Kelvin Gemstone is one of the main characters in the T.V. series, The Righteous Gemstones. He is portrayed by actor Adam Devine, his younger version is played by Tristan Borders.
Background[]
Kelvin is the youngest child of Aimee-Leigh Gemstone and Dr. Eli Gemstone. Born in 1989 as an oops baby, he is much younger than his siblings Jesse Gemstone and Judy Gemstone. He currently serves as Gemstone Ministries' youth pastor.
When Aimee-Leigh became pregnant with Kelvin, it came as quite the shock to both her and Eli due to their age. Aimee-Leigh and Eli managed to see the pregnancy as a miracle, drawing parallels to Abraham and Sarah. However, this pregnancy would drive a wedge between Aimee-Leigh and her brother, Baby Billy Freeman. Originally, Aimee-Leigh had agreed to tour with Baby Billy while pregnant with Kelvin, however Baby Billy's dishonesty over selling parcels of his and Aimee-Leigh's family ancestral land led Aimee-Leigh to cancel the tour and cut ties with her brother.
Fast forward to the present day and beginning of season 1, Kelvin is the youth minister for his family's church. Participating in the mass baptism in China as the series opens, Kelvin and his brother Jesse get into an argument about baptismal immersion that ends with the wave pool where said baptism is taking place being activated.
Kelvin is constantly the butt of Judy and Jesse's jokes, given both of them did not want their parents to have an additional child. Kelvin is frequently ridiculed by both at dinner table scenes, mainly with abuse coming from Jesse. However, this does not stop Kelvin from participating in Jesse's schemes, mainly dealing with the fallout from Jesse's blackmail video.
Kelvin had been living in the Gemstone compound with his own house, having taken in a former Satanist named Keefe as a roommate. Keefe had been a full Satanist, with most of his friend groups still participating in the Satanism, as well as weekly raves at a warehouse where loud electronic music is played and drugs were aplenty. However, upon meeting Kelvin, Keefe became "saved" and became a Christian. From then on, Keefe assisted Kelvin in his youth ministry. However, Keefe continues to be an awkward presence for Kelvin, given his still present Satanist tattoos as well as an awkward personal demeanor and speaking style.
Plot[]
Season 1[]
Kelvin's major plotline outside of his participation with his siblings in Jesse's ordeal, involves the evangelism to a particular young woman, Dot Nancy. Dot is the daughter of two prominent church members and donors, Dale and Gay Nancy. Dale and Gay are concerned about Dot's non-Christian lifestyle, alongside her dating a much older and sketchier man, Austin. Kelvin agreed to try and turn Dot around, starting with a spiritual cleanout of her bedroom possessions. This leads Dot to storm off and leave with Austin later. However, she does agree to attend a youth ministry session at a trampoline park.
At the trampoline park, Kelvin attempts to impress Dot with his acrobatics and she seems mildly amused. However, she uses that as cover to attend one of the raves that Keefe used to attend (and his friends still do). When Kelvin confronts her at the Rave, her boyfriend attempts to pick a fight with Kelvin. However, the rave is raided by police and Austin ditches Dot because he possessed MDMA on his person.
Kelvin eventually escapes with Dot using Keefe's experience of the building. Dot eventually dumps Austin and begins regularly attending Gemstone youth events and meetings. However, she becomes dismayed after Kelvin chooses to abandon his post, in favor of cultivating a darker, almost Goth or Emo, persona and quitting his job as youth minister.
Kelvin adopted the new facade after realizing he actually wasn't a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Upon this disappointment, Kelvin feels disillusioned with his role and ends up kicking Keefe out of his house. However, he sees Keefe's social media posts and realizes Keefe is back to his old ways with drugs and Satanism. Kelvin returns to another rave at the same warehouse he found Dot at, and sees Keefe in a bizarre set up, floating in a tank with tubes connected to his chest. Kelvin disconnects the tubes, revives Keefe, and the two of them return to the Gemstone compound with a new lease on life.
Kelvin's youthful and modern aesthetic look bears great similarities to the preachers featured on the "PreachersNSneakers" Instagram, as well as an uncanny resemblance to Elevation Church (of Charlotte, NC) pastor, Steven Furtick.
Season 2[]
In Season 2, Kelvin has started a new project/program, involving a group of musclebound men, dubbed Kelvin's God Squad. Kelvin leads this cult-like group, which is obsessed with fitness and feats of strength. Adam Devine stated in an interview, that the Squad was inspired by John Jacobs' Power Team, a similar group of fitness-obsessed Christian men that performed feats of strength in front of church congregations.
It is not clear as to what the actual goal or idea behind the God Squad is, beyond playing further into Kelvin's Messiah Complex. Kelvin brings them almost everywhere with him, including Keefe.
