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Lord have mercy! BJ is on a bumpy ride in the third season of Good gems. So are the masses, but in the best way. The new season premiered on HBO last week, and upcoming episodes find our favorite TV evangelist’s family facing more dangerous situations and emotional chaos than ever before. This also applies to the revived character BJ Tim Paltz. In Season 3, BJ and Judy’s (Edi Patterson) marriage was really tested, forcing BJ to make some big changes.
“I loved that BJ stands up for himself this season,” Paltz told MovieWeb. I think he’s done certain versions of that in previous seasons, but this time, without getting into spoilers, he’s put in a position where he has to really try to be someone he’s not. He has to push himself a little bit more and stand up to not just stand up to the family. , but also towards Jodi, based on her actions. It forces him to develop and grow. And when you play a character for several seasons, that’s a blessing.”
Amen to that. Learn more about BJ’s evolution, how Baltz feels about the show, and much more in this exclusive interview.
What’s going on with BJ and Judy?
Last week’s Season 3 premiere episode revealed that Stephen (played by Steven Schneider), the guitarist for the Frantic Church tour, became engaged to Jodi Jameston during her singing tour. Judy does everything she can to end her relationship with him to no avail – they may, in fact, be considered one of the most bizarre hookups. BJ may be naive, but he’s not stupid. Things heat up after he eventually finds out what happened between the two, and there is an inevitable showdown between BJ and Stephen.
Stephen Schneider did a great job [in that confrontation scene] And I was very lucky to have played that arc with him,” Waltz admitted. “He’s very professional. And he is very funny and present as an actor. I didn’t want to do that fight scene [in real life]It’s intimate and intense, with everyone else.”
Really confrontational. In addition to working with Schneider, Baltz credits the show’s writers and cast, teasing a major shift with several characters for the upcoming season.
“It’s great to work with these people on the show, and a lot of them were on the sitcom, but on a sitcom, you’re going back to the same set of jokes for a certain character,” he said. And that’s fine because the writers know how to write that. But with this show, specifically BJ over the few seasons, he continues to evolve and get into more dramatic situations. You see these other sides and dimensions of him. That fight scene [with Stephen] Filming took two days. We had some raw emotions in Episode VI, and it was devastating. But that’s fun for me as an actor, because it’s quite a challenge.”
On BJ and the rest of the gems
When asked how much he is like BJ, if at all, Baltz said, “I’m not like that character, per se, but I certainly relate to this character’s decency and kindness and her feeling like a fish out of water. I grew up in a conservative religious environment. Sometimes I felt That people projected that character onto me. So, I found it easy. From the first time I read the pilot script, I related to him and played with him.”
Good gems It shines for many reasons, most notably its rich cast, whose different acting styles appeal to different generations of viewers. “Obviously I’ve come to see a lot of John Goodman movies, and John is so well trained, it’s easy to get lost studying how he performs because he’s invested in the performance,” Paltz said of the actor playing Eli Gemstone. Paltz also sang the praises of the other cast members – Danny McBride (Jessie), Eddie Patterson, Adam Devine (Kelvin), and others.
You have Walton Goggins (Baby Billy Freeman), who’s an amazing actor and takes such extreme risks. Eddie, Adam, Tony Cavalero (Kevi) and I are more or less from the same generation.
“I’m so lucky that most of my scenes are with Eddie,” he added. “We’ve had an easy relationship since I first auditioned for the show in 2018. And when we have big lunch scenes at church, those are the best days. Everyone’s in a good mood.”
The biggest surprises of the third season
One thing viewers will be surprised about in Season 3, Paltz said, is that our beloved gem finds itself in danger. The character of Peter (Steve Zahn), Ellie’s ex-brother-in-law, should catch the eye. Peter runs a strange militia. May – Mae Montgomery (Kristen Johnston from Third rock from the sun) will also get attention as Ellie’s sister.
“There’s a family drama that threatens the Empire and a monster truck element that’s going to surprise audiences this season, because the truck itself is such a character,” Paltz said. he added:
Overall, though, this season we’re going to see a lot of emotional devastation and fight scenes or greater danger, like BJ’s fight scene. I hate to pick my own thing, but I think this fight scene will shock a lot of people because of its violence and because of the nudity. Yes, when it comes to gems, we know there will be nudity at some point.
One must also ask: What is the audience really communicating with this show? Why do we love gems? “Family dysfunction is far more prevalent than we give it credit for,” Paltz explained. “People love seeing other people’s family dysfunction. There’s a reason so many shows all over American comedy revolve around family dysfunction, whether it’s benefit, drama or comedy. It’s hard to look away from it.”
“I also think that Danny McBride and the whole crew — they’re in the mid-Atlantic — they just get it. They really get how they make fun of those East Coast and mid-Atlantic things — you know, the angry guy, the people fighting for their place in the world and their power And the Great Church.
“It’s something in the back of our minds, the superchurch. It’s this undercurrent throughout our lives, and not enough people talk about it. And when they do, I think they get it wrong. What’s interesting about this show is that they’re right. I come from a family Big — I’m one of the youngest of my 20 cousins – and I always grew up seeing power dynamics and not really understanding them. So, when you watch something like Good gems You can watch this without getting emotionally invested or affected by it. You just have to laugh.”
Good gems It airs Sunday nights on HBO and it airs on Max.
