Judy Gemstone is one of the main characters in the T.V. series, The Righteous Gemstones. She's the middle child of Dr. Eli Gemstone and Aimee-Leigh Gemstone. She is portrayed by actress Edi Patterson and her younger version is played by Emma Shannon.
Background[]
Judy is a part of the Gemstone family. She is a secretary. She is the middle of three Gemstone offspring of Eli and Aimee-Leigh Gemstone. Originally, she was supposed to be the last and youngest of the Gemstone clan. However, upon Aimee-Leigh's surprise pregnancy resulting in Kelvin's birth, she became the middle child with a strong middle child complex.
Plot[]
Season 1[]
Judy starts off the show/season as a secretary in her mid 30s, working a dead-end job for her father and family's church, Gemstone Ministries. Due to her emotional immaturity and need to constantly compete with her brothers, she has never been given a chance of her own to shine. She has constant emotional outbursts and tries to one-up Jesse and Kelvin whenever possible. As of the start of season 1, she is engaged to Benjamin Jason "BJ" Barnes, and they share a house together at the Gemstone compound in Charleston, SC.
In 1989, Judy enjoyed her status as the youngest member of the family and the princess of Eli Gemstone's clan. However, upon hearing of Aimee-Leigh's surprise late life pregnancy with Kelvin (both Eli and Aimee-Leigh were in their 40s), Judy immediately grew to resent her parents for upsetting this status. During her birthday party in 1989, Judy was gifted by her Uncle Baby Billy with a miniature pink Corvette. Her parents saw this as usurping them, and as such, did not allow Baby Billy to gift the car to Judy. To further create dissent among the family, Baby Billy plied Jesse with Coors Light Beer, resulting in Jesse's drunken outburst to the family and passing out from his inebriation. Between Judy's parents gifting her a simple locket with their pictures instead of letting her accept the Corvette, along with Jesse's outburst, this ruined Judy's birthday, which she held a grudge for the rest of her life.
Flashing forward to the present day (2019), Judy feels resentment toward her family for never letting her shine in the ways she can. She gets roped into Jesse's blackmail scheme involving Jesse's son Gideon and his stunt colleague Scotty, which she later divulges to their father Eli. Separately, Baby Billy begins to groom Judy to join him in Locust Grove at the new Gemstone location, as well as to join him in replacing her mother in Baby Billy's musical act. Eli sees through this and recognizes Baby Billy's treachery, as Baby Billy wanted to steal Judy from Eli the same way Eli supposedly stole Aimee-Leigh from Baby Billy before the show started.
Judy develops her dancing and singing skills with Baby Billy, performing Misbehavin' to Baby Billy's delight. Baby Billy even goes so far to start calling Judy, "Judy-Leigh", in a nod to her mother. This leads her father to finally recognize her talents, and Eli offers her a chance to perform during the donation collection portion of the Easter Sunday service at the main Gemstone location in Charleston. Baby Billy does not approve of this, and demands Judy join him in Locust Grove for Easter Sunday. Judy relents and performs in Locust Grove, spurning her father and brothers. Before her performance in Locust Grove, however, she demands sexual favors from BJ, who turns her down and subsequently breaks up with her.
After Baby Billy and Tiffany decide to leave Locust Grove with the money they acquired from Scotty after their car accident, Judy confonts them. Baby Billy then reveals that his whole scheme of using Judy was a ploy to get back at Eli, and that Baby Billy never truly believed in Judy's talents, which are non-existent according to him. These kicks off an existential crisis and emotional breakdown from Judy, who then confronts her ex BJ at his optician's office location inside a Piggly Wiggly supermarket. BJ had changed a lot about himself, in terms of personality and looks after breaking up with Judy. BJ got his left ear pierced, along with choosing to be more assertive and controlling in his life. Judy begs BJ to take her back, but BJ rejects this reunion. BJ's coworker, Denim, defends BJ and Judy proceeds to insult her. As Denim is prepping for a fight, Judy begins to destroy the optician's office and vandalize the Piggly Wiggly. She proceeds to the parking lot, where she damages Denim's car by ramming shopping carts into the vehicle. She is later brought to jail, where Eli has to bribe the arresting officers in order for Judy to be released.
