‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Stars on (Finally) Defining Kelvin & Keefe’s Relationship

[This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization.]

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Righteous Gemstones Season 3, Episode 8, “I Will Take You By the Hand and Keep You.”]

When it comes to the family at the center of HBO‘s The Righteous Gemstones, siblings Jesse (Danny McBride) and Judy (Edi Patterson) are fairly easy to read, but their younger brother Kelvin (Adam DeVine) has been keeping viewers on their toes regarding his connection with close friend Keefe (Tony Cavalero). Until now.

In Season 3’s penultimate episode, “I Will Take You By the Hand and Keep You,” Kelvin seemingly chose to define their blurry relationship with their first kiss moments before joining his brother and sister to lead the service for their family’s evangelical megachurch. The moment certainly took Jesse and Judy off guard as Kelvin made a decision to turn around and kiss Keefe before heading out on stage.

Judy and Jesse’s genuine shock was juxtaposed with her husband BJ’s (Tim Baltz) knowing glance in Kelvin and Keefe’s direction. It was arguably a big moment considering the long will-the-won’t-they dynamic played out by the men who began the show as close friends as Kelvin converted the former Satanist to join their church.

(Credit: HBO)

“It was a culmination of the last two-plus seasons and you see their relationship grow and grow. And especially this season, you see them get closer than ever only to have the church tear them apart,” DeVine says of the momentum that leads Kelvin and Keefe to this moment. And it’s a promising outcome considering how close the pair were to never reaching their romantic potential.

“It seems like they’re gonna be broken up. And we were talking about how often that probably happens with this kind of relationship where there’s a fork in the road and they choose to go left and then they never see the love of their life possibly ever again,” DeVine adds.  “So it was cool to fulfill their destiny of smooching.”

Cavalero feels similarly and is eager to see where this new development could take Kelvin and Keefe in the future (the show was just renewed for Season 4 ahead of the finale). “I’m really curious too. Danny’s such a genius. I don’t even wanna ponder it. I mean, I think there’s a world still where they’re so new to this that… they’re still discovering what this is and what it means,” Cavalero shares. “Cause I still feel like they’re very inexperienced entirely.”

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DeVine agrees, saying, “Inexperienced, especially for Kelvin… sexually [and] just in general. He might not have ever kissed anyone in his life. It doesn’t seem like he is a very sexual person at all. So it’s very asexual, to begin with. So I think it’ll be a very elementary level love,” he adds regarding the pair’s potential dynamic following this milestone.

Fret not about potential shenanigans because Cavalero believes Keefe could teach Kelvin a thing or two. “I feel like he’s done everything under the sun. So is there like a little bit of, ‘it’s okay, let me teach you,'” Cavalero ponders. Only time will tell. Let us know what you thought about the big moment in the comments section, below, and relive every hilarious Season 3 moment on Max.

The Righteous Gemstones, Season 3, Streaming now, HBO and Max