Watch: On 'The Righteous Gemstones,' is Kelvin Gay? And Who is the God Squad?

One of the funniest and more curious storylines on HBO's "The Righteous Gemstones" follows Kelvin (Adam DeVine), the youngest of superstar preacher Eli Gemstone's (John Goodman) three children. Kelvin likes to surround himself with muscular men, and has an adoring companion, Keefe (Tony Cavalero), as his right-hand man; but while it seems obvious there's something gay going on here, it never comes to the surface, in part because Kelvin and Keefe appear clueless as to what seems obvious.

On the show, Kelvin is unmarried, living in his spacious McMansion on the Gemstones compound. While Keefe (a former Satanist) appears aware of the sexual tension, he is not acting on it, while Kelvin appears oblivious.

"I mean, I'm playing a man-child, which is something that I'm oh so good at," DeVine told the Hollywood Reporter.

"Throughout the series, there are heavy implications that the writers have plans to take the character toward that direction in the future," writes the Cinemaholic. "But, for now, they seem to be content by writing the character into hilarious and homoerotic situations."

That Kelvin and Keefe are so far in the closet they don't even know they are there, is one reason why the homoeroticism of their relationship and the creation of the God Squad is so funny. In the last episode, there was a snarky moment when Keefe stands before a naked Kelvin and dresses him in a shot that suggested oral sex.

"It's impressive that the creatives have kept this�relationship smoldering under the surface and Tony Cavelero's creepy, meek performance brings an undeniably weird sexual tension that,�coupled with Kelvin's cluelessness,�makes for some of the biggest laughs on the show,' writes AV Club. "Humbled by his broken thumbs, Kelvin is losing control over the God Squad and Keefe repeatedly implores Kelvin to prove to the men how strong he is."

But by far the biggest manifestation of that homoeroticism comes with the God Squad – a group of 30-or-so muscular hunks who have formed a cult around Kelvin, living on the grounds of his McMansion, working out with some primitively-looking wooden weights and dedicated themselves to God and Kelvin. With Keefe's assistance, he runs the group like some para-military operation with Kelvin its absolute leader. But in recent episodes, there has been some tension in the group that erupted in the latest episode with a reprise of the one of the group forced to "bear the cross."

That consists of picking up a ten-foot cross, drag it thirty feet and make it upright. It was tried in an earlier episode by muscleman Titus, who he failed and was put in a wooden cage for his infraction. But (spoiler alert) after Eli broke Kelvin's thumbs before the entire squad, the God Squad revolted with the biggest and strongest – the Thor-like Torston (Brock O'Hurn) – challenging Kelvin to "bear the cross."

Of course, it doesn't end up well for Kelvin, who ends up ceding leadership and is last seen washing floors with his broken thumbs. But where did the God Squad come from?

E! News writes that "Gemstones" creator Danny McBride (who also plays the eldest son Jesse) derived The God Squad from a real-life late 1980s Texas group called the Power Team that was the brainchild of evangelist�John Jacobs. They toured the world, evangelizing while they performed such stunts as breaking out of handcuffs and ripping phone books in half.

Vice writes: "If reaching people is the goal of any ministry, the Power Team fulfilled it. They encircled the globe, Bible Belt missions interspersed with passport stamps from South Africa, New Zealand, and Israel. They hosted a weekly show on TBN, the world's largest Christian television network, and they released�VHSs�and�CDs.�Nirvana's Krist Novoselic wore their T-shirts during�Bleach-era shows. Chuck Norris even�put them in an episode of�Walker, Texas Ranger. They were an $11 million a year industry."

Yet despite being Christian superstars in the 1990s, they filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

Jacobs, who created the group, was a prison chaplain and body builder who "recruited a motley bunch of similarly chiseled God-fearing souls to perform their own 'feats of strength,'" Vice adds. "They were former athletes mostly, guys used to the rigors of a physically demanding lifestyle. One tore phone books in half, another ran through blocks of ice, another caved in bricks with his forearms. Some dude thought it was wise to light those bricks on fire, why the hell not? The bigger the spectacle, the bigger the crowd. Then he took his act on the road."

Vice quotes Jacobs from a 1988 interview with People (no link available). "We're not trying to spiritualize the feats. It's just a platform to share the word of God. It's the bait." The ministry was incredibly popular among�youth group leaders, who�hired the Power Team to talk to teen congregants "about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, premarital sex and gangs."�

The group dissolved in a dramatic fashion when Jacobs. Vice observes: "In 2000, Jacobs and his wife of 16 years, Ruthanne, divorced,�citing the ever-popular "irreconcilable differences." Watery rumors of infidelity coagulated when he remarried in 2001 and got an annulment shortly thereafter. While playing around with marriage certificates may not seem like the biggest scandal in the secular world, muddying those waters as an evangelical minister is a cardinal offense."

In 2001 Jacobs was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery�against a Team Impact member named Jeff Audas after allegedly slamming him against a wall. He filed for bankruptcy the following year. The group broke from Jacobs, then dissolved in 2003.

What's going to happen with Kelvin and Keefe is upcoming weeks? And check out the God Squad's workout video: