Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 episode "Love Isn't Always On Time." Stream it with a Max subscription and read at your own risk!
The Righteous Gemstones only has a few more episodes to wrap things up, so it's a good thing Danny McBride had an all-time great new character on tap, with Michael Rooker introduced as Lori Milsap's ex-husband Cobb. We learned he was responsible for the break-in at the family home where the Gemstone golden Bible was stolen, and it's clear Cobb is one bad dude. Which is indeed great for viewers.
I'm rather shocked it took four seasons for a Southern gem like Alabama native Michael Rooker to appear within The Righteous Gemstones as such a stellar character. Fortunately, his arrival on the 2025 TV schedule was better late than never, and Cobb is primed to be another obstacle in the way of Lori and Eli Gemstone's relationship. Michael Rooker has had Gemstones energy throughout his career as a character actor, and I have to wonder how long this casting choice has been in the cards.
Michael Rooker Is The Perfect Actor For The Righteous Gemstones
Michael Rooker is a beloved character actor, typically known for being intense and sometimes incredibly vulnerable. It's that style of acting that convinced me Yondu's death in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is my favorite out of all the major MCU deaths we've seen. His characters are often quick to anger, do a lot of shouting, and can even be funny. In short, he was born to be in The Righteous Gemstones, seeing as that's what most of the characters have done for four seasons straight.
Rooker is a golden talent and a great fit for the show, but maybe the price tag was too high to bring him in sooner than the final season. The actor has joked that his death on The Walking Dead was done by AMC because he was owed a pay bump going into the following season. Then again, The Righteous Gemstones footed the bill to get Bradley Cooper in for the final season's premiere, so one would think Rooker was always in the price range.
Is Rooker's Cobb Milsap The Person Eli Should Be Worried About?
Michael Rooker is a bad enough dude that he convinced me Yondu could defeat Thanos, so it's not hard to believe he's playing a villain in The Righteous Gemstones. That said, Cobb Milsap doesn't strike me as a particularly bright guy. I would be skeptical that he's managed to kill all of Lori's ex-boyfriends on his own and have my eye on someone else.
I think the true killer is Lori's son Corey, played by Seann William Scott. He's a bit too chill about the situation between Eli and his mother,and would be around when she was dating those other men before him. As for Cobb, I think he's probably destined to die in The Righteous Gemstones, similar to his deaths in The Walking Dead and in multiple James Gunn's movies. I'm ok with it this time, especially since the series is ending anyway, and he'll have no more opportunities to appear.
The Righteous Gemstones airs on HBO on Sundays at 10:00 p.m. ET. Tune in for more of Michael Rooker in the upcoming episode, and hopefully, more of BJ and his service monkey, Dr. Watson.
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