There’s no such thing as subtlety in Palm Beach — and Palm Royale has finally stopped pretending there is. Returning for its hotly anticipated second season this month, the Apple TV series is funnier, faster, and far more dangerous than before. Of course, it’s still an opulent fever dream about ambition and social survival from showrunner Abe Sylvia, but this time around, every manic smile hides some even sharper teeth. When we last saw Kristen Wiig’s striking performance of social climber Maxine Dellacorte, she had detonated her life at the now-infamous Beach Ball. Stripped of her status, marriage, and most of her illusions (now turned delusions), if you think public humiliation will stop her in Season 2, you haven’t been paying attention.
With an immediate difference from last year’s tone and introduction, Sylvia takes a more confident direction this time around with pacing that feels more deliberate. To kick things off, there’s even a musical number straight out of an MGM musical that’s equally dazzling, deranged, and a stylish way to get a look at Maxine’s psyche in Technicolor. The sequence is hilarious, unsettling, but also sets the tone for a season that never stops dancing on the edge of breakdown. No longer just winking at its absurdities or campy drama, the show embraces every bit of its self-aware comedy as a survival strategy that is so very over-the-top and fun.
What Is ‘Palm Royale’ Season 2 About?
Set in the sunburned luxury of late-1960s Palm Beach, Palm Royale follows a group of women who rule its cocktail-fueled hierarchy — and the ones who still believe they can. While Maxine (Wiig) remains the show’s most endearing and chaotic heartbeat, the second season really widens the lens with each of its characters. Evelyn Rollins (Allison Janney) realizes that power and loneliness often arrive in the same shade of green, while the series’ power matriarch Norma Dellacorte (Carol Burnett) reemerges, regal and ruthless. Ever the icon, Burnett is set up so deliciously to remind everyone that their secrets are the real currency of Palm Beach. Naturally, this has her playing a rather dangerous puppet master with just about everyone this season.
Meanwhile, Laura Dern’s Linda turns her political awakening into a literal jail sentence — and perhaps, a liberation that aligns with her vibe. But it’s Kaia Gerber’s very pregnant Mitzi, who quietly becomes the most strategic person in the room. With Douglas (Josh Lucas) by her side, the two are total enigmas, even if the latter is perpetually torn between love for his ex, Maxine, and ambition. You can’t quite root for him, but you also can’t look away from his next moves. But one of the best arcs this season belongs to Ricky Martin’s Robert as the quiet soul of the show’s center. His story carries a new layer as he tries to navigate a moral compass in a place where everyone else is spinning theirs for status.
Without giving too much away, as this is a season full of spoilers with twists in every episode, the series walks a sharp line between comedy and genuine tension. There’s a whimsical absurdity at every turn, but the jokes land harder because it’s grounded in its characters’ misery — and you really see it this time around with just about everyone. Beneath the pearls and politeness, these women are hustling for power in a patriarchy that determines their worth. With its bright and textured backdrop for a satire about the American Dream, there’s a biting rhythm to how all these arcs unfold this year. Everyone is performing, but the fun across its 10 episodes is watching which mask slips first.
‘Palm Royale’s Writing Finally Snaps Into Place
Visually, Palm Royale is one of the most jaw-dropping shows on TV. Having grown up on luxurious comedies of the 1960s like Lover Come Back or Come September, its overall aesthetic picks up on those very classics. Mixing the style of Slim Aarons with Clue for a set that feels lived in, the series has found its rhythm with comedy that lands harder and emotion that sneaks up on you.
But if Season 1 was a wild ride of backstabbers and schemers, Season 2 throws it all into a blender for secret dealings, double lives, and old grudges decked out in couture. With new alliances forming just as old ones die down, every episode builds brilliantly on the last. One of the most exciting aspects of this season is how we see more interactions with characters we wouldn’t have thought of pairing up. It’s from this combination that there is a perfect screwball sharpness to the dialogue and sequences, like the scenes at Perry (Jordan Bridges) and Dinah’s (Leslie Bibb) house with Douglas and Mitzi, or the bizarre séance held by Mary (Julia Duffy) for Evelyn and Maxine.
This kind of writing gives space for smaller, more human moments that really add weight to the series, like Maxine’s fleeting guilt after a selfish action or Robert carrying secrets that are too heavy for Palm Beach’s polite air. Self-aware and stylish without being showy, it never cuts itself short and manages a strong pacing, too. Last year, there were some issues with that beat dipping in places, but that’s been replaced by stronger, more consistent storytelling that knows when to pause for a moment of chaos or heartbreak.
‘Palm Royale’s Cast Is One of the Best Ensembles on TV
It’s no surprise that Wiig remains the show’s MVP. Maxine is still pretty delulu in some of the best, most charming ways. But there’s a new edge to her this season that kind of borders exhaustion beneath that exterior. She wants what’s hers, and that’s final. Watching Wiig’s high-wire act between comedy and tragedy is incredible and absolutely striking, as you see how far she digs into this character. It’s this seamless quality of hers that also makes you think she’s always on.
Meanwhile, Janney turns Evelyn into the show’s greatest contradiction. She is pragmatic but emotional, yet also cruel and deeply funny. Some of the greatest joys of watching this season came from the scenes she and Wiig share as two women pretending to hate each other but clearly drawn together by mutual survival instincts. Their chemistry has brilliantly shifted from claws-out to conspiratorial, and it’s incredibly exciting to watch.
Of course, Burnett deserves her own crown as Norma. Free from that Season 1 coma, she storms into every scene with a twinkle that kind of says, “Hey, I might ruin you, but you’ll thank me for it.” Throughout the season, Burnett makes Norma both terrifying and oddly sympathetic, as we don’t really know her motives, but it’s in that space that we get an absorbing performance. Supporting the three women are Dern’s live-wire Linda (who we wish had more to do this season); Gerber, whose character Mitzi really steps into her own by manipulating her assumed innocence as a weapon; and Martin, who brings a strong heart and restraint to Robert. His role this season really becomes unexpectedly poignant and one that is a real stand-out among the supporting cast.
While Lucas’ character, Douglas, gets to do a lot more this season and hones a rich boy charm in scenes with Wiig, Gerber (and even with Bridges and Bibb in some of the funniest scenes), John Stamos and Patti LuPone also join the cast. The latter is chaos incarnate, stealing every scene she’s in. Her turn as Marjorie Merriweather Post is as extra as it sounds — part Broadway, part Bond villain, but all fun. Thankfully, the series leans into it completely, and it’s the right call as we get to the finish line.
With an ensemble that is one of the best on television, it’s rare for a series like this to level up between seasons. As more characters help expand the universe, it’s as if the pacing issues are gone and have now evolved into something richer: a study of how people rebuild after the masks crack. It’s this aspect that helps the sharper humor hit harder while grounding the emotional stakes. Never missing a beat on its comedy and heart, Palm Royale is proof that when the claws come out, so does the show’s best self.
- Release Date
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March 19, 2024
- Network
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Apple TV+
- Writers
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Abe Sylvia
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Carol Burnett
Norma Dellacorte
- Kristen Wiig and Allison Janney deliver sharp, layered performances that balance high comedy with genuine emotional depth throughout.
- The pacing finally clicks this season, turning last year’s slow burns into fast, addictive storytelling that never loses momentum.
- Every frame dazzles with lush 1960s design, bold color palettes, and fashion that perfectly matches the show’s heightened absurdity.
- Laura Dern’s Linda has standout moments but too little screen time for a character that feels vital to the show’s pulse.
- The constant twists might risk crowding the show’s best emotional beats.
