Alright, I did think Palm Royale was quite an outrageous show, but episode 8 can’t be described with any word other than “wild.” No, I mean, there’s an actual whale in this episode! For the most part, everything that happens on the show is kind of understandable, and there’s always something bizarre in the episodes because that’s the selling point of the show, but a whale?! I’m seriously lost for words, but it’s all good because I still can’t wait to see what happens in the final two episodes of the series. Additionally, the ending of this episode is quite the cliffhanger, so it’s going to be interesting to see what comes next for Maxine and Norma. Additionally, something massive has occurred between Robert and Maxine as well, and in all honesty, I quite like their friendship and wouldn’t want them to be enemies.
Spoiler Alert
What Happens to Evelyn After She Sees the Whale?
Palm Royale episode 8 begins with Robert in Korea in 1950 with a fellow handsome soldier. I can’t help but think it has something to do with this man, who then asks Robert to go skinny-dipping with him. They’re obviously lovers. Later in the episode, Robert tells Maxine that the reason the prince left him was because of Karma, and that he had done some bad things earlier in life. In the present day, the Dellacortes are taking a family portrait for the Shiny Sheet since their ball’s just around the corner and all. Norma is still decidedly on the hate train towards Maxine, and she even tells Ann that she wants to kill Maxine and bring things back to normal. Amidst the delightful interview, the crowd hears some interesting melancholic music coming from right outside the house. It happens to be a sorrowful Robert, playing music for his prince. Maxine is quick to rush out and tell him that he shouldn’t be stuck on a man who doesn’t even deserve him, but before the conversation can actually go somewhere (this is when the karma talk happens), Robert is stunned to see a whale beach itself right in front of them!
All Maxine wants immediately is for the whale to be removed from the Dellacorte beach because it’s obviously bad for business. But clearly, that’s going to prove much harder than Maxine can imagine. While Maxine is already struggling, Evelyn and Dinah, her apparent biggest enemies, are plotting to mess up all her orders for the ball. While they’re making the calls to all the caterers and telling them to send cottage cheese instead of rib eye and sloppy joes without the joe (I don’t even know what that means), Douglas drops by and has a word with Evelyn. He tells her that he will not be a part of her scheme to steal from Linda. Apparently, he’s got other plans with Pinky. Maxine goes to a women’s group that Mary has now taken over because Linda has sworn herself to silence after her father passed. The ladies are immediately willing to help Maxine save a whale.
With some consideration, Maxine decides to talk to Linda about everything that’s going on with her, and Linda tells her to tell Robert the truth. It’s basically like a confession because Maxine’s on the other side of Linda’s door and she can’t hear or see her, and she’s on her knees talking about her sins. Maxine learns that Evelyn is going to be living in a trailer and asks her to come help with the whale too. Privileged Evelyn is massively disappointed about living on only $500 a month. Poor woman. In the meantime, Robert goes to a gay bar and learns that the FBI agent named Tom is of his kind too. When Evelyn comes into eye contact with the whale, she suddenly starts to feel like a different person. Enraptured by the beauty of the mammal, she’s mesmerized and gets stuck by its side, while Maxine still struggles to figure out how she can get this whale to go back into the sea. She even listens to a lecture about whales and how they can communicate with each other from miles apart. On the other hand, Douglas goes to Linda for money to fund his project with Pinky. He tells her that if she says no, then Douglas would have to say yes to Evelyn, basically blackmailing her into giving him $3 million.
Does Norma succeed in getting Maxine?
Douglas buys Maxine a gorgeous diamond bracelet, probably with the money from Linda, and makes her her favorite drink, the grasshopper. They get interrupted when Robert barges into the house, demanding answers from Maxine. It turns out Tom wanted to thank Maxine for the tip, so he told Robert to do it for him, basically telling Robert his fraudulent prince was outed by Maxine. In truth, you could say Maxine saved Robert, but what if the guy was actually decent as a partner? We don’t know. While this is happening, Norma manages to get out of her wheelchair and poison Maxine’s drink, but unfortunately for her, Maxine doesn’t drink it because they’re interrupted yet again by Ann. This time, Ann tells Maxine that Norma used to be the lover of Axel, the 90-year-old man Dinah is trying to marry for money.
Now, Maxine has a brand new idea and decides to take Norma to the birthday party Dinah’s hosting for Axel. Back home, Ann’s just sitting around, sifting through Norma’s things, sipping on the grasshopper. She finds something interesting, but I’m not sure we’re going to find out what it is if she finishes that drink. Back at the party, Dinah and Maxine are arguing when Eddie shows up, telling Dinah to get off of her yacht (where the party is taking place) and run away with him. He tells her that he’s in love with her, but that’s not enough for Dinah, and she gets the yacht moving, leaving Eddie alone forever (nah, he moved on pretty fast, but we’ll get there).
Interestingly, it’s Mary who encourages Maxine to continue her pursuit of hosting the perfect beach ball. So, when it comes time for people to give Axel his wishes with a microphone, Maxine snatches the opportunity and starts to make whale sounds to help the whale get off the beach. I guess we’re supposed to see the whale as a metaphorical Maxine because, apparently, whales are the only sea mammals who tried to come to land, didn’t like it, and went back to being water creatures. I guess this is a sign that Maxine will go back to being a countryside woman? We’ll find out soon enough.
At the end of Palm Royale episode 8, Evelyn is left crying and alone on the beach, while Maxine and Norma are alone on the deck. Norma pushes Maxine overboard using her wheelchair. On the other hand, Eddie finds Evelyn and calls her the saddest and most beautiful woman in the world, and they end up kissing (yikes). So maybe the whale was supposed to be Evelyn? In the end, Maxine is left struggling in the ocean, and the whale says thank you to her (I don’t even know). But wait, there’s more. Robert finds out that Mitzy was not cheating with Perry, but she was actually seeing Douglas, so he takes Douglas to the bar to have a quick chat about the whole situation. The bar gets raided, and the two men get caught. Or maybe Norma’s the whale, and she’s taking back what’s hers!
