Growing up, I remember Nick at Nite playing Carol Burnett and me wondering why everyone thought she was funny, because it was just something that I didn’t understand. I wondered a lot of the time, if physical comedy was just lost on me. Do I respect her? Yes. She’s a great actress. She is an icon. I understand.
I have just never been able to understand the allure, until now. After seeing episode five of Palm Royale, I am starting to understand the allure of the actress and her physical comedy.
Now, did I think that we were going to experience all of Palm Royale with Burnett’s character of Norma in a coma? Yes, yes I did. I didn’t expect to see her start rebounding and I didn’t expect all the mumbling. I didn’t expect the reaction to Robert or her hanging out with Maxine, or whatever. I didn’t really expect a lot of it.
But I do have to say that the decision to have Norma start to recover and that we get to see more from Burnett is a smart choice. This show is an ensemble show for a reason and underutilizing characters seems like a bit of a waste and a lot of people in the series have been just that.
I do see that things are coming together and that everyone has a part to play. While those part may yet be unseen for some, for others they aren’t. TBH, the only person that I think I have figured out is well, no one.
Maxine is livid over Douglas and Penelope. She confronts him, on a golf course, with Norma in the cart. Douglas doesn’t want to talk about it, but he’s the master of manipulation. Maxine is the Queen of creating drama and problems. No wonder together, they really fit.
Douglas is only thinking about time spent with this friends, on the golf course, and really doing everything that he can to spend money. Norma’s money. He has a sense of entitlement that is beyond disgusting. I have loved Josh Lucas forever, but he finally has a character that I can’t stand. Like please get Douglas off my screen.
For Maxine, I think that she has every reason to want to love her husband and be faithful to him. She doesn’t want to see him any other way way than this perfect man that loves her no matter what.
But she’s beginning to see that there is a lot that she doesn’t know and a lot that others do. She’s an outsider no matter what she does.
And she’s going to be dramatic about it.
Maxine heads to the bookstore to confront Linda, who hides. Linda’s hidden in the office and Maxine gives no f***s. She starts speaking loudly about how she feels a fool, what Linda has done, and more.
Here’s my thing. I know that life is a matter of balance. I know that we’re focusing on the wedding, but as I watch Linda and others start to freak out over that Rolodex, I am wondering why it hasn’t been destroyed. Like sure, Linda has burnt her card, but why is it that we don’t just destroy the entire thing? That rolodex is what led to Maxine finding out and so much more.
And if you think that Maxine is going to give up, she’s not. She goes to find old editions of the Shiny Sheet to read what happened. Lord, I would just get a divorce and kick his slimy ass out.
But Maxine, she wants answers and heads to the source – Skeet. She wants to know what happened, but runs into Evelyn who gives her version. Her version is that Penelope was trying to shoot her for wanting to be with Skeet. Evelyn acts as though she’s a victim and she’s the absolute furthest thing from it.
The best part of that whole interaction is that Maxine learns about Norma and who she is. The rolodex is a way to balance things. Norma holds all of the secrets in that rolodex, and that has been a huge thing for the balance of Palm Beach. Norma fixed Skeet being shot, but she kept those secrets to control the situation.
And all of this is in the Rolodex. It’s part of why Evelyn wants it, because then she’d be in control. She’d be the new Norma.
But that Rolodex is well, in Linda’s hands. She couldn’t destroy it, because Virginia convinced her to use it for power. The first person that they are going to go after? Perry. He apparently paid off inspectors and was part of a building that collapsed. This is a huge deal, especially since he’s still in real estate and Douglas is investing.
The thing about Palm Beach – like I have said, is that everything is secrets. I do believe though that the only person who has true intentions is Robert. I think that he loves Norma in his own way and that he wants to protect her. Now, at first I thought he wanted to kill her for her money, but when I am wrong, I say it.
While I don’t understand Roberts motivation, I do believe that there is something that has happened between him and Norma that the platonic that they feel for each other may be the only real thing in Palm Beach.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Why Maxine would ever listen to Dinah, I don’t understand.
- Dinah is just whatever.
- Alligator. HAHAHAHA
- What is Roberts angle? I feel like he has to have one and we’re all missing what it is.
- I actually feel bad for Norma and everyone using her, even though she’s screwed over everyone else.
- Douglas and Perry going to Washington DC does not seem like a good idea.
- Douglas and Perry being friends is not a good idea.
- Maxine kissing Robert? Well, that was awkward.
- The whole Norma cleaning up the shooting scene was gross and Douglas is scum
New episodes of Palm Royale release Wednesdays on Apple TV+.