Palm Royale Season 1 Episode 10 Review: Maxine Throws a Party

Palm Royale Season 1 Episode 10, “Maxine Throws a Party,” finds tensions boiling over at the Beach Ball as secrets come to light and tragedy strikes. Piggybacking off the previous episode’s lead-in, the outing holds together pretty well until the final moments when everything falls apart spectacularly. 

Is That All There Is? 

“Maxine Throws a Party” is what the series has been leading to — the highly anticipated Beach Ball, where host emeritus Norma Dellacorte presumably hands over her Queen Bee crown to the next in line. Maxine has been waiting in the wings all season for this moment. 

Of course, now is the perfect time for Norma to reveal her hand. Carol Burnett, who finally gets to let loose, doesn’t disappoint. While many of her scenes this season have been comedic, Burnett demonstrates in “Maxine Throws a Party” that she makes for a damn good villain. 

Burnett and Kristen Wiig go toe-to-toe in one of Palm Royale‘s best scenes. It’s not a particularly humorous scene, but it showcases Maxine’s white-knuckled determination and her ability to be quietly intimidating—a far cry from her usual sunshine-infused Southern charm. 

Kristen Wiig and Allison Janney

Speaking of Wiig, someone better hand her an Emmy. Her portrayal of Maxine’s public breakdown, complete with her heart-wrenching performance of “Is That All There Is,” is a punch to the gut. Wiig’s versatility has been on display all season, but she really gives it her all in the episode’s last 20-ish minutes or so. 

While Wiig and Burnett’s best moments are indisputably dramatic, Allison Janney shines in the comedy department. Her dialogue is utterly side-splitting, and she brings levity to balance out the episode’s tone. 

Moments Worthy of The Shiny Sheet

Other highlights from this episode include Virginia putting Linda in her place for being, well, one of those feminists who centers herself and doesn’t support women of color. Her feminism isn’t truly intersectional.

For Linda, it isn’t so much malicious and intentional as it’s proof of her privilege — she doesn’t have to think about a woman of color’s experiences. Amber Chardae Robinson and Laura Dern are great together. It’s such a shame that Palm Royale hasn’t given its only Black woman in the main cast more to do (her name’s even in the opening credits). 

Additionally, Maxine’s scathing onstage takedown of everyone is brilliant. It feels like a long time coming, and she doesn’t hold back. As Tom says, nobody in Palm Beach is who they say they are, and while Maxine is guilty of this as well, it’s great to see her give that room hell. 

Where It All Falls to Pieces 

“Maxine Throws a Party” stumbles toward the end significantly. Firstly, it crams an overwhelming amount of “reveals” and plot twists without much payoff from some of the loose narrative threads. While this isn’t a loose thread, Mary’s inexplicable pivot to a “feminist” who tries to assassinate Nixon is as head-scratching as it is frustrating.

The Ann plotline doesn’t really go anywhere except to indicate to Maxine that Norma/Agnes tried to murder her. Mitzi is merely a plot device to drive a wedge between Maxine and Douglas. The Norma reveal is a fun development; admittedly, that would’ve been enough to sit with as the finale took a bow. 

However, it’s Robert getting shot where the episode truly drops the ball. Why is the only queer man who’s already suffered heartbreak the one who takes the bullet? Haven’t queer people undergone enough tragedy already? 

Sure, we don’t know if he survives. He might get lucky, and we won’t see him shuffle off this mortal coil. That said, it didn’t need to happen. We didn’t need to see him in pain, especially when no one was getting him help. It feels like the writers merely inserted this for shock value instead of offering something of narrative worth. 

Beach Dud 

“Maxine Throws a Party” certainly has its share of entertaining, impactful moments (although it’s undoubtedly more dramatic than comedic, which is quite the tonal shift). This reviewer isn’t dismissing that.

However, the convoluted jumble of more questions than answers, leaving things too open-ended and inconclusive, and that horrific Robert scene are enough to make this the weakest episode of Palm Royale. Thank the spray-tanned coastal gods for Kristen Wiig’s award-worthy performance. 

Stray Observations: 

• Allison Janney wins the award I just made up for “Best Dialogue in an Episode.” Evelyn’s lines in the season finale are iconic. I desperately need someone to make a GIF of her screaming “Cock!” while throwing her hands to the heavens. 
• I keep seeing people confused about why Norma wants to kill Maxine. To me, it’s been pretty evident from the get-go. Maxine barges into her home, seizes control of her finances, and becomes her conservator. Who would want someone they barely know to take over their life? Sure, Norma’s not a good person and has committed a serious case of identity theft, but still. Her anger regarding Maxine is justified (but that’s where my sympathizing with Norma ends). 
• Robert and Tom are adorable. Robert needs to survive for Season 2 so we can get more scenes with them. 
• Mary didn’t say “the fibs” enough in this episode. It’s a problem.
• That shot of the moon and stars during the scene with Maxine and Douglas is stunning. I wish the sky really looked like that. 
• We need a second season now. Too many questions and cliffhangers need concrete answers. 

What did you think of this episode of Palm Royale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Palm Royale Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV+. 

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