Honestly, Palm Royale Episode 8 is a lot to ponder on, considering how things rapidly unfold as the finale episode approaches. The latest development in Palm Royale shows Evelyn at a crossroads of understanding her place in Palm Beach, a whale of a problem in Maxine Dellacorte Simmons’ life, Douglas trying to man up using a cowardly path, and Robert finally learning the truth about his lover.
This article explores the profound ‘whale’ metaphor and the evolving character dynamics. However, it’s important to note that the article contains significant spoilers. Reader’s discretion advised.
Palm Royale Episode 8 “Maxine Saves the Whale” Recap:
Palm Royale Episode 8 goes back in time when Robert was serving in Vietnam and had met a handsome soldier with whom he shared a great chemistry. Unfortunately, nothing much came out of it because of his fear of being outcasted by society. Coming back to the present time, Robert is drowning in sadness, playing his sad jazz music nonstop ever since his prince left him stranded from their plans of eloping away to the south of France. He blames his past karma for the out-of-luck experience in terms of romantic afflictions.
Meanwhile, the Dellacortes are being photographed by Ann for her upcoming ‘beach-ball-night’ article where she continues to extract information from them about how they are finally able to land on their feet. At one point, Norma responds with ‘plans of killing Maxine to normalise things back’, but nobody can really make sense of her words. As Maxine approaches Robert to stop him from playing his music, suddenly, a whale decides to strand itself on the beach. This is a great inconvenience to Maxine, who is more worried about the beach ball night preparations getting ruined than an actual mammal (in her words, fish) dying.
Why does Douglas decline Evelyn’s offer?
While Maxine tries to fix the latest problem, calling people to send the whale back to the ocean, we see Evelyn and Dinah in their usual ‘bitch-mode-on’ selves. While trying to make sense of their present situation, plotting tricks to get themselves a safe spot, the two women call people to cancel Maxine’s idea of the ball night arrangements and order random cheap stuff instead. This is when Douglas drops by to meet Evelyn who plans to use him to acquire Linda’s new-found fortune after her father’s death. However, Douglas is not interested in teaming up with her and joins hands with Pinky (Raquel’s husband and a sort of goon who has been to jail multiple times).
We also briefly see Dinah convincing her paranoid ‘lover boy’ Eddie, to wait a little longer for things to settle down. Maxine visits Linda’s place, where she finds the ‘bookstore’ women plotting ways to stop people getting drafted and help them move to Canada instead. Maxine, however, tells everyone about her situation, and all the women almost immediately help her save the whale.
On the other hand, Linda has decided to lock herself in the room, not indulging with anyone, as she feels the guilt of everything in the past slowly eating her away. With Maxine wanting to see her friend, Linda talks to her only through notes, and this is when Maxine confesses about everything that has been going on with Robert, Beach Ball, Douglas, and Norma. Linda suggests she prioritize telling Robert the truth.
What does Robert find out about his lover?
Evelyn finds Maxine in a ‘confession position’ next to Linda’s door, and soon, the latter follows her after learning she is moving out of the house and living in a trailer. Maxine is deeply sympathetic towards Evelyn after finding out that Linda will be giving her stepmother an allowance of $500/week. So Maxine convinces Evelyn to help her with the beach ball night as the two come from the same roots.
Next, we see Robert learning from an FBI agent at the (gay) bar that Maxine helped him arrest the ‘prince’ who had been a big-time thing, leading him up for promotions. He also suggests that Robert leaves the bar before 6 pm since the place gets raided quite frequently. When Evelyn arrives at the ‘whale situation’ point, she is deeply enamored by the mammal’s presence. It is when a beach official arrives only to hand an informative tape about whales to Maxine due to her lack of knowledge regarding the most extraordinary being on the planet.
What does Douglas blackmail Linda about?
While Maxine is listening to the tape, Ann enters her room to find any ‘juicy’ archive regarding Norma’s past life. Maxine directs her to a corner that may be useful for Ann to indulge in the findings she is looking for. Next, we see Douglas visiting Linda, telling her that he declined Evelyn’s offer and sort of blackmailing Linda into agreeing to give him $3 million to fund a project with Pinky.
Back at the Dellacortes, Maxine is truly surprised by Douglas’ move to buy a diamond bracelet for her. While making his wife’s favorite drink of all time – Grasshopper – he tells her that things will be back in motion now that he has the power to do things right along with Pinky. However, their conversation regarding the ‘imaginary plans’ gets interrupted when Robert barges in and starts riling Maxine for lying and backstabbing him about the phony ‘prince’. He even tells Maxine that the whale on the beach is karma coming to bite Maxine.
