As with any story focused on the lives of the privileged and plastic, Palm Royale‘s allure lies in diving below the glossy surface and wallowing in the dark depravity where the rich and elite spend their time hiding. In Season 1 Episode 4, “Maxine Rolls the Dice,” as the title implies, she must gamble big if she’s going to cash in.
Meanwhile, she’s learning that everyone has secrets they’ll do anything to keep, so whose secret will be the first to spill?
Everyone’s Got One
While Maxine (Kristen Wiig) presents as a heart-on-her-sleeve, down-home-going-glamorous gal, she struggles to keep up with the deceptions she needs to weave to be accepted by the Shiny Sheet ladies she admires so much.
RELATED: Check out our recap of Palm Royale Season 1 Episode 3, “Maxine’s Like a Dellacorte”
Will Dinah’s (Leslie Bibb) indiscretions finally catch up with her? Does Mary’s (Julia Duffy) ditsy and dim façade mask something more desperate and dangerous? Will Raquel’s (Claudia Ferri) murky back story finally step into the light?
Who Would Hurt Norma?
Then, of course, there is Norma’s (Carol Burnett) mysterious embolism. Did her falling out with Robert (Ricky Martin) trigger the war vet’s … um, trigger? Or is the syringe he came across when cleaning her room a clue to someone else’s attempt to silence her?
Why did Linda (Laura Dern) steal the Rolodex? Why would she care about Norma’s social networks with her posh history in the rearview?
RELATED: Read our Palm Royale recaps here!
Maxine’s plans are complicated by Douglas’s (Josh Lucas) return to her side. What secrets has he kept from her about his life before they met in Tennessee? Will she come clean with him about Norma cutting him out of her will? Could he know already?
A Shot in the Dark
Everything rides on the Beach Ball. Evelyn’s (Allison Janney) tentative friendship, her acceptance and Maxine’s subsequent successful entrance into society hinges on the Beach Ball and finding Norma’s all-powerful Rolodex.
Knowing that danger lurks beneath the Florida veneer of civility and culture, anyone could be a suspect. Tension climbs as the stakes get higher. Who will wear the crown, and how long will they get to enjoy it?
Palm Royale streams on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
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