, even when it comes to prayer. So Gideon and his sleazy stuntman buddy want to rob the church! And on Easter!

[Victor the Crab]

At least we all know how the blackmail video got recorded and why.

Maybe Amber does know about Jesse's less that faithful ways to her and doesn't want to rock the boat and give up on her lifestyle. But I'd have to think that she's waiting on the right moment to catch Jesse in the act and/or find evidence that has him lying to her, then divorce him and be rewarded a big fat alimony settlement that bleeds the Gemstone family. Maybe Gideon will help his mother out.

And I liked Kelvin in this episode. He may look like a clueless, immature douche, but he seems to take his role as youth outreach minister seriously, especially towards that young daughter of the family's big donor. And I don't know that Kelvin has a thing going on with Keefe. If anything, Keefe may be tempted to go back to the dark side, looking at him in this episode. Hell, if I was at a rave party like that, I'd be all HAIL SATAN and stuff.

[scrb]

The satanist thing seemed like a caricature.  They wanted to depict some lifestyle which is 180 degrees opposite of the Gemstones?

Since the Gemstones are frauds, well at least Jesse and his cronies, the alternative to televangelist spirituality doesn’t have to be some kooky satanists.  

Spoiled rich girl could get into drugs without hanging with the goths.

Yeah eventually the wives will figure out that ATL is the place their husbands went to on a trip.

Not sure what Gideons deal is.  Sure he’s outraged at the hypocrisy and that’s a big step growing up in that environment.  But to want to rob them?

So his stunt man dreams didn’t work out.  Why not look at doing someth8ng else?  Maybe if Jesse gave him money occasionally, he wouldn’t have tried to blackmail and now plot o rob.

But maybe Eli is tight with the money.  Jesse had problems getting together the ransom. All that money rolling in and they leave lavishly.  But grandkids aren’t spoiled?  Or do they have to show that they’re all-in on the family business before they’re rewarded with all the perks?

They can be closet cases like Kelvin but as long as he’s a minister they get to live well on the compound?

We  haven’t  seen Jesse preach have we?

[LBS]

On 9/9/2019 at 12:30 PM, tennisgurl said:

I liked seeing the behind the scenes of the highly organized way that the church handles both money and prayer requests, religion as a corporate monolith, even when it comes to prayer. 

I loved that this scene was such a homage to the ‘Casino’ movie scene.  Such great satire!

[Eyes High]

On 9/10/2019 at 11:23 PM, scrb said:

Yeah eventually the wives will figure out that ATL is the place their husbands went to on a trip.

But can they do about it, exactly? The church requires womanly forbearance and forgiveness if a man who strays claims he's real sorry about the hookers and blow, regardless of whatever amends he actually makes or the damage he has done. Also, these women are all financially dependent housewives as far as I can tell, not surprisingly so given that they're attached to evangelical Christianity, which stresses (and is largely built on) female subservience. They'll tell themselves whatever nonsense they need to, ultimately--it was a one-off, it will never happen again, their husbands are super regretful, it's up to God to judge them, it's all the fault of the devil women who seduced them, this was all part of God's plan, etc. etc.--and move on.

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Not sure what Gideons deal is.  Sure he’s outraged at the hypocrisy and that’s a big step growing up in that environment.  But to want to rob them?

It's about revenge on his father for his shitty parenting. The money is secondary.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Eyes High