Most shows find a boost from a change of scenery, but "Palm Royale" truly thrives in "Maxine Hits the Slopes." It's not that Season 2 was faltering beforehand; it was far from it. However, there's something about the vibe of Episode 8—a flamboyant pastiche of post-war European sentiment and wintry chic—that truly accentuates everything this show does so well. The previous episode was a superb comedic triumph, and this one confidently rivals it, with an even more dramatic cliffhanger ending for good measure.
As you'll recall, we're in the Swiss Alps, where all the Palm Beach regulars have more or less valid reasons to be traveling. But the vibes are still off. Evelyn is shaky about having cheated on Eduardo and is still trying to ruin Maxine, while Mitzi is furious about Maxine "haunting" her (and thus is also trying to ruin Maxine). It feels like the only person who isn't trying to ruin our heroine is Douglas, but that's also because he's trying to sleep with her after his tryst with her twin sister. He thinks he and Maxine can resume their marriage after his baby is born, which is perhaps why he has promised her half of the money Mitzi was supposedly entitled to. Evelyn is also trying to claim that money, threatening Mitzi with exposing the fact that her bun in the oven was put there by Jed, not Douglas. It's all quite a lot.
A humorous joke here is that Palm Beach infidelity is so common, and its denizens are so thoughtlessly materialistic, that Evelyn having bought Eduardo an expensive new watch out of seemingly nowhere immediately tips everyone off to the fact she cheated on him. I laughed, anyway.
Maxine thinks there's a noble purpose to this expedition, namely to save Robert from whatever grim fate Norma has in store for him. But that turns out to be far from the reality. In fact, Norma has legally adopted Robert, making him the heir to the Dellacorte family fortune. And the fact that he's not technically a Dellacorte doesn't seem to be of any real concern since "Norma" isn't technically a Dellacorte either, but has played the role of one for so long now that nobody can realistically tell the difference.
This is all part of the capital-T Theme that backs "Maxine Hits the Slopes," which is aptly how women are scapegoated for men's mistakes, handily reinforced by repeated mentions of a local legend involving Frampus, the wife of Krampus, Switzerland's Santa Claus. Even Father Christmas couldn't keep it in his big red pants—not that anyone cared—so there's little hope for idiots like Douglas. But this plays as a funny gag because it's the women in this show who seem to be doing all the cheating and scheming. And there's a lot of cheating and scheming going on, including Jed instructing Mitzi to kill Evelyn since she has figured out what he's up to.
One of the more significant developments in Palm Royale Season 2, Episode 8 is that Maxine cannot sign the paperwork at the bank because she was never listed as a beneficiary. Consequently, the gang has to send Linda over to Switzerland to complete the transaction. Another notable event is when Dinah comes into possession of some letters that prove Norma killed Axel. However, she hands them over to Douglas, who puts them in his jacket pocket. But, due to a series of convoluted circumstances, he ends up swapping the jacket with Robert.
And thus, we dive into the highly eventful second half of "Maxine Hits the Slopes." The show continues this pattern of spending around half an episode on a fun setup premise and then throwing in a plethora of revelations towards the end to keep everyone on their toes. You have Dinah telling Eduardo that the watch gift was an apology, and then Perry assumes Dinah is cheating with Eduardo. You have Mitzi trying to kill Evelyn, and Lotte, the woman looking after them while they're in Switzerland, revealing that she's "Norma's" mother and that Norma has plans for Mitzi's baby contingent on her marrying Robert - which Robert agrees to. And, finally, we have Maxine and Doug breaking into Robert's room to try and steal those letters back, and inadvertently discovering Agnes's grave - in other words, the resting place of the real Norma, alongside the grace of Charlotte Moriarty, aka Lotte.
Phew! With all this going on, it's a small wonder that anything else can be squeezed in. But we also get a major cliffhanger for good measure. After being regaled with a story about how Frampus was thrown into a fire by Krampus, Douglas takes some schnapps from Lotte. But after a swig or two, he falls to the ground clutching his chest, leaving his fate uncertain as Maxine screams over him.
I hope this revision makes the scenario more vivid and engaging!
