In The Righteous Gemstones, Judy (Edi Patterson) and BJ (Tim Baltz) continue to embrace Dr. Watson, BJ’s helper monkey in very different ways as the latest episode reveals.

For fans who need catching up, viewers will recall that Season 4 kicked off with BJ’s new hobby, pole dancing, but when a tournament routine goes wrong and he accidentally lands on his head, BJ becomes limited in his movement and abilities, and finds himself using a wheelchair to get around on a day-to-day basis. The injury leaves him understandably upset as it shifts the course of his expectations, but sister-in-law Amber (Cassidy Freeman) brings Dr. Watson over to Judy and BJ’s with the hope that the service animal can assist.

While BJ was skeptical at first of Dr. Watson’s presence, the latest episode, “For Jealousy Is the Rage of a Man,” proves his mental wellness has seemingly improved leaps and bounds with the monkey’s help. The only problem? Judy isn’t as taken with Dr. Watson, and it seems the feeling is mutual for the monkey who tested Judy by throwing her make-up off the counters in the bathroom and seemingly getting territorial over BJ.

At the start of the episode, BJ reveals that in order to have a good bond with Dr. Watson, he has been embracing what he believes is the monkey’s love language, physical touch. BJ kisses Dr. Watson several times in a moment of horror for Judy. But what was it really like for the performers?

“Well, I definitely had a positive experience,” Patterson says of working with her animal costars. “I think we had a really positive experience with the monkeys. There were two of them. It was very weird to see this very small magical creature and say horrible things to it,” she admits. “But then, on the flip [side], to look into her eyes and really mean something and feel really emotional, was not hard.”

As Patterson puts it, “It was like looking at a person and talking to them… They are clearly so close to what we are as humans, and when you look into her eyes, it can get a little existential.” So, who were Patterson and Baltz’s costars? Their names are Allie and Katie, and they took turns playing Dr. Watson in the season.

When it came to kissing his animal costars, Baltz reveals, “Kissing the monkey meant that the monkey was sticking its tongue into my mouth, repeatedly, very much in a penetrative kind of way.”

“Like a little jackknife,” Patterson chimes in.

“So that was a little uncomfortable,” he notes. Still, kissing didn’t seem to be as intense as when Dr. Watson would feed BJ as Baltz recalls, “When the monkey’s feeding me pretzels, it was very impulsive about it and it would take the pretzels and the trainer was like, ‘She’s gonna want to shove it in your mouth, so you kind of gotta have your tongue up, ready to stop it, otherwise it’ll go straight down your throat and you’ll choke.'”

While Baltz didn’t necessarily take the warning too seriously, he quickly learned he should take it more seriously. “Sure enough, she would bring the pretzel up and then hold it with one hand, and then hammer it in with the other. But ultimately it’s just kind of like mischievous and fun-loving,” Baltz concludes.

Although tensions between BJ, Judy, and Dr. Watson have yet to resolve, stay tuned for what’s next as The Righteous Gemstones’ final season continues on HBO and Max. And check out the full video interview with Baltz and Patterson above.

Sundays, 10/9c, HBO and Max