The second season of ‘Palm Royale’ succeeds by embracing its funny side | TV/Streaming

I didn’t like the first season of Apple’s “Palm Royale.” Yes, it was pretty to look at, but there wasn’t much to say, and the only thing it made me feel was bored.

The second season is so much better. The superb art direction is back. Expect to see Kristen Wiig’s Maxine in the most delicious early 1970s fashion, from her clothes to her makeup to her hair. Indeed, all our Palm Beach ladies are decked out in the best outfits of the decade, and it’s nice to see. Likewise, the sets with their mod architecture and period touches continue the visual feast.

More importantly, things are happening! The first eight and a half episodes of the ten-part series are packed with intrigue. Murder! Sex! Money! It’s all there, swirling around Max as she strives to cement her place in the echelons of Florida’s high society.

Luckily, this time she’s not trying to reach Dinah (Leslie Bibb) and Evelyn’s (Allison Janney) level of unseemly wealth – Max is now their peer. So the drama doesn’t revolve around her class endeavors, which didn’t make for a particularly compelling conflict in the first season, in part because the stakes were so low (who cares if she’s just comfortably rich instead of having an ungodly amount of wealth?). The other problem was, Of course, that she was always going to become a Palm Royale insider. That’s the premise of the show.

Now, with the much faster pace of this season, many plot holes are opening up. But this season of “Palm Royale” knows what show it is – a silly, funny show – and so it skips the bits that don’t make sense. It’s not really about who killed who or the rules of the baby trust. It’s all about fun and atmosphere. And on this point, season two keeps its promises.

Series creator Abe Sylvia finally realized what great comedic talent he had in his cast and let them shine. Wiig offers several hilarious physical comedy set pieces. Allison Janney is also a gasser, her Evelyn providing a counterpart to Maxine’s blonde naiveté. Both women solve problems in innovative ways and the show invites us to laugh with them.

“Palm Royale” also moved forward by knowing when to invite us to laugh has these women of society. And the answer isn’t when Mary (Julia Duffy) reveals why she’s depressed (her husband put her through electroshock therapy), but rather when Linda (Laura Dern) falls in love with a fellow revolutionary. Or Dinah and Marjorie (Patti LuPone) vie for the affections of one Richard Nixon, as if he were the 1970s Sexiest Man on Earth. The joke is in how their money has blinded them, not how far his protections have failed.

The men are also funny in their ridiculousness, with Douglas (Josh Lucas), Perry (Jordan Bridges), and Eddie (Jason Canela) all sidelined. They don’t rule the world or even the micro-society of Palm Beach. They are a means to their wives, who, although materially disadvantaged by the laws and mores of the moment, manage to use their soft power to run the show.

If this season has anything going for it, it’s how vulnerable even wealthy white women are to the patriarchy’s worst impulses and must find their own way around them. Delightfully, this season, that means Maxine and company discovering what the men in their lives mean to them (even if it’s not much). But even more, it is the relationships between women that fuel the action. Norma (Carol Burnett) returns as the antagonist, but the real drama lies in the relationship between Maxine and Evelyn: will these two go from enemies to friends? Can they become honest with each other and form a true sisterhood?

So yes, this season of “Palm Royale” does a better job of bringing out feminist thought. But really, the show has found its purpose: it’s just fun. Sylvia even put on a few musical numbers to close this show season. Ricky Martin as Robert gets the first number, while Burnett and Wiig get the bottom two. It’s the emphasis on style that, instead of appearing superficial, works through its self-awareness and humor.

Like its central characters, “Palm Royale” has matured in all the best ways.

The entire season was screened for review. Season two premieres on Apple TV+ today, November 12.