Prelude

Bradley Cooper delivers an absolutely stellar performance in this episode, making it one of the most compelling and emotionally engaging installments of the entire series. His acting is nuanced, drawing viewers into every moment with a level of depth and authenticity that elevates the storytelling. This might just be the best episode yet, setting an incredibly high bar for what comes next. However, that also presents a challenge-where does the show go from here? If they immediately jump back to the present day without addressing the weight of this episode properly, it could feel jarring or even underwhelming. The writers now have the difficult task of maintaining the momentum and ensuring that whatever comes next doesn't feel like a step down in quality or impact. Hopefully, they find a way to transition smoothly and keep delivering at this level.

Bradley Cooper is great in this! But t I truly don't understand what is appealing about extreme gore, bullets to the head, murder by strangling, and the insensitivity it must require to enjoy watching an hour of bloody dismemberment reenactments of the Civil War. The purpose and aesthetic of the episode would have been the same without 90% of it. Violence sells though, I guess. This isn't the only episode where I have a similar comment but it was on display here throughout the entire episode, right up to the machine gun executions at the end. What was the point? I didn't turn on The Righteous Gemstones for anti-war realism.

This episode was so good and so far removed from the present life shenanigans of the Gemstones that if I wasn't the one to actually press play on it I would've sworn it's a different series.

In this "Prelude" you see a man go from a malfeasant and a swindler to someone that's still holds the same attributes honestly, but with a newfound will for self discovery and a curiosity to actually step into the shoes of the man he was impersonating. All set during de civil war era, which was surprising considering we never got that far back with none of the previous flashbacks.

Is this still a comedy; the answer is yes, gallows humor if you will.

I hope for more of this from the writers.

Naturally, you watch Gemstones to get a laugh. However, it always provides its best when it goes back in time to understand why things are the way they are. In that sense, this episode is a true gemstone. Somehow, McBride is able to get some humor about the tragedy of the civil war, while making you feel the tragedy that it was and how tragedy can create faith. In that sense, we can understand faith and how powerful and sticky it is. This episode makes me hope that some day McBride would work on the subject of war and human nature.

In sum, just excellent work. Maybe McBride's best episode across all of his series.

This isn't the comedy I tuned in for, in fact, it wasn't a comedy at all. Not one single laugh. I get it though...back stories ate important...sometimes. I don't think it was necessary for this show and certainly not in the final season. After nearly two years of waiting, and knowing that this season was the last, I expected the first episode to remind me of why I tune in every week once a season is launched. This episode failed me.

I get it. We all now know the origin of the Gemstones and how they got into religion for money. But devoting an entire episode to that? I agree with others...a few minutes of flashback would have been plenty to have established that foundation. I find myself fast forwarding too often...