PALM ROYALE Recap: Maxine's Like a Dellacorte

Palm Royale Season 1 Episode 3, “Maxine’s Like a Dellacorte,” begins with a flashback to Norma Dellacorte (Carol Burnett) sitting at a desk in her bed and writing invitations using her brass Rolodex.

She pops some pills that she washes down with a martini and calls out to Robert (Ricky Martin) that she is finished. She asks him to make another martini and then to come play doctor with her.

When there is no response, she begs him to come up and not be angry with her anymore. She screams his name.

Norma sits up in her bed, draped in a canary yellow feather boa. On the desk in front of her, there is a martini glass and a brass rolodex. — Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+

A glass shatters. A trumpet plays “Reveille.” The Rolodex is still out, a broken wine glass on the desk, the box of invitations sits unmailed, and old rose petals are scattered on the floor.

Outside, Robert plays his trumpet next to the pool.

The Shiny Sheet

Maxine’s (Kristen Wiig) voiceover describes the daily delivery of The Shiny Sheet, the Palm Beach social gossip column.

In a montage of scenes, we see that Mary (Julia Duffy) reads it while enjoying a drink in the club’s steam room. Dinah (Leslie Bibb) exercises in a shaker machine, reading the paper. Raquel (Claudia Ferri) checks it out while getting an enjoyable medical procedure done. Finally, Evelyn (Allison Janney) fumes in her bath, upset by what she reads in the paper.

Mary sits in the steam room, wearing a white terry cloth wrap, with her hair wrapped in a white towel and a string of pearls around her neck. She holds a glass of champagne in her right hand and has her eyes closed as she reaches up with her left hand to pull the steam chain. — Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Norma lies in her bed, being tended to by nurses and a manicurist, while Maxine lies next to the motel pool, awakened by the motel manager throwing her clothes into the pool.

She packs everything into her car and drives to the pawnbroker (Tom Ayers) where she says she wants to send a telegram. As it turns out, his shop is also a Western Union office.

She sends the telegram to Douglas (Josh Lucas) at the Chicago O’Hare Airport pilots’ lounge, telling him Norma is getting better and that Maxine is no longer at the motel.

She Who Has the Nails Never Fails

Maxine arrives for her nail appointment and finds Mitzi (Kaia Gerber) crying. Her boyfriend dumped her after she bought him dinner the night before.

Mitzi sits on a hairdresser's chair in the middle of the salon floor, knees together, ankles turned out. Her smock is orange and her hair is held back with a matching floral headband. — Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Maxine pulls out a framed $20 bill and gives it to Mitzi for inspiration as it was the first thing she ever won as a pageant contestant.

Mitzi tells her she was the lead story in The Shiny Sheet that morning. Maxine had no idea what with being kicked out of the motel and all and is ecstatic.

The Ladies Who View

Dinah reads the article about Maxine out loud at Grayman’s (Dominic Burgess) boutique during a fashion viewing. The article asks what will happen to the Beach Ball with Norma in hospice.

Maxine arrives and declares the Beach Ball back on. She promises to invite everyone and then joins the viewing.

Evelyn offers to help Maxine assemble the guest list for the Beach Ball. She wonders where Norma’s infamous Rolodex has gone, as it is considered the most valuable item in Palm Beach.

Dinah plants the idea of Maxine hosting a gathering where the ladies can get to know her. As the women are only available for cocktails that evening, and the club is being used for an event, she suggests Maxine invite them all to her home.

Maxine agrees and shocks Dinah by arranging for them all to meet at the Dellacorte Mansion.

Squatter’s Rights

At the mansion, Robert sees her moving in, and they argue over who should live there while Norma is in hospice.

Maxine explains she’s throwing a cocktail party that evening and he needs to be gone when they arrive. He refuses and follows her upstairs to Norma’s room which is in the exact state it was left in when she suffered her embolism.

Maxine tells him again to leave and he refuses again, calling her a squatter. She storms off.

Split screen image. On the left, Maxine sits with a lanai in the background, talking on a powder pink rotary telephone, dressed in a white blouse with her hair down. On the right, Douglas speaks on a burgundy colored rotary phone dressed in his pilot's uniform, hat on, with an airfield in the background. — Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+

On the phone with Douglas, she argues they have more right to squat at Norma’s than Robert, while Douglas points out they don’t own the house yet. He’s more concerned about her staying in the house with a strange man.

Coming Into Her Own

Maxine answers her door and finds Ann Holiday (Mindy Cohn) on her doorstep. She wants to do a follow-up on the article about Maxine in The Shiny Sheet.

In the house, Robert fixes the broken Stoned Mable statuette and cleans up Norma’s room. While sweeping up the rose petals, he finds a syringe on the ground.

Outside, Ann asks Maxine about herself. Ann is impressed by how vague Maxine is, despite the wordiness of her answer. She asks about the Beach Ball, and Maxine commits to throwing the 50th Annual Beach Ball herself at the Dellacorte Estate.

After Ann leaves, Maxine goes to prepare for her cocktail party but finds the fridge and cupboards completely empty. When she asks Robert about it, he informs her that real rich people don’t keep any food in the house because events are catered and they’re always watching their weight.

On her way out, she discovers Norma’s Rolls Royce under a tarp and finds the keys behind the sun visor. She happily takes it for a spin.

Tablescaping

At the bookstore, Maxine crashes the women’s circle again, noting that Linda (Laura Dern) has made another beautiful tablescape of snacks. Virginia (Amber Chardae Robinson) insists she wait until after the meeting’s discussion to ask Linda what she came about. The discussion centers on America’s exporting of a male-dominated society.