After being bailed out of jail and having a come to Jesus meeting with her family, she reveals at the spot of Baby Billy and Scotty's crash, that she told Eli about Jesse's (and Kelvin's) participation in Gideon's blackmail scheme. There, she finds a springy Jesus figurine that Baby Billy used to keep on the dashboard of his car. They then all figure out that Baby Billy was the one that got into the accident with Scotty, was likely the one responsible for Scotty's death, and almost certainly absconded with the stolen Gemstone money that Scotty robbed. The whole Gemstone clan then proceeds to confront Baby Billy and Tiffany at Aimee-Leigh's ancestral home in Freeman's Gap, SC. At first, Tiffany claims Baby Billy is dead, but they spot Baby Billy fleeing the house into an open field. Chasing him through the rainstorm, the family confronts Baby Billy who claims that the money is actually rightfully his, as Eli stole Aimee-Leigh from him and denied Baby Billy of his primary income source, the musical duo with him and his sister. Baby Billy is then struck by lightning, knocking him unconscious. As the Gemstones return Baby Billy to the house, Baby Billy comes to and reveals that he saw his sister in heaven and forgives his in-laws.
Later, Judy confronts BJ again, meeting up at an Outback Steakhouse. At this rendezvous, Judy reveals that her claimed sexual prowess was all a lie. She tells BJ that she wasn't the sexual freak she had sold herself as, and her only sexual encounter to that date had been with a college professor that she sexually assaulted in his own office. She describes the encounter, which involved giving said professor a handjob against his will. After he climzxed, the professor started crying and told her about his wife and son, before filing a restraining order. Upon finding out the identity of her professor's son, Judy proceeds to kidnap the son from his elementary school and tell the son about her encounter with his father, before she got arrested. BJ respects Judy for being honest with him, and they agree to reconcile thereafter.
Season 2[]
While not listed on IMDB in the Season 2 cast, Danny McBride revealed in an October 2021 interview that Edi Patterson would return as Judy, and that Judy and BJ agreed to elope in the interlude between Season 1 and Season 2. This elopement is going to be a major issue in the family in the season, as Eli does not approve of a secretive elopement as opposed to a Christian wedding that would be expected of a pastor's daughter.
In the first episode of Season 2, it is indeed revealed that Judy and BJ got married in a secret ceremony at Walt Disney World. Judy's siblings rib her about it constantly. During the church service shown in the episode, a video and photo montage played to the church shows Judy joining her brother Jesse at protests against COVID-19 restrictions. Judy is constantly battling with Jesse over Jesse angling to take over for Eli, as Judy has been elevated to higher position within the church herself, no longer on the sidelines as a simple secretary and participating in pastoral duties on the same level as Jesse.
When Eli reveals to the family that Thaniel Block is investigating them, Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin take it upon themselves to speak to Thaniel and try and persuade him that Eli is on his way out and the kids are slated to take over the ministry. They pile into Judy's Tesla Model Y to go and confront Thaniel. Upon reaching the cabin where Thaniel is staying, they notice a lot of oddities. Jesse and Judy go to the cabin, where they see the door is unlocked and open. Kelvin stays in the car for the time being. Jesse and Judy go through the house, where Jesse finds Thaniel's dead body with a bullet hole in his head. Kelvin steps out of the Tesla and sees a blown up car and two dead bodies. Judy joins Jesse in the room where they see Thaniel laying in a pool of his own blood. Kelvin, spooked from the other bodies, runs into the house where he slips and knocks all three into the pool of blood, where they struggle to stand up and cover themselves in Thaniel's blood. The three then try to get into Judy's Tesla, where they struggle to get in and close the doors. A man with a flashlight sees them, and they depart. Eventually, they make it home and get to the compound and start washing themselves in a fountain. Eli appears with Martin, also bloodstained, arousing suspicion in the three siblings.
