Palm Royale – Season 2 Episode 9

Published: Jan 09 2026

If you weren't aware of the impending finale, Episode 9 of "Palm Royale" Season 2 makes it abundantly clear. "Maxine Hears a Confession" is the quintessential penultimate episode, delivering significant plot twists for several characters that redefine their relationships and what we thought we knew about the plot, culminating in a massive cliffhanger ending that adds another notch to the Palm Beach murder tally. This one was pretty justified, though.

Palm Royale – Season 2 Episode 9 1

This episode also re-introduces Linda into the main plot after she spent most of the season engaging in sexy adventures with Latin American communists. The cold open finds her traveling to Switzerland on a plane piloted by Ulla and Beullah through a snowstorm. Later, we learn that the same snowstorm has grounded all flights out of the country, leaving Mitzi and Eduardo, who both want to leave for different reasons, stranded with everyone else. It's the perfect setup for a hefty dose of drama (though, disappointingly, a bit less comedy than usual).

After the previous episode, no one is feeling particularly cheerful. Robert is deeply conflicted, and now that the word is out about having a son, he can confide in Maxine a bit more. Over the years, Norma has kept him safe and hidden from his family, but when he took a bullet for Nixon, his face was printed on every newspaper in the land. His son saw him and has been reaching out to him. He imagines Robert as a hero, which is terrifying for Robert since he assumes that his being gay will disappoint his child.

Since Robert burned the letters proving that Norma wasn't Norma, Maxine's on the back foot, and Norma must know this. Hence, she decides now is the opportune time to reach out to Evelyn, who is taken by Lotte through a Frampus painting to Norma's hidden lair. She has a proposition for Evelyn, which occurs off-screen, but it's pretty obvious from the outset that Evelyn agreed to it, even though she tells Maxine she didn't. In fact, she rushes Maxine and the others to the hidden room to convince them she's on their side, revealing that Norma will be at the Hall of Dellacortes at 2 pm to marry Mitzi off to Robert. Maxine figures that'll be the perfect time to snatch her.

Before that, though, Linda's name is still on the baby trust, so Maxine gets Evelyn to impersonate her in an effort to withdraw the money. Allison Janney is hilarious here, even though it's pretty miserable that the security question that foils her is Linda's birthday. As it happens, it wouldn't have mattered anyway since the bank clerk is a big fan of Linda, who is something of a local revolutionary hero in Fulm. He knew all along that Evelyn wasn't her. It seems like the baby trust is going to Switzerland until Ulla and Beullah arrive with Linda, just in time.

In the midst of Palm Royale's Season 2, Episode 9, Douglas's fate takes a turn for the worse. His heart, fragile and weak, reveals that it's not due to poisoning but a congenital heart defect. The doctor is shocked at his longevity, but he also tells Maxine that the condition prevents him from having children, meaning Mitzi must be pregnant with another man's child. This revelation plays a crucial role in proving that Norma isn't really a Dellacorte.

When Maxine interrupts the wedding at the Hall of Dellacortes, she discovers that all members of the Dellacorte family died young from the same inherited defect. Norma's survival proves she isn't who she claims to be. It's then revealed that Evelyn was playing Maxine all along. The wedding isn't at the Hall of Dellacortes but at the church. Norma offered Evelyn money to create a distraction, and Evelyn took it. However, it didn't make much difference since Robert decided not to marry Mitzi anyway.

Norma uses the opportunity at the church to tell Linda the truth about her identity and their relationship. "Norma," aka Agnes, is Linda's mother; she conceived her with Skeet during a years-long affair. But due to social norms at that time, her pregnancy would have ruined both of them, so she gave birth to Linda in secret in Switzerland and had Skeet adopt her. That's why she arranged for Linda to marry Douglas to secure both the Dellacorte and Rollins fortunes. But then Maxine came along and ruined everything.

This revelatory conversation is interrupted by Perry, who has been wandering across snowy mountains, sulking about Dinah's supposed infidelity. He tries to turn Linda in to the authorities on behalf of the U.S. government, but Lotte hits him over the head with a shovel and escapes with Linda and Norma.

Meanwhile, Mitzi decides not to marry Robert after all. When she tells Jed that she couldn't kill Evelyn, he demands she get the next flight home. Jed spends his time trying to force Mary into adding him to her will, but things turn violent off-screen. It's clear that Mary clubbed him over the head with the family orb, presumably fatally. When Mitzi calls to check on him, Mary answers the phone, and Jed takes this opportunity to vanish.

The episode ends with Jed settling on his next victim - Evelyn. He bursts into her house and opens fire with a revolver, but she's saved at the last moment by Maxine, who had just been told by Mitzi that it was Jed who killed Mirabelle and was planning to kill Evelyn. Maxine kills Jed, and at the same time, to add drama, Robert's son, Rafael, arrives at his door.

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