Kristen Wiig’s ‘Palm Royale’ Was Designed in a Lab for you to Enjoy

What’s the deal with Florida these days? It seems like everyone is migrating to the Sunshine State—and specifically Palm Beach—for a little vacation. There was Annette Bening in her rotten new limited series, RHONY star Tinsley Mortimer for her long-awaited fairytale wedding, and, of course, Donald Trump for the annual barnacle-boiling convention known as the Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve party. Deny it all you want, but Palm Beach is having a moment.

Now, allow Kristen Wiig and a crew of consummate costars to elaborate on why this spring break destination is becoming so popular again. In the new series Palm Royale, which premieres on Apple TV+ Mar. 20, Wiig plays a woman with big ambitions and little money who is determined to break into the Palm Beach social scene in 1969. And while tales of enterprising strivers aren’t exactly new, the show finds plenty of innovation in its sun-drenched setting, letting Florida’s newcomers and its fully blossomed biddies go at it in pursuit of meaningless power. While its side narratives about the burgeoning women’s rights movement fall flatter, Palm Royale has enough Aqua Net and quaaludes to buoy the series. A bewitching performance by Wiig ties the whole affair together in one big discount store bow.

With Wiig onboard, one might expect Palm Royale to be a larger-than-life, laugh-a-minute satire. While that sardonic quality is certainly there, the series is flavored more like a fluffy dramedy, which ultimately works in its favor. Wiig plays Maxine Simmons, aka Maxine Dellacorte, wife of the last remaining son of the Dellacorte dynasty, a family whose name is synonymous with Palm Beach wealth. Her husband, Douglas (Josh Lucas), is estranged from his relatives, meaning that Maxine’s only shot at getting a chunk of the inheritance is to ingratiate herself into the society where Norma Dellacorte (Carol Burnett), Douglas’ mother, is still revered as queen supreme.

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