Palm Royale Season 1 Episode 5, “Maxine Shakes the Tree,” begins in 1949. Douglas (Josh Lucas) takes Maxine (Kristen Wiig) flying. While they’re up in the air, he declares his love for her, telling her that no one’s ever believed in him the way she does. When he flips the plane upside down, she mentions that maybe she shouldn’t be upside down since she’s pregnant. He’s ecstatic at the news.
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In the present, Maxine listens to Douglas talk about his golf conversations with Perry (Jordan Bridges) but fixates on the wedding invitation she found. It is for Linda’s (Laura Dern) wedding to Douglas back on April 11, 1949.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
Game of the Mind
Maxine confides in Norma (Carol Burnett) who is now awake and sitting in a wheelchair. However, she is still unable to pronounce words. Maxine interprets her mumblings to mean she should confront Douglas with what she knows. She drives Norma and herself to Douglas’s tee on the golf course.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
She shows him the invitation and asks him about Penelope/Linda. He claims that he didn’t lie about Penelope, he just didn’t bring her up because the day they were supposed to get married was the worst day of his life. He shares with Maxine that on their wedding day, Penelope shot her father, Skeet (Bruce Dern). Perry arrives, and Maxine leaves. She decides to take Norma to talk to Linda.
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At the bookstore, Linda is burning cards from the Rolodex. Virginia (Amber Chardae Robinson) catches her and reminds her they could use the information in the Rolodex to work some change in the world.
Confrontations
Maxine arrives, and Virginia tells her Linda isn’t there. Norma picks up a copy of The Bell Jar while they talk and Linda listens through the office door. Virginia reveals she knows about Linda and Douglas. Maxine tells Virginia to tell Linda that she’s hurt and angry.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
As they’re leaving, Robert (Ricky Martin) walks in, happy to see Norma awake and out of her bed. Norma is equally happy to see him and tries to tell him about her day. Maxine questions what sort of relationship they have and implies they were intimate when Norma’s embolism happened. Robert and Norma are shocked by the idea. Maxine rushes Norma out of the store while Norma reaches out for Robert.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
The Dellacortes at Home
At the Dellacorte mansion, Douglas tries to appease Maxine by making a dinner of hot dogs and green peas with a side of “Monkey Sauce” and starts a conversation about Perry. Maxine interrupts to ask about his feelings for Linda.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
She asks why Linda would try to shoot Skeet. Douglas wishes that he’d never told her about the shooting and tells her to pretend he didn’t. Maxine protests that she doesn’t want to pretend anymore and that he’s asking a lot of her.
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He gets frustrated and insists that not marrying Linda was the best thing he could’ve done because it led him to meet Maxine.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
The phone rings, and Maxine excuses herself to answer it. It’s Robert calling to check in on how Norma is doing. Maxine tells him to stop hounding her and hangs up on him.
Digging Up the Past
Ann Holiday (Mindy Cohn) helps Maxine find the Shiny Sheet archives from 1949. Before she leaves, Ann asks Maxine to clarify the dates when she won her pageants. Left alone, Maxine finds the article about Douglas and Linda’s wedding and discovers the gunshot that ended the day came from a gun that was never found.
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She realizes it’s the gun in Norma’s safety deposit box and goes to the bank to retrieve it. Wanting to talk to Skeet directly, she goes to the care home but runs into Evelyn (Allison Janney) outside his room. She asks her about the wedding back in 1949, and Evelyn reveals that Linda/Penelope was actually trying to kill her when she accidentally wounded her father.
Evelyn describes the events of the day and explains that Norma fixed things so that the truth never got out. She explains to Maxine that Norma kept everyone’s secrets and used them to keep things in balance in Palm Beach.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
At the bookstore, Virginia explains the same thing to the women’s circle while holding the Rolodex on her lap. The women take turns reading the cards, and Linda confirms that all the secrets are true.
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As they leave the care home, Evelyn tells Maxine that Skeet initially didn’t want to marry her because she came from a poor background like Maxine’s. Maxine muses about the gun she found in the safety deposit box. Evelyn insists that she keep it at the bank as it is insurance against many things becoming imbalanced in Palm Beach.