After Junior Marsh's reappearance, Judy and Jesse notice strange behavior in Eli. BJ points out to Judy and Jesse that he noticed particularly odd behavior in Eli, when BJ would roller blade through the Gemstone amusement park to stay swole. BJ would record Eli riding the roller coaster Exodus over and over, but only by himself. Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin all thought Eli's shift in behavior after Junior entered their orbit was definitely strange and somehow tied to Junior's presence. The siblings would have a confrontation with their father over his bloodied appearance the night they were at Thaniel Block's cabin, and Eli explained that he was back dating again and cut his genitals when trying to engage in mascaping before intercourse with his date. This disgusted the siblings, who wanted an explanation akin to him killing the people at Thaniel Block's cabin, not cutting his scrotum while grooming his pubic region.
Later, Judy arranges for BJ's baptism by Eli, as BJ was raised nonreligious in a family that grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. The ceremony and following reception are extravagant and over-the-top, with the decorations being largely vivid pink and purple colors, with the backgrounds featuring sensual photos of BJ. Judy's relationship with her in-laws starts off rocky, as she did not allow for them to stay at her and BJ's house in the Gemstone compound, given Baby Billy and a pregnant Tiffany were staying with him as well. BJ's family did not take this well, and BJ's sister KJ Barnes called Judy out for it. Judy takes her revenge by singing a song that contains pointed references to BJ leaving his family and joining hers. At the reception, Judy encourages BJ to wear his pink velvet romper and cummerbund, much to his family's amusement. When KJ believes his dress of choice is a joke or worn for irony, both he and Judy snap at BJ's family, largely KJ. Judy even confronts KJ in the ladies' bathroom, pushing KJ to admit she has incestuous feelings for BJ, which KJ refuses to do. Judy even characterizes BJ's family by saying to her father, "They're from Asheville, daddy, they hate God." This is, of course, in reference to Asheville's reputation for liberalism and socially left-leaning residents, which BJ's family clearly identify with.
Judy and BJ on BJ's big day
BJ's fight with his family escalates to the point where he even grabs a piece of a cake baked to his size and likeness, and throws it at his sister. She ducks and it hits Eli, who loses his temper at BJ and decries the opulence and decadence of the baptism ceremony and reception. While Jesse and Amber notice the dysfunction, they and Eli attempt to leave the reception. Eli is confronted by Kelvin and his God Squad, a group of muscle-bound men that blend fitness and faith. Kelvin had a bone to pick with Eli, over Eli not allowing Kelvin to take the Gemstone private jets and bring his group of men out into the Israeli desert, akin to what Christ did in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Kelvin's commotion takes all the attention away from BJ and his bickering family, and everyone files into the hallway to watch Kelvin and Eli duke it out. Kelvin eventually shoves Eli into a tower of balloons, escalating their physical altercation. Eli activates his former wrestling self and gets the best of Kelvin. He eventually has Kelvin in the thumb-breaking position, where Kelvin refuses to submit and even over-confidently asserts that Eli won't harm him. Eli breaks both of Kelvin's thumbs, and sends him to the hospital.
BJ and Judy continue their marriage, as Judy continues squabbling with her siblings over the various plotlines of the show. Judy later takes a liking to her younger Aunt Tiffany, married to Baby Billy and pregnant with their unborn son, Lionel. As revealed in the 1993 flashback, Baby Billy abandoned his first family and son, and spent the following Christmas with the Gemstones. Judy noticed the similarities between how Baby Billy treated his prior family and how he was treating Tiffany. Eventually, just like he did with his prior wife and his son Harmon, Baby Billy took off and left Tiffany at the Gemstone Compound. Baby Billy went off selling all sorts of cosmetic "healing" products, which he pitched as having anti-COVID capabilities. BJ and Judy help Tiffany track Baby Billy down through credit and debit card statements, which Baby Billy had taken out in the name of their unborn son, Lionel. BJ, Judy, and Tiffany confront Baby Billy as he's packing up after one of his sales pitch advertisement recordings, and Baby Billy first plays coy. Eventually, the jig is up and Billy admits he left, but was selling his products to support Tiffany and Lionel, a clear lie. Tiffany and Judy call Baby Billy out for his lies, and Baby Billy tries to convince Tiffany to come with him. Judy talks her out of it, and convinces her to let him leave. Baby Billy attacks BJ and eventually takes off in a fit, crashing his trailer and scattering his health products in the parking lot.
