SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “Maxine plays dead“, issue of December 24 “Palm Royal“, streaming now on Apple TV.
Palm Royal's Maxine and Douglas may be divorced, but their unmistakable connection crossed the point of no return this week when she became a surprise guest at her own funeral and his devastation sent him into a frantic frenzy.
When a body was found in the Palm Royale pool, everyone assumed it was Maxine (Kristen Wiig) because it looked like her. But society friends Dina (Leslie Bibb) and Evelyn (Allison Janney) – along with Ann (Mindy Cohn) as Palm Beach's resident reporter – quickly discovered at the morgue that the deceased No Maxine.
Meanwhile, Perry (Jordan Bridges) delivered “Maxine's” ashes to a devastated Douglas (Josh Lucas), when the city gathered for the funeral, completely unaware that Maxine was very much alive hiding inside the coffin. Eccentric spiritualist Mary delivered a message from the real dead woman—Maxine's twin sister, Mirabelle—then lifted the coffin lid to find Maxine there. Chaos erupted as mourners gasped, Mitzi (Kaia Gerber) ran screaming and an inconsolable Douglas eulogized his ex, telling a “dead” Maxine how much he loved her.
Later that night, Maxine and Douglas met and she asked if he really meant what he said in church, that he loved her… but his answer wasn't quite what she expected.
“He's off-leash, he's lost and he's scared,” Josh Lucas said. Diversity. “He's in so much pain. He's just devastated… And then you think: is it because he loves her so much, or because he's a real narcissist?”
Douglas (Josh Lucas) and Mitzi (Kaia Geber) attend Maxine's funeral on Palm Royale.
Erica Parise
Maxine and Douglas' love affair changed after moving to Palm Royale. “When you have a long-term relationship like that—and even though you can dismiss it as the two of them being stupid people—their souls explode,” he says. “So I don't think Douglas is thinking about putting all the pieces together. I think he's truly liberated now… His world was his oyster, and it's not like that anymore.”
It all started with his infidelity, and “every time it gets worse,” Lucas adds. “He loses Maxine, which causes her to have a heart attack, and then when he finally… [completely] loses her, I don't think he's the right person to ever put it all back together again. He won't go to therapy.”
Lucas believes that until he met Maxine, women were simply “transactional” for him – and marrying Linda/Penelope (Laura Dern) was simply “the next right thing for his life, career and money.”
He continues: “I think when he met Maxine he really fell in love. I think he was really honest, especially in the sense that he was loyal and dedicated and he was very proud of it because he flew all over the world. And of course he flirted with flight attendants, but he didn't do anything.”
There's something childish—or, as Lucas says, doglike—about Douglas.
“He's a Labrador puppy who's having a great time destroying the house, but then he realizes, 'Oh my God, I'm destroying the house!' – he says with a grin. “Look, it has incredible privilege. One of the things that I think is so amazing about this show is the candy-covered confection – but at the center of it all is sort of a bitter pill for all time reality.”
This dichotomy has been part of the character designs from the beginning. “Abe Sylvia and the creators are, I don't mean to say in any way, making fun of these people, because they're not. These people exist, especially in this day and age,” he says of the 1970s setting. “But obviously there's a direct connection between them, especially with white people of incredible wealth and privilege who just don't have a real understanding of the world. They really are in their own bubble. And Douglas has been in it his whole life.”
In some ways, Maxine and Douglas's marriage plays out in a very realistic 1970s scenario, when men had their roles in family and career, and women had theirs. Before Palm Royale, Maxine was a traditional wife, and Douglas was fine with that.
“She talks about it – she's a traditional wife and she's very proud of it,” he says. “There's honor in that. I do think it's a very interesting thing that happens even in this day and age – the value or devaluation of it. That's where the show finds all these great lines – Roe v. Wade, women's rights and the civil rights movement. But Douglas and Maxine are completely devoid of that.”
During a recent Q&A, Sylvia reminded the audience that during this time period in some parts of this country, a woman could not have a checking account without her husband's signature.
“Those would be things that Douglas thought would be good. And Maxine, her eyes are obviously opened throughout the show by all these women who show her these layers of what's possible in the way society is changing,” Lucas notes. “But I also think she takes a lot of pride in being a wife who really loves and cares about her husband… I think we're really trying to stay away from any obvious political or psycho-sociological messages and just let the show exist as a confection.”
The second season of Palm Royale is currently streaming exclusively on Apple TV+, with new episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays.