A Test Case
Virginia wants to pick one Rolodex person to use as a test case for their campaign of change. Linda recommends Perry Donohue, who paid off inspectors to get condos built, only to have the buildings collapse later. Virginia warns Linda she’s too close to Perry, but is convinced to use him and plans to let her contact at the Miami Herald know about his business practices.
Growing the Grapevine
On the golf course, Maxine tells Dinah (Leslie Bibb) about Linda and Douglas. She bemoans the feeling that everyone knew about it and kept her in the dark on purpose. Dinah insists she didn’t know and doesn’t care.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
Robert drives up to see if they need anything and they scream at him to leave them alone. He asks who’s taking care of Norma if both Maxine and Douglas are at the club. Maxine tells him there’s a manicurist working with Norma.
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In a sand trap on the golf course, Perry sells Douglas on an investment scheme with Robert standing nearby. As he makes drinks for the men, he quietly spits in the cup. Perry tells Douglas they’ll need a high-profile tenant to make the development marketable and suggests they fly up to D.C. in the private jet.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
Dinah and Maxine drive up and as the men continue to play, Dinah recommends Maxine forget about the past and pick up a lover to keep herself happy. Maxine looks at Robert thoughtfully.
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As the men depart for D.C., Dinah ditches Maxine to go meet Eddie (Jason Canela), leaving Maxine stranded on the course. Trying to decide which way to walk, she catches sight of a crocodile taking a stroll on the green. She runs in the other direction.
Old Friends
Douglas runs into the men’s room to use the urinal. Linda steps out of a stall to talk to him. She reminds him that he made a deal which is still in play.
When he tries to turn the blame on her for their failed relationship, she reminds him that he slept around on her and got the other woman pregnant. She tells him he needs to stop talking about their wedding day. Then, Perry arrives to pee and is surprised to find Linda/Penelope in the men’s room too.
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Just One More Question
Ann tracks a very drunk Maxine down at the club to ask why when she looks up the pageant queens from the competitions Maxine claims to have won, she finds different women listed as the winners. Maxine trips walking away from her, and falls into Robert’s arms. He insists on driving her home as she’s too drunk.
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As he drives her home, she tries to chat him up. At the house, she kisses him and throws herself at him. He is shocked and tries to calm her down. Mitzi (Kaia Gerber) arrives and complains about being left with Norma for 14 hours. Robert goes to check on Norma.
Mitzi tells Maxine that Perry got her a job at the club. Maxine tries to warn her about Perry, but Mitzi leaves. Maxine walks into the next room and watches Robert tenderly tuck Norma into her bed. Robert sees her and informs her that he’s going to stay the night to make sure Norma’s okay.
A loud pounding on the door awakens Maxine. It’s Linda, and Maxine tells her there’s nothing to say between them. Linda insists she’s just there to tell her the truth. Maxine lets her in.
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Linda admits that she did shoot her father, but she wasn’t trying to kill Evelyn. She thought it was Douglas on the other side of the door with one of her bridesmaids.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
Norma Sets the Rules
In a flashback, Norma tells Evelyn she holds all the cards now and directs Linda/Penelope to let Skeet marry Evelyn. Douglas asks from the bed what his cut is. Norma asks what he wants. He says he’ll keep his mouth shut for a one-way ticket to Chattanooga and a $100,000 check.
Maxine realizes that she’s the reason Douglas left Linda at the altar. She tells Linda she had no idea. Linda points out that Douglas loved Maxine then and still loves her now. She thanks her for saving her from a loveless marriage.
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The phone rings. When Maxine goes to answer the call from an exuberant Douglas, Linda gets ready to leave. Douglas tells Maxine that he and Perry have hooked a big fish and the deal is almost done. When he tells Maxine he loves her, Maxine doesn’t say it back. Linda runs past Maxine to Norma’s room. Maxine says a quick goodbye to Douglas and follows.
Palm Royale Season 1 — Photo Credit: Apple TV+
Linda pulls out the Rolodex and tells Norma it’s over. She starts throwing the cards into the fire as Norma groans. Later, Maxine walks down to the beach, and feeling a need to end the pain and everyone’s suffering, she throws the gun into the water.
Palm Royale streams on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