Separately, Kelvin is roped into Jesse and Judy's shenanigans, again as someone that wants no involvement. After Eli announces that journalist Thaniel Block is investigating the family, Kelvin goes along with Jesse and Judy's idea to go confront Thaniel at the cabin he's renting outside Charleston. Upon arriving at the cabin, they notice a lot amiss and Kelvin stays back by Judy's Tesla. While Judy and Jesse go into the house and search the property, Kelvin exits the Tesla and notices a burnt out car and two nearby dead bodies. He freaks out, and runs into the house toward Jesse and Judy. Jesse and Judy happened upon Thaniel's dead body and pool of blood, where Kelvin slips and runs into the other two, forcing them all to roll around in Thaniel's blood. The other two see the other bodies, and attempt to flee in the Tesla. Kelvin and Jesse both struggle to close the doors on the Tesla, delaying their departure until a man with a flashlight sees them. They escape and attempt to wash the blood off themselves in a water fountain in the Gemstone compound. Eli shows up shortly, covered in blood himself, stating it was "deer's blood", suspiciously. The siblings later confront Eli, where Eli presented a story about him trying to groom his genital area, having cut himself and that's why he was covered in blood. Much to his children's disgust, they wish he had actually killed someone and not cut his scrotum preparing for intercourse with someone that wasn't their mother Aimee-Leigh.
Kelvin leads the God Squad with an iron fist, forcing forms of torture on them in the name of Jesus, should they disobey him or the rules. His primary torture method is to force unruly members to "Bear the Cross", in a sort of tribal council similar to Survivor. The specific member has to carry a reinforced-concrete cross, and then mount it so it is standing. He forces a young man, Titus, who expresses skepticism in Kelvin, to endure this act, which he fails. Upon failure, the members are then put in a cage like a dog and ridiculed.
Kelvin has the squad perform a human pyramid stunt, even though the Squad are not experienced with them. Eventually, one of the members buckles and the whole thing collapses. The member that was injured sues the Gemstones' church, leading to a harsh rebuke for Kelvin by Eli. Eli implores Kelvin to grow up, and end his childish fantasies.
Kelvin leading the God Squad
Kelvin starts to lose control of his group as the season progresses. He attempts to bring all of them with him to the Israeli desert, using the Gemstone private jet fleet. Eli and Martin refuse to let Kelvin do this, which enrages Kelvin. Kelvin had wanted to imitate Jesus' exile in the desert, as described in three of the four Gospels. This further erodes Kelvin's fantasy of him being a Messianic figure, and leads him to confront his father for humiliating him. In the hallway outside Benjamin Jason "BJ" Barnes' baptism reception, Kelvin crosses his father and eventually engages in a fight with Eli. Eli gains the upper hand and quickly puts Kelvin into a submission hold, threatening to break his thumbs as Eli did during his wrestling days. Kelvin refuses to give up or submit, and Eli breaks his thumbs, sending him to the hospital. This destroys Kelvin's reputation to the squad, who then begin to openly defy Kelvin and Keefe.
Eventually, the member Torsten, lauded by Kelvin for his strict adherence to sex abstinence, attempts to usurp Kelvin and "Bear the Cross". Torsten is successful and goads Kelvin into duplicating the feat. Keefe objects, saying that it is an unfair challenge given Kelvin's recent injury and offers to do the challenge instead. Keefe is unsuccessful, and thus is thrown into the animal cage and humiliated. Kelvin loses control of the squad, who takes over his house and property. Torsten, Titus, and other members ridicule Kelvin and Keefe regularly.
After Kelvin recovers from his hand/thumb injuries and after a serious discussion with Eli, Kelvin attempts to wrestle back control of the Squad and release Keefe from his prison. Kelvin volunteers to "Bear the Cross", and is successful in mounting it. After proving his own worth and strength, Kelvin regains control of the Squad. He promptly tells them to get lost, which Thorsten asks how come he needed to go through the show of mounting the cross. Kelvin says that that is to tell all of them that they are not to get cute and he has the physical means to keep them out. After the God Squad is dissolved, Kelvin returns to his youth ministry. He has a physical fitness aspect once again but to far less controversy than before. Kelvin leads adolescents in a gymnasium encouraging them to stay in shape.
Season 3[]
Kelvin is shown at the beginning of Season 3 to be leading yet another odd moral crusade, this time "the Smut Busters". He and Keefe go to various sex and adult shops in the Charleston area, buying up their stock and then burning them. He is also continuing to lead the Youth Ministry, where he is increasingly less popular with the youth members of the church. Keefe is forced to be the one burning the various plastic, silicone, and other chemical-filled items, increasingly making Keefe's health worse. Keefe and Kelvin also later deduce that buying up the shops' stock is actually increasing their profits and making their businesses better, having the opposite of their intended effect.
Kelvin, as Eli is taking steps back away from the ministry, has an increased role in the management of the church alongside his two siblings. He sits alongside Judy and Jesse as they hear Baby Billy's pitch for "Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers" gameshow. Kelvin is also more visible at church services, yet the church seems to be suffering from falling attendance. This creates a financial crisis for the church, as the siblings' opulent lifestyles are only possible if they keep large donations flowing in from long-time members and donors such as Dusty Daniels. Daniels, a retired former NASCAR driver, was increasingly disappointed with the Gemstones, and openly cavorting with the leadership of another church, led by siblings (by adoption) of the Simkins family. The Simkins family had taken over their own family's church ministry from their parents, and were openly recruiting Daniels to join their congregation, hoping to secure a major estate bequest donation from Daniels upon Daniels' death. This led Kelvin, Judy, and Jesse to go to the Darlington Raceway to meet Daniels. Upon being confronted by the Simkins siblings, Daniels suggests a racing competition between the two families to see who will get his major donation. The Simkins prove to be both more knowledgeable about the Bible and defeat the Gemstones in the racing competition.
