Plus, whether or not Robert’s [spoiler] will end badly.
Warning: This article contains spoilers about thePalm Royaleseason 1 finale,“Maxine Throws a Party.”
wounded Robert lying in Maxine’s arms.
Ricky Martin and Kristen Wiig on ‘Palm Royale’.Erica Parise/Apple TV+
Will Linda(Laura Dern) ever actually be able to stand by the courage of her convictions?
Will Norma be exposed?
And what will become of Maxine’s marriage?
Carol Burnett and Ricky Martin on ‘Palm Royale’.Apple TV+
ABE SYLVIA:They’re hand in glove, right?
She’s a victim and a purveyor of American exceptionalism.
Whatever the pinnacle of the appearance of happiness is, that’s what she’s striving for.
Kristen Wiig and Josh Lucas on ‘Palm Royale’.Apple TV+
Am I reading the implications correctly?
You’re absolutely reading them correctly.
They’re actually peas in a pod at the end of the day, Norma and Maxine.
Kaia Gerber on ‘Palm Royale’.Erica Parise/Apple TV+
That’s why Norma sees how dangerous Maxine can be.
She sees a lot of herself in her.
What do you think Norma actually wants?
Allison Janney and Jason Canela on ‘Palm Royale’.Apple TV+
Is it just power and control?
Is it what Maxine wants?
Is it something else?
But she wants what she has attained; everything that Maxine wants.
She knows the moral compromises a person has to make to get there.
She sees firsthand that Maxine is willing to make those compromises.
Apple TV+
The season ends in this moment of complete chaos.
Is this what Norma wanted, or has it spun out of her control?
It’s certainly spun out of her control.
She enjoys the utter demise of Maxine’s hard-won place wearing the crown at Norma’s party.
Speaking of Robert, do you think he’s actually the only person here who truly sees Maxine?
It almost feels like his potential fatal ending is a worse blow to her than the truth about Douglas.
That’s the surprise.
He’s the one who pays the price.
Things are not looking good for him.
Might he shuffle off his mortal coil in a second season?
Well, I’m not going to answer that question.
Which I say with love.
That’s a real sign of love.
She’s turned a blind eye.
Douglas says to Mitzi in the nail scene, “I didn’t want to come back here.
It brings out the worst in me.
I’m triggered by this place.”
We made the choice that there’s real love between these two people.
There’s real understanding.
Now, that’s not to say Maxine’s complicit in the affair.
Douglas made a choice, let’s be clear.
But we are trying to connect the dots to how something like this could have happened.
Mitzi is planning to leave town and she gets talked out of it.
This is a pre-Roe world.
What does her future look like?
What are her options here?
Maxine, in some ways, is hoisted on her own petard.
Mitzi probably would’ve gone away quietly.
Maxine thinks that Perry is the father of that baby.
And Mitzi goes and does that, and it’s shattering.
They are an unlikely duo, but there is clear chemistry there.
Do they have a future?
I certainly hope so.
So, we’re really basing it on that.
Evelyn says in episode 6 that Maxine was the tip of the spear that will destroy this society.
Well, it’s a society that probably needs to be destroyed.
So how much does she stand by the courage of her convictions?
How much are her ideals actually actionable for her?
Linda truly believes in her political causes.
You find this so often with trust fund babies who now have a cause.
That’s really where the rubber meets the road for Linda.
Laura’s dad, Bruce Dern,played her father on the show.
If you get a season 2, will we see Diane Ladd?
I think it’s the finest episode of television, probably, in the last 20 years.
Mary Jones is perhaps the greatest surprise of the season finale.
Will we learn more about her backstory and what drove her to this attempt to kill the president?
She was endemic of a moment in time.
Sarah Jane Moore says, “I just woke up one day and decided to kill the president.
That that was the answer to my troubles.”
That’s symptomatic of the society at the time.
Season 1 took place in 1969.
Would season 2 take us into the ’70s?
What would that look like forPalm Royale?
Maxine’s defining trait is her optimism.
Her defining comic feature is optimism in the face of anything.
It’s her can-do American spirit.
We just keep testing that can-do spirit with ever increasing things that would destroy a lesser person.
So, Maxine will never lose that essential quality.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
