Breakdowns, Shootouts, and Solos — Inside the Chaotic ‘Palm Royale’ Finale

On “Palm Royale,” Maxine knows how to throw a memorable party. Unfortunately for her attempts to break into Palm Beach society circa 1969, that isn’t the same thing as throwing a good party.

At the end-of-season Beach Ball — which also ends Season 1 of Apple TV+’s “Palm Royale” — Maxine should be poised for triumph. None other than President Richard Nixon is in attendance. He, like most of the other well-heeled guests, is eager to meet the guest-of-honor astronaut. Except the man in the space suit is actually Maxine’s pool boy. And her co-host, Evelyn (Allison Janney), left to have sex with her younger lover. Not to mention the revelation that Maxine’s friend, Mitzi, is pregnant by Maxine’s husband. And that’s not even including the showgirls and elaborate decor that is as kinetic as the revelations are frenetic. Is it any wonder Maxine’s planned performance of Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?” goes spectacularly awry?

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Episode director Tate Taylor — who also helmed the first episode of “Palm Royale” — returned for the finale. “The most complicated thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he told IndieWire with a laugh. “Being on the Paramount lot with 200 extras every minute of the day walking through the corridors with headdresses and sailor outfits. One of my agents came just to experience what it used to feel like there. People walking across the parking lot in full outfits. Mermaids and sailors and astronauts. People were like, ‘This is Old Hollywood!'”

There are notes of Old Hollywood in Maxine’s breakdown, too, which is funny but also heartbreaking. “‘Strange humility’ is what I will call that moment,” Taylor said. “I wept when [Wiig] was doing it. I grew up with a mom who was not embraced by a certain set of women, and I think it spoke to me in the way Kristen played it. I think it’ll speak to a lot of those women. Yes, [Maxine] was up to something, but it just speaks to a real loneliness that can occur.”

But as spontaneous as Maxine’s secret-spilling in the spotlight is, the entire episode was produced with the discipline of a military operation.

“[The finale] was the first time I have ever storyboarded anything because it was such a responsibility since it was in one room,” Taylor said. “My job was to not let it get stale. So I’m like, ‘OK, let’s put this scene behind the curtain so we see the shadow of the mermaid.’ ‘I want to have a side of the tent that’s open so there’s an ocean for Maxine and Douglas to see and so we’re just not in the tent.’ That was the most technical thing I’ve ever shot in my life.”

As for those secrets — which include the revelation that Palm Veachsociety doyenne Norma (Carol Burnett) is actually a cold-blooded murderer and an imposter — and a cliffhanger that finds Ricky Martin’s pool boy shot and possibly dying, the stage is set for a spectacular Season 2. (Whether or not we get one remains to be seen.) Were Taylor and company working with advance knowledge of what might happen?

“We did not shoot that finale with knowledge of where the fuck we’re going,” Taylor said with a laugh. “We could’ve! There’s ideas floating around. But like I said, this is a unique show. You gotta roll with it.”

All episodes of “Palm Royale” are now streaming on Apple TV+.

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