While Jesse and Amber pursue business with Lyle Lissons, Judy is the most skeptical out of the family of the scheme. When visiting the beach location in Florida, Judy reveals she wasn't on board and agreed with Eli that the church should not fund this venture. Before that, Judy even noticed Amber's gambit of using revealing clothing when she and Jesse need something from Eli. She crudely mocks Amber's outfit, which embarrasses Amber.
After Eli is shot, she and BJ hide out at the secure compound location. Jesse enlists BJ to help with his diversion scheme at the hospital. BJ is not harmed, but is derided by his family for his cowardly tendencies. BJ eventually has a man to man with Eli, where both confirm their respect for each other and Eli expresses his respect for BJ's unflinching devotion to Judy, who's a very high-maintenance woman.
During a post-service lunch, Jesse elects to sit in Eli's chair/spot while Eli is still in the hospital recuperating from his injuries. Judy despises this, and calls Jesse out for trying to take Eli's place in the family. Judy is so insistent, that she eventually forces Jesse to move back to his normal spot next to Amber.
Later, when everyone reunites at the soft opening of Zion's Landing, Judy has essentially adopted Tiffany as a sort of daughter or niece figure. When Baby Billy shows up, Judy calls him out and explains why his presence is a bad thing. However, when Tiffany goes into a porta potty, she starts labor and eventually gives birth to Lionel in the toilet of the porta potty, similar to how Tiffany was born. Baby Billy redeems himself by rescuing the baby from the toilet, and proclaiming the baby as his son.
Meanwhile, Jesse is told the truth by Lyle Lissons about the Cycle Ninjas and they fistfight. Jesse knocks Lyle out, and believed Lyle to be dead. Jesse gets his siblings to help dispose of Lyle, who ends up waking up and fighting them again. Lyle's wife Lindy Lissons appears with a gun, and threatens the family. She shoots BJ in the kneecap, and then forces the Gemstone family into the ocean, where they escape. Later, it is shown that Zion's Landing was taken over by the Gemstones after the Lissons went into exile in Alaska.
In the church service following all of these events, almost everyone is present in the pews: Baby Billy, Tiffany and Lionel; Baby Billy's son Harmon and his family; BJ's parents and sister; and Junior as well.
With Judy's increased role and higher profile in the show in Season 2, Edi Patterson has received critical acclaim for her performance as Judy in Season 2. Judy's side plot with Tiffany has garnered positive reviews and praise for Patterson, showing a depth of character to Judy that wasn't present in the prior season.
Season 3[]
Judy has recently come back from a tour around the country named "Judy on Top". During her tour she started an affair with her main guitarist Stephen, which she was not interested in continuing after returning back home since they're both married, much to Stephen's dismay. They were caught by Jesse and Kelvin kissing on stage but met in secret not long after, where Judy attempted to again break everything off with him, even offering him "Fuck off money", only to learn that Stephen would willingly leave his wife and children for Judy and wanted to fight her husband for her. The fifth episode this season was a flashback to the year 2000, when the Gemstone siblings are still kids Jesse Presumably around 18 or 19 Amber around 17 yrs old and a 15 yr old Judy and a 8 yr old Kelvin . We learned a lot about the relationship between Judy and Jesse.
Quotes[]
How was China for you boys? I wouldn’t know, ‘cause I was stuck here, being a secretary.
Photos[]
References[]
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