Linda shares that she was left on her wedding day and likens it to how America made a lot of promises to Vietnam and then abandoned them.

Maxine argues that America should’ve left Vietnam a long time ago rather than letting it drag out into the current war. She preaches that a wife should live for her husband and declares her pride in her husband and his name. She is met with cold silence.

Changing the subject, she tells Linda she needs a favor. Linda helps bring in a huge seafood order for the cocktail party. Maxine writes a check to pay for it.

Maxine is enthusiastically grateful for Linda’s tablescaping of the food. At the same time, Linda tries to warn her that the ladies who are coming aren’t her friends. They want to take the Beach Ball from her because it’s a huge moneymaker.

The Truth Behind the Generosity

Linda explains the Palm Royale women’s fundraiser balls raise a huge amount of money, but that money doesn’t always go to the charities they support.

Maxine can’t imagine the Beach Ball being used unethically because it supports cleaning up the beach. Linda points out that the beach it cleans up is Dellacorte Beach.

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Robert walks in, still dressed in only his swim shorts. Linda goes to talk to him.

After he leaves, Maxine thanks Linda for her help and tells her she needs to leave before Evelyn arrives. Linda gets it and heads out. Maxine directs her out the back door, promising they’ll catch a movie together later that week.

The Ladies Descend

Mary is the first to arrive. She accuses Maxine of being an intruder in the mansion. She demands a Mai Tai. Meanwhile, Linda follows the sound of music and finds Robert’s pool house. He offers her a drink. Then, Dinah is next to arrive. Her drink order is a Mississippi punch.

Linda and Robert are seated at a small bar lit by lantern style wall sconces. Linda wears a geometrically patterned mustard yellow dress. Robert wears a green and beige detailed housecoat. They each hold a drink in their hand. — Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Maxine runs out to ask Robert to be her bartender. She finds Linda and Robert sharing a drink. Robert declines but lets Maxine know there’s a bartender’s guide at the bar.

As she starts making drinks, Evelyn arrives. She asks for a General Harrison eggnog. Raquel arrives shortly afterward. She just wants a glass of white wine… and a $10,000 check for her fundraiser.

Linda and Robert have another drink together and get to know each other. Robert shares that he’s lived with Norma for almost three years. She’d told him that Linda hates Evelyn because she thinks she’s a gold-digger who married her father for the money.

Getting Down to Business

The club ladies are sharing and trading their pills when Maxine arrives with their drinks. They wash back their pills and start in on Maxine. She uses her pageant training to answer all their questions.

Evelyn is unusually pleasant and reiterates her offer to co-host the Beach Ball. It all hinges on having Norma’s Rolodex.

Linda’s on Robert’s lanai, wondering if Maxine’s getting eaten alive. Robert comments that if she is, she’ll make them choke on the bones. Linda picks up a joint and asks if Robert partakes. He lights a gun-shaped lighter in response.

Evelyn grills Maxine on the details of the Beach Ball – servers, caterers and her planned entrance. The reality is that the Beach Ball is the biggest event of the season and requires immense coordination and spectacle.

Mary takes the opportunity, while everyone is silent, considering the intricacies of the Beach Ball, to ask Maxine for the $75,000 check she owes the FibBid Auction. Maxine offers the ladies some seafood snacks.

Mary insists she just wants the check. With the woman watching intently, Maxine writes another check.

Linda reclines on one arm along the back of an orange velour couch. There are candles on the square glass coffee table in front of her. She is wearing a geometrically patterned mustard yellow dress. — Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+

In the pool house, Linda tells Robert that she used to be close with Norma because she’s in the same care facility as her dad. She confesses that her father’s been going downhill for a long time and suffering terribly. Robert sympathizes, and they hug it out, sobbing.

Linda glances up as they hug and spots Norma’s Rolodex on Robert’s shelf.

Arriving Is Just the Beginning

Maxine and Evelyn are left alone in the house. Evelyn asks if Maxine has any money at all. Maxine assures her she does. Furthermore, when Douglas receives his inheritance at Norma’s passing, they’ll have all the money they need for the Beach Ball.

Evelyn reveals that Douglas has no inheritance. Norma has arranged for her entire estate to be put into a trust for the Palm Beach Pedigree Feline Society after she dies. In light of this, Evelyn gloats that she will host the Beach Ball on her own, using the Dellacorte mansion for tradition’s sake.

As she leaves, Maxine tells her that if she wants to throw the ball at the Dellacorte mansion, she’ll have to partner with her. Initially, Evelyn refuses. Maxine warns her that she knows Evelyn is slipping from the top tier of society. She promises to catch Evelyn and keep her in her place if she’ll just partner with her.

Evelyn considers this. She tells Maxine if she finds the key to the safe deposit box and the Rolodex, they can work together.

Maxine ransacks the house looking for the key.

Mrs. Douglas Dellacorte

Douglas arrives and calls for Maxine. He finds her collapsed on the couch amid the mess that is the sitting room now. She tells him, “I want you to take me upstairs and fuck me like a Dellacorte.” He grins at her. She glances at Norma’s portrait and smiles at him.

He sweeps her up into his arms and carries her upstairs, kissing her on the way. From outside the mansion, Maxine is heard in the throes of passion, insisting Douglas call her “Maxine Dellacorte” at the top of his lungs.

Linda stands on the lawn, hearing their lovemaking and holding the Rolodex. Aghast and disgusted, she bundles everything she’s carrying and rushes away.

Palm Royale streams on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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Diana Keng

Diana lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she invests her time and energy in teaching, writing, parenting, and indulging her love of all Trek and a myriad of other fandoms. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. You can also find her writing at The Televixen, Women at Warp, TV Fanatic, and TV Goodness.

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