As Kelvin continues struggling to stay relevant in his youth ministry, he notices an employee Taryn who seems to be more in tune with the children than Keefe. Eventually, Kelvin halts the Smut Squad and fires Keefe from church ministry. Keefe goes on to be a carpenter, where he assembles a chair he builds for Kelvin. He presents Kelvin the chair at the church, who then humiliates Keefe and promotes Taryn to be his number two. Keefe and Kelvin continue to have awkward interactions, with tension building between the two. Kelvin is also present when Baby Billy and Jesse pitch the AI hologram of their mother, Aimee-Leigh and expresses his disgust at the idea. Both he and Judy "quit" the church, but ultimately return later at Jesse's request.
During the Interlude III episode, a adolescent Kelvin is shown alongside his older siblings. Kelvin is frequently joining up with either Jesse or Judy to gang up on the other. He is shown wearing necklaces at an early age and developing some of the sass he would display as an adult. He also seemed to be disapproving of Judy's treatment toward Amber, who is introduced for the first time as a young girl in Jesse's life. Judy also seems to harbor resentment toward Kelvin, as she felt that her parents were softer on Kelvin during his childhood than they were on Jesse. Young Kelvin displays the most restraint and discretion of his siblings, in contrast to brash and exuberant nature of Jesse and Judy.
Once Kelvin's aunt May-May Montgomery re-enters the picture, Eli tries to get his three children to interact with their cousins more, Karl Montgomery and Chuck Montgomery. Jesse and his siblings continue to view their relatives with disdain, seeing them as rural simpletons in contrast to their more refined tastes and style. During the cousins bonding session, they do a run through of sorts of Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers with their cousins, which goes awry. Eventually, though, the cousins come to respect each other and enjoy each others' company. However, Peter confronts the larger reunited family (without him) claiming that Eli and the Gemstones are Charlatans and shouldn't be mingling with his sons. Peter eventually gets Karl and Chuck to abduct Kelvin, Jesse, and Judy, taking them to their militia's compound and holding the three siblings for ransom, as well as taking Jesse's Redeemer monster truck. When Peter calls Eli to obtain the ransom payment, Eli believes Peter was bluffing and refuses to pay. This upsets the three siblings greatly, who believe Eli was going to let one of them die instead of just paying Peter. As Peter struggles to find someone that will actually kill one of the three, let alone one of their own kin, Karl contacts his mother (still living with Eli at the Gemstone Compound) to come rescue him and the three Gemstones, whom Karl actually regarded as family and had serious misgivings over using them as pawns. Gideon gets wind of this as well, and makes his own way to the Militia Compound to bring back the Redeemer to the Gemstones. Mae-Mae goes to the Compound to first contact Karl, who then assists the three Gemstone siblings escape their captivity in a barn, where they were forced to defecate in a bucket. As Peter then has a church service conducted before he plans to execute one of the Gemstones, Karl helps Judy, Jesse, and Kelvin escape in Mae-Mae's car. As the Church service disbands in the chaos that follows, Gideon is shown to have found the Redeemer and begins to bulldoze the Compound's structures. As May-May attempts to flee with Karl and the three Gemstones, Peter orders Chuck to fire upon his family. Chuck refuses, and then Gideon disperses the militia with the Redeemer, allowing his family to escape unharmed. Chuck remains with Peter, but is conflicted about his actions and his feelings toward his extended family.
Kelvin, upon being returned to Charleston and the church, confronts Eli alongside his siblings. Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin finally unite against Eli, all three being hurt and disgusted at their father for not paying Peter the ransom to keep them safe. Before entering the following church service with his siblings, he kisses Keefe in the tunnel hallway before entering the stage, much to everyone's surprise and joy.
Then later, Kelvin is impressed into his family's participation in the pilot of Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers, which Jesse agreed to do as a way of trying to secure the estate donation from Dusty Daniels. As the show is taped, their opponents the Simkins siblings are shown to be way more knowledgeable about the Bible and Christian trivia than the Gemstones siblings. However, a plague of locusts descends upon the church and studio, leading to utter chaos. As the chaos devolves, the eldest Simkin, Vance Simkin, cowardly tries to flee the studio, passing Dusty Daniels without helping. Jesse goes onto help rescue most of his family members, helping Judy and Kelvin get to safety and helps rescue Daniels. Daniels eventually confronts Vance, who is outed as a coward in front of everyone. Later, Daniels passes and the Gemstones are present at his funeral, where his buried inside his former NASCAR vehicle. The Gemstones are revealed to have received his bequest, having secured funding for the foreseeable future.
The final scene with the whole family bonding together while watching various members drive the Redeemer shows Kelvin with Keefe in their two wooden chairs, with Aimee-Leigh looking on with pride.
Quotes[]
Some people don't know how to be rich and still act like a human being.
Photos[]
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References[]
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