When you look at the cast list for AppleTV+’s new comedy series Palm Royale, you can’t help but be impressed. Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Carol Burnett, Ricky Martin, Burce Dern. And that’s only the tip of the cast iceberg. You have two Oscar winners, a multiple-Oscar nominee, multiple Emmy winners (in fact, two of the most awarded women to ever grace television in Burnett and Janney), and, in Wiig, not only a stellar comedian, but someone who has proven herself to have incredible range in her comedic endeavors (that she’s also a multiple Emmy nominee and an Oscar nominee for the writing of Bridesmaids is also of note). So, the cast is stacked. But then comes the big question: Does Palm Royale manage to make use of this sensational group of actors or is this yet another case of a TV series hiring the best and then giving them next to nothing to work with? I’m happy to report that this quirky series is absolutely worth your time.
Based on the novel “Mr. and Mrs. American Pie,” the series follows Maxine Simmons (Wiig), a woman who has dreamed of one day getting accepted into the high society ranks of Palm Beach, Florida. In 1969, she makes her way to the city and uses her charm and can-do attitude to essentially blackmail her way into a key group of women at the Palm Royale – led by Janney’s Evelyn, but also including Leslie Bibb’s Dinah, Julia Duffy’s Mary, and Claudia Ferri’s Raquel – a nest of vipers who are all out for themselves and hoping to find a way to eject their new “friend” from their circle as fast as possible. Naturally, secrets are discovered and revealed, not everyone is who they seem to be, and many of our key players are more deeply connected to one another than we are initially led to believe. It’s a story that is darkly funny, incredibly well acted, and has just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing while still managing not to become wholly unbelievable.*
*There’s a feeling of a soap opera aesthetic to the storytelling, in that heightened events play out (some of the scams are a bit over the top, the backstabbing seems a touch silly at times, and there is absolutely a Chekhov’s gun situation to follow as the story moves on), but the performances never fall too far into melodrama even when the story starts to slide into that arena. It’s a fine line to walk and the series manages to pull it off rather seamlessly.
The key to the series working is in the marriage of the writing and the series’ cast, namely Wiig, who is asked to do much of the series’ heaviest lifting. Maxine must be both a naïve character and one who can manage to pull the rug out from under several of the show’s stronger characters – and both the cast of characters and the audience need to buy into both aspects of the character. When she can’t figure out just what is happening around her, we all have to buy it. And when she manages to outmaneuver the stronger, more experienced nest of vipers she has surrounded herself with, it also must be believable. Amazingly, it works nearly every time. The writing makes it clear just why Maxine might be duped by a person or a particular situation – usually by showing us that other characters have fallen for the same trap – and we can also see how and why she’s able to one-up several more seasoned manipulators when she gets the chance – often because someone made the error of underestimating just how much she craves her societal position.
As for the narrative itself – fish out of water trying to make it with the rich and scummy in 1969 Palm Beach really only scratches the surface of what the series is about. Laura Dern’s section of the story – which naturally dovetails into the main society plot in a nifty way early in the series – has Dern playing a women’s lib leader in the very conservative town, looked down on by those in high society, and someone looking to take down the rich infrastructure that surrounds her. The show does a great job juxtaposing Dern’s Linda with Maxine, showing how the much more world-weary Linda can see so many of the pitfalls Maxine is choosing to ignore, while Maxine’s much less judgmental view of the society ladies exposes Linda’s own deeply held prejudicial viewpoints – which, while not unearned, are still very much clouded by her own past experiences with several members of that cabal. It’s an interesting choice and once that doesn’t paint either character as the “right” one – a smart decision that pays real dividends as the storylines coalesce toward the end of the series.
Palm Royale isn’t necessarily re-inventing the wheel with its storytelling. And if I have one major criticism of the series it’s that the show is about three episodes too long. But it is as strong of a series as one could hope for with this particular narrative arc. Hell, watching Allison Janney and Carol Burnett share the screen is worth the price of admission alone. Everyone here is perfectly cast (the one wobbly bit of casting is Ricky Martin, who can’t quite hang with those around him when he’s asked to convey particularly complex emotional beats, but he is excellent when he is asked to make his character, Robert, the sympathetic center of a sequence) and the writing is tailored to allow everyone in this expansive ensemble the chance to shine. But it is Wiig who is asked to carry the story and she’s more than up for the challenge, creating a character you can’t help but root for, even when she’s doing some pretty dastardly things. The series is a lot of fun and hits all the right notes.
Palm Royale premieres on March 20 on AppleTV+. All ten episodes were provided for review.
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