Will Ann succumb to Norma’s tactic of killing Maxine?
While the confrontation between the two friends completely puzzles Douglas, Norma, on the other hand, is busy trying to put poison in Maxine’s drink. However, to Norma’s disappointment, Maxine barely drinks anything. She leaves immediately with Norma after learning from Ann that Dinah is organizing a birthday party for her new beau, a 90-year-old wheelchair-bound, who was once Norma’s lover. Maxine feels reuniting old lovers will fix her karma. Unfortunately, it goes downhill since Ann decides to enjoy Maxine’s ‘poisoned drink’ while going through Norma’s old archives, which have a lot of interesting hot gossip in and around Palm Beach.
I genuinely like Ann’s character; she is the only character who truthfully speaks her mind without bending any rules for selfish reasons. And for real, the only character motivated to put the ‘Palm Beach Puzzle’ in order. I mean, if the creators are going to kill her next – it will be a tease to extend the narrative for season 2 purposes; however, if they don’t, it would be interesting how her ‘detective’ mindset brings out the juicy things (that literally got me started with the series, in the first place!)
Palm Royale Episode 8 “Maxine Saves the Whale” Ending Explained:
Later at the party, Dinah is infuriated to find Maxine gatecrashing without an invite. However, seeing Norma she changes her tone. Next, we see Eddie running up to Dinah’s yacht, pleading with her not to sail away with the old man and instead run away with him. Dinah, more focused on materialistic bliss than romance and butterflies, makes a heart-wrenching decision. She chooses to break up with Eddie, a move that leaves him utterly shattered. Right before Axel’s (Norma’s old lover here and the 90-year-old birthday boy) cake-cutting ceremony, before Dinah could say a few words, Maxine takes the microphone and starts humming a whale sound, hoping it would help in communicating with the actual whale stranded on the beach (such logic, much wow!).
Why does Evelyn connect with the whale?
Evelyn, who had been talking with the whale about her miseries and worries about what will become of her at this point, finally bids a tearful farewell when the mammal decides to follow the distant sound (Maxine’s voice) from the ocean. In my opinion, Evelyn really connects with the whale here, considering she, too, once lived a life where everyone looked up to her. However, with Skeet gone, Linda acquiring the fortune, and Evelyn being left to fend for herself with merely a $500 allowance a week, she thinks of her as the lost entity. She feels no one is there for her and is very lonesome, considering the only man she ever loved despised her right before his death. Evelyn then meets Eddie, who is also heartbroken and disappointed with his life. He connects with her instantly, and the two share a passionate kiss.
What does Robert find about Douglas after meeting Mitzy?
Next, we see Robert finding out that Douglas cheated on Maxine with Mitzy (a very naive and sweet young girl with ambitions), who asked her to leave the town to avoid consequences. Douglas meets Robert at the same bar (where he met the FBI officer earlier), where Douglas tries to convince him to be hush about everything as it will have dire consequences. However, before Robert can promise anything, the bar gets raided, and the two of them are caught by the police.
Is Norma successful in removing Maxine from her life?
Back at the party, Norma somehow manages to kick Maxine off the yacht by pushing her wheelchair. As Maxine falls into the water, she screams for help as she watches the yacht leave her behind without anyone noticing her fall. Norma is pleased with her move, as she had been long preparing for the moment of removing Maxine from her life to set things back to normalcy.
The ending of Palm Royale Episode 8 finds Maxine, her voice filled with curses, stranded in the middle of the dark ocean. She watches the whale swimming back into the ocean, away from her, and receives a ‘thank you for saving me’ sound from the whale. The end sequence shows a moment of isolation and abandonment, amplifying Maxine’s desperation and fear.
What does the whale signify in Palm Royale Episode 8?
When the beach official visited Maxine earlier in the episode, he described the whale as the planet’s greatest and most intelligent being. The mammal evolved and moved to the land, only to return to the water. I would like to take this reference out. Maxine is in the place she has been fighting with every bone she has to belong in Palm Beach. However, instead of receiving the warmth, love, and honor she has long been looking for (despite offering her wholesome energy and ability to get things done), she has only received backlash for being who she is.
With only two episodes to the finale, does this mean that Maxine will return to where she came from? Or is the theory applicable to Evelyn, who came from a small town with little to no money and had nothing else left in Palm Beach? Linda offered Evelyn a place in Port Salerno, a sweet countryside town by the beach in Florida that offers picturesque beauty and tranquility. Now that Evelyn has chanced upon meeting Eddie, who believes in love and romance, will the two move on with their lives in Port Salerno? Guess we will learn in the upcoming episodes and find out how the significance of the whale applies and to whom.
