Episode 7 of Palm Royale, “Maxine Bags A Prince”, gets everyone together under one roof. It’s a familiar trick in a show with a large ensemble, and it’s deployed very well here, letting various subplots intertwine and raising the stakes considerably in several key areas.

Arrests, births, secret love affairs, conmen cosplaying as European royalty, blackmail, and more — this episode has it all, so I’ve rounded up all the important bits as coherently as possible.

Skeet’s Funeral

Linda’s father Skeet, you’ll recall, is dead, which in Palm Beach is mostly just an excuse for a catty get-together rather than any genuine mourning. Let’s take stock of where things stand while we’re here.

Norma is doing much better, which isn’t good news for anyone, least of all whoever she plans to shoot with the loaded revolver she picked up at the end of Episode 6 and carries in her purse with her in “Maxine Bags A Prince”. Maxine has sent out the blackmail invitations to the Beach Ball, and Perry has been arrested concerning his dodgy development deal.

On that note, Douglas makes matters much worse by revealing that he “greased a few palms”, and is thus complicit in the illegalities. This is bad news since Dinah, who is now forced to find a new suitor on short notice, has instructed Perry to “sing” as much as possible and take all of his conspirators down with him.

All Under One Roof

Skeet’s Funeral Is A Very Scottish Affair

The funeral fulfills a similar function to a house party in a teen drama. It gets all the characters together in one place and allows all the various subplots to intermingle. Things to keep an eye on include:

Maxine trying to figure out, namely by asking Raquel for career criminal advice, how to get Douglas (and thus herself) off the hook;
Norma collecting RSVPs to the Beach Ball in a little basket attached to her wheelchair;
Dinah trying to exploit a very old man;
Linda and her revolutionary friends stealing all of Skeet’s valuables, ostensibly in his honor;
Evelyn implying that, since there’s no statute of limitations on murder, she’s going to take Linda down for being the proximate cause of Skeet’s death;
Robert turning up with the Prince and Princess of Luxembourg, kind of on a date.

It’s also worth mentioning that the family custom is for everyone to dress in tartan kilts and listen to bagpipe music while Skeet’s will is read, and that Mary spends the entire episode floating around like a ghost, ominously whispering the word “fibrosis” in Maxine’s ear every chance she gets (Max still owes the donation money, which Maxine lost bidding for an ornament she already owned and Douglas spent on bribes.)

Norma Might Be Planning To Kill Maxine

Norma might be planning to kill Maxine

As the episode progresses we get a hint as to what Norma might be planning to do with that gun — kill Maxine.

While Max is wheeling Norma to a bathroom at her request, Norma fondles the firearm and withdraws it from her purse. Since it’s only she and Maxine present, the logical assumption is that she plans to shoot Max with it, but we don’t find out. Instead, the two of them accidentally stumble on Robert in bed with the Prince of Luxembourg, so Robert takes Norma home to “explain” his sexuality.

Maxine is spared that fate, for now, but she’s far from off the hook. After a brief conversation with Mary, she realizes that all the cashier’s checks Douglas was throwing around were signed in her name. It wasn’t him greasing the palms of public officials — technically speaking, it was her.

Sylvia Gives Birth

During the funeral, Sylvia goes into labor, and she gives birth in a bathtub. The child is delivered by Max, Mary, and Douglas, of all people, though the latter admittedly against his will.

Mary names the child Shelbi, with an “I”, after a girl with fibrosis whose photograph she keeps in her purse. Sylvia was thinking of Jack instead. Jack Shelbi seems to be settled upon.

The birth brings back some uncomfortable memories for Maxine, who confesses to Douglas that she lost their baby before their wedding, though kept up the ruse of being pregnant throughout the ceremony.

The Fresh Prince

The only person who seems to be having a good time in Palm Royale Episode 7 is Robert, who plans to leave Palm Beach for the south of France with his new beau. Little does he know, though, that the Prince of Luxembourg is a conman.

There were clues already, and more throughout “Maxine Bags A Prince”. When Ann snaps a photo of the happy royal couple, the princess later tracks her down, jumps her, and steals her camera, letting a Jersey accent creep out in the meantime.

Robert’s love story seems too good to be true, and suspicions are confirmed when Maxine goes to the bank to cash the donation checks for the Beach Ball and spots a wanted poster from Interpol featuring one Reginald Baggins, a wanted conman with an uncanny resemblance to the so-called Prince.

Taking advice Raquel gave her earlier in the episode to give the police a whale in exchange for a fish, Maxine reports Reginald to the authorities. In return, Douglas is released and his seized assets are returned to the Delacorte estate.

Summary

There’s a lot going on in “Maxine Bags A Prince”, but the stakes continue to heighten considerably as Palm Royale approaches its end.

The only cost is Robert’s happily ever after. It’s a price Maxine is willing to pay.