I did not love the first season of Apple’s “Palm Royale.” Yes, it was pretty to look at, but it didn’t have much to say, and the only thing it made me feel was bored.
The second season is so, so much better. The stunning art direction is back. Expect to see Kristen Wiig’s Maxine in the most delightful fashion of the early 1970s, from her clothes to her makeup to her hair styling. Indeed, all our Palm Beach ladies are decked out in the decade’s best, and it’s lovely to see. Likewise, the sets with their mod architecture and period touches continue the visual feast.
More importantly, stuff happens! The first eight and a half episodes of the ten-part series are jam-packed with plot. Murder! Sex! Money! It’s all here, swirling around Max as she works to cement her place in the echelons of Florida’s high society.
Thankfully, this time, she’s not trying to ascend to Dinah’s (Leslie Bibb) and Evelyn’s (Allison Janney) level of unseemly wealth–Max is their peer now. So the drama doesn’t revolve around her class striving, which didn’t make for a particularly compelling conflict in season one, in part because the stakes were so low (who cares if she’s just comfortably wealthy instead of having an ungodly amount of riches?). The other problem was, of course, that she was always going to become a Palm Royale insider. That’s the show’s premise.
Now, with the much faster pace this season, quite a few plot holes open up. But this season of “Palm Royale” knows what show it is–a silly, funny one–and so it gamely skips over the bits that don’t make any sense. It’s not really about who killed whom or the rules of the “baby trust.” It’s about fun and vibes. And on that, season two delivers.
Show creator Abe Sylvia finally realized what great comedic talent he has on his cast and lets them shine. Wiig has multiple hilarious physical comedy set pieces. Allison Janney is likewise a gas, her Evelyn providing a counterpart to Maxine’s blond naivete. Both women are innovative problem solvers, and the show invites us to laugh with them.
“Palm Royale” has also advanced by knowing when to invite us to laugh at these society women. And the answer is not when Mary (Julia Duffy) reveals why she’s down a few marbles (her husband made her get electric shock therapy), but rather when Linda (Laura Dern) falls in love with another revolutionary. Or Dinah and Marjorie (Patti LuPone) fight over the affection of one Richard Nixon, like he’s the hottest man to grace 1970s Earth. The joke is in the way their money has blinded them, not where its protections have fallen short.
The men are also funny in their ridiculousness, with Douglas (Josh Lucas), Perry (Jordan Bridges), and Eddie (Jason Canela) all shuffled off to the side. They are not running the world or even the micro-society of Palm Beach. They’re means-to-an-end for their women, who, while materially disadvantaged by the day’s laws and mores, manage to use their soft power to run the show.
If this season has anything on its mind, it’s how even rich, white women are vulnerable to patriarchy’s worst impulses and must find their own way around them. Delightfully, this season, that means Maxine and company figure out what the men in their lives mean to them (even if it’s not much). But more than that, it’s the women’s relationships with each other that power the action. Norma (Carol Burnett) is back as our antagonist, but the real drama is in Maxine and Evelyn’s relationship–will these two go from enemies to friends? Can they become honest with each other and form a true sisterhood?
So yes, this season of “Palm Royale” does a better job at splashing the pool of feminist thought. But really, the show has found its purpose: it’s just fun. Sylvia has even put in a few musical numbers to bookend this season of spectacle. Ricky Martin as Robert gets the first number, while Burnett and Wiig get the last two. It’s an emphasis on style that, instead of ringing shallow, works because of its self-awareness and humor.
Like its central characters, “Palm Royale” has matured in all the best ways.
Whole season screened for review. Season two premieres on Apple TV+ today, November 12.
