‘Palm Royale’ TV Review: Soirees, Serial Killers and Soap Tropes Make Sophomore Season More Confident and Absurd Than the First [B+]

“If a woman falls in public and no one catches her, does anyone hear her cry?” Kristen Wiig’s Maxine Dellacorte muses in the new season of Apple TV’s soapy melodrama Palm Royale.

Following last year’s explosive finale, the comedy-drama returns to the immediate aftermath of Maxine’s centerstage breakdown, Mary Davidsoul’s (Julia Duffy) thwarted attempt to assassinate Richard Nixon, Douglas (Josh Lucas) and Mitzi’s (Kaia Gerber) scandalous baby news, and the apparent revelation about Norma’s (Carol Burnett) true identity. Maxine has been carted off to Sunnyside hospital in a straightjacket while Robert (Ricky Martin) is in the ICU in another wing. Linda Shaw (Laura Dern), mistakenly believed to be the would-be assassin, is locked in a padded room somewhere between Maxine’s room and the morgue while Mary, believing herself to be a wanted fugitive, hides in a secret chamber in Evelyn’s (Allison Janney) mansion. 

It is officially the off-season in Palm Beach, Florida, but the sun-drenched enclave is still bursting with activity. The second season takes all of the humor, drama, and intrigue that made the first so much fun and delivers an even bigger, more chaotic, and funnier new set of problems, mysteries, rivalries and unexpected alliances. Though season one took awhile to find its footing, Palm Royale is more confident in its identity, not only as a spoof on soap operas, but in its satirical lambasting of the supposed glory days of an America where straight white men held all the power.

With Maxine locked away, Norma Dellacorte seizes on an opportunity to shore up her estate via nephew Douglas’s soon-to-be bundle of joy. Citing an obscure inheritance rule in the family’s trust, Douglas and Mitzi’s baby can become the heir to the Dellacorte fortune, though Norma wants the adulterous couple properly married and convinces Douglas to divorce Maxine. But Norma’s past is about to catch up with her and she soon has bigger problems than marrying Doug off to Maxine’s manicurist. Carol Burnett, who spent most of the first season in a coma, is as good as ever, relishing her role as the scheming queen of Palm Beach and sewing discord among the town’s elite. 

And she meets her match in Kristen Wiig who continues to bring a likeability to social climber Maxine. It could be easy to root against Maxine if not for Wiig’s ability to show that she deserves to be part of this world just as much as any other wealthy member of this wacky social circle. Wiig gives the right amount of sweetness and sympathy to Maxine who is every bit as capable of scheming as anyone else. When Evelyn Rollins secures conservatorship over Maxine in an attempt to take control of her finances, Maxine turns around and gains conservatorship over Linda, thereby controlling Evelyn’s finances right back. She knows how to play the game and though she occasionally falls, she will never be outplayed. 

Allison Janney, who once won an Oscar for her ability to deliver cutting, cruel dialogue, has found her perfect role in Evelyn, who never holds back from saying exactly what she’s thinking. Janney’s Evelyn is so confident and intimidating that no one would dare question her when she’s banning Maxine from the Palm Royale one minute and rolling out the red carpet for her the next. She’s a woman who is allowed to change her mind on a whim and it never seems out of character.

Elsewhere among the friendship circle, Dinah Donahue (Leslie Bibb) is constantly looking to secure her future with whatever rich, available man will have her, Shiny Sheet reporter Ann Holiday (Mindy Cohn) uses her investigative skills to uncover some big secrets, and Mary Davidsoul is hilariously obsessed with the ghost of a bootlegger she encountered in Evelyn’s basement.

In addition to watching the ladies of Palm Beach scheme and maneuver and attempt to outwit one another, the new season is a feast of hilariously well-played soap tropes. Divorces! Hasty remarriages! Undercover detectives, questionable nuns, faked deaths, possible serial killers. Secret twins. Ricky Martin sings! Patti LuPone yodels! John Stamos plays a lawyer/OBGYN named Dr. Dusty Magic! Where season one couldn’t seem to decide if it was a soap or not, season two has settled comfortably into that identity, delighting in the escapist silliness that has made the genre popular for so long.

The series also continues to bless us with scrumptious late-60s production design and costumes, a visual feast for fans of the era. Jon Carlos, three-time Emmy-nominated production designer (including Palm Royale’s first season), expands on the world we already know, bringing a certain whimsy to the drab halls of the Sunnyside hospital or a candy-colored motel room. Likewise, Leigh Bell’s costumes, from flowy caftans to floral shortsuits, every character’s wardrobe is enviable and swoon-worthy.

Palm Royale, with its tongue-in-cheek commentary on the roles and rights of women in the era and the very different set of rules the rich live by, is an intentionally shallow satire that is funnier than ever, an entertaining reminder of the myth of the “good old days.”

Grade: B+

The second season of Palm Royale begins streaming on AppleTV+ November 12, 2025, followed by one new episode weekly, every Wednesday through January 14, 2026.