Palm Royale is a periodcomedy-drama television series created by Abe Sylvia,[2] based on the 2018 novel Mr. & Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel.[3] The series premiered on March 20, 2024, with the first three episodes on Apple TV+.[4] The series was renewed for a second season in June 2024.[5]
Premise
Set in 1969, outsider Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons (Kristen Wiig) strives to attain a place in the high society of Palm Beach, Florida, through the town's most exclusive country club, the Palm Royale, in the process learning what she will and won't do to achieve this status.[6]
Maxine (Max) is interested in becoming a member of the club Palm Royale and to become part of the lives of the ultra-wealthy in Palm Beach. Max jumps the back wall of the club and attempts to befriend the ladies she admires from the society periodical "Shiny Sheets." She is identified, rebuffed, and expelled by the manager, who informs her that she'd never become a member since it requires the sponsorship of an existing member. Robert Diaz, the ex Korean War Marine and current Palm Royale bartender, escorts her out. Maxine attempts to befriend Dinah Donohue when she sees her driving away in tears after an altercation with Eddie, the tennis coach at the Palm Royale. She gets Dinah to rear-end her vehicle and then gets her to confide in her. Dinah informs her that she is pregnant with Eddie's child, but she does not want the child because she wants to be pragmatic about things. Maxine asks Dinah to become her sponsor, but she won't sponsor Maxine's membership to the Palm Royale because, as she says, a friendship between them is unlikely. When Max brings it up again, Dinah explains that it does not look like Max could afford the club membership on account of her dated attire. The clothing Max is wearing is actually pilfered from her comatose aunt-in-law, Norma Dellacorte. Max returns to steal her aunt-in-law's jewelry and pawns it off to become cash solvent. Max runs into Linda, a feminist who attempts to recruit her in her movement, but Max declines. Later, she decides to visit Linda to get her help with finding an abortion provider for Dinah. After the abortion, Dinah is grateful, but she still will not sponsor Max and calls her a liar for pretending to be a Dellacorte and to have the financial wherewithal to become a member of the Palm Royale. Max picks up Dinah's dress for a ball and drives by the abandoned Dellacorte mansion. Max tries on Dinah's dress, and Dinah catches her in the act. At that moment, Max's pilot husband shows up and Dinah is embarrassed and decides to sponsor Max.
Maxine finds out she's only granted temporary membership for the first month and that she'll need two more sponsors to become a full member. Maxine ends up donating $10,000 to another member at the club to buy a table to bring an item for the fibrosis auction after pawning the last items in her aunt-in-law Norma's remaining jewelry collection. Now she only needs one more member's signature, and her eyes are set on Evelyn. She runs into Linda at Norma's nursing facility and learns that Linda is actually Evelyn's step daughter. Linda's father is in the same care facility as Norma. Maxine and Linda go to the feminist meeting where Maxine doubles down on her commitment to the ideals of the Palm Royale, suggesting that just like the feminists, she's trying to disrupt society from the inside. Maxine travels to the Dellacorte estate to find another item to auction and runs into Robert, the bartender who initially reported her and got her kicked out of the club at the beginning of episode one. He says he's staying in the pool house to take care of the estate and Norma, but didn't know that Norma's embolism has moved, threatening her life. At the auction, Dinah confesses to Maxine that she got back with Eddie, the tennis coach. Maxine ends up bidding $75,000 to beat Evelyn and keep the cat statue she stole from Norma's estate. Later, Maxine reveals to Linda, who was there to conspire with Evelyn against Max, that she was only trying to get into the Palm Royale as a gift to her husband to give him his old life back. She feels awful because they got married when she was pregnant at 23 and she lost the baby, making everyone at the club think she tricked Douglas into marriage. Linda signs to be the third member sponsor on Maxine's card. At the very end of the episode, Robert checks on Norma, who is beginning to show signs of coming back to life.
We find out that just before her embolism developed, Robert was fighting with Norma and that they had been living together for 3 years. Maxine's escapades in the previous episode find her as the front page story of the "Shiny Sheets," the Palm Beach newspaper. Maxine finds Evelyn, Dinah, Raquel, and Mary, who insist that she host cocktail hour that night, and she decides to have them meet her at the Dellacorte estate. When Maxine arrives, she commands Robert to clean up, essentially blackmailing him because he has no way to prove that he isn't also illegally staying there. Maxine finds no food in the house, so she asks Linda to create a table spread, who reveals that all "Charity" events never donate any actual money to charity, but in reality keep all the donations for the wealthy wives who host the events. Linda sees Robert and flirts with him. When the four ladies show up, they each ask Maxine for a specialty cocktail. Maxine goes to ask Robert for help only to find Linda chatting with him in the casita. Maxine is able to make and bring the drinks just in time and then the ladies begin to interrogate her about her plans for the Beach Ball, Palm Beach's most exclusive and famous event. The Rolodex that Norma used to invite influential guests is essential to the success of the party, and while Maxine tries to remain calm under pressure, she eventually admits to Evelyn that she has no money and she needs Evelyn's help to make the Beach Ball successful. After revealing to Maxine that Norma swore she would never give Douglas a cent of her estate, and that when she dies it will all go to a feline foundation, Evelyn agrees to help her while Linda sneaks out of the Dellacorte estate with the golden Rolodex.
The show was renamed Palm Royale in April 2023.[18][19]
On June 6, 2024, it was announced that the show had been renewed for a second season.[5] Filming on the second season started on October 9, 2024.[20]
Reception
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 57% approval rating based on 67 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Palm Royale's fabulous cast and visual splendor make for a diverting enough destination, but its wayward tone results in a curiously unfulfilling trip to paradise."[21]Metacritic assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[22]
Adam Gomolin, Rock Shaink, Sheri Holman, Sharr White, Tate Taylor, John Norris, Katie O'Connell Marsh, Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern, Jayme Lemons, Abe Sylvia, Becky Mode, Emma Rathbone, Celeste Hughey, Jesse Sternbaum, and Kelly Hutchinson
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