Kristen Wiig Deserves an Emmy for the ‘Palm Royale’ Finale

(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

There comes a time to retire songs from being used in TV shows or movies because they have been done to death (hello, “Hallelujah”), or it was part of a scene so iconic it would be impossible to top it.

“Is That All There Is?” by Peggy Lee falls into the latter camp after Mad Men used the late-’60s existential anthem in its final season. However, Palm Royale and Kristen Wiig’s uniquely heartbreaking performance of this song—complete with new spoken word lyrics—proves there are still ways to surprise with a classic track. (For starters, the word “cunnilingus” is a new addition specific to this new version.)

In the series, in which Wiig’s Maxine Dellacorte strives to fit in among the snooty wealthy women of a social club, money and status are slippery. But Maxine was always able to rely on the notion of true love, even when the bejeweled Palm Beach residents tried to reject her. That is until the Season 1 finale of Apple TV+’s sun-drenched series dropped a bombshell that rocks her previously unshakeable philosophy, causing Maxine to reveal many closely guarded secrets of this community—and all in front of President Richard Nixon, no less.

Maxine’s candid unloading sharply contrasts against society queen Norma Dellacorte (Carol Burnett)’s years of weaponizing skeletons in closets. But Norma never wore her heart on her custom-made sleeve, whereas Maxine can’t help but reveal that the cause of her misery is her husband Douglas’ (Josh Lucas) infidelity: “We were so in love. Until about four minutes ago when I found out he was fucking my manicurist.”

In the penultimate episode, before Maxine learns that Mitzi (Kaia Gerber) is pregnant with Douglas’ baby, she rehearses upbeat choreography for the exclusive Beach Ball, the social event of the season that the entire series has been building towards—and which Maxine is co-hosting. The disillusioned lyrics are incongruous with the jazz hands tempo, but the song ends up reflecting Maxine’s state of mind when everything falls apart. Wiig's tour-de-force performance combines impeccable comic timing and a heart-wrenching discovery. It’s impossible to look away, making the Palm Royale finale one of the year's most bonkers yet captivating episodes of TV.

Often throughout the series, it feels like Maxine has washed down a fistful of amphetamines with her signature Grasshopper cocktails, as she is the personification of an upper. That perpetual optimism is evident as she blocks her dance moves during the “Is That All There Is?” run-through in Episode 9. Blissful ignorance also applies to her marriage, even if she is often vibrating with anxiety that all of her riches could be snatched away at any moment. Wiig taps into Maxine’s eccentricities without landing in cartoonish territory, walking that tightrope of absurdity and groundedness.

When it comes time to perform the song at the Beach Ball, Maxine eschews the planned razzle-dazzle and stage props, as the rendition instead becomes one woman breaking apart at the seams. Maxine breaks down and spills the dirty little confidences of those socialites she used to revere. Becoming a woman featured in The Shiny Sheet gossip pages comes at a cost that Maxine now finally understands.

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Maxine has gone from living in a motel room to a mansion to hosting a bash attended by the 37th President of the United States. She has been met with illimitable obstacles and survived multiple attempts on her life, including Norma pushing her overboard during Palm Royale’s most out-there episode. But Douglas breaking his marriage vows and having an affair is what tips her over the edge.

Maxine has dealt with crisis after crisis with a smile, so it is hardly surprising that she shows off her pageant-ready pearly whites during her big song. However, nothing can stop the tears from streaming down her face. Again, this woman contains multitudes.

While the series can sometimes induce tonal whiplash, swinging wildly from campy comedy to mediation on reproductive rights, Wiig is equally adept at leaning into a scene's farce or sentiment. “Maxine Throws a Party” finds a happy medium between the two extremes, and the use of “Is That All There Is?” should secure Wiig her tenth Emmy nomination—somehow, she has not won a single Emmy.

Palm Royale follows in the footsteps of Mad Men and Martin Scorsese’s 1985 dark comedy After Hours. It utilizes the track by songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to reflect the mood of a lead character who has been through it. Wiig finds a new way to explore the bittersweet overtones, proving her pinpoint accuracy at landing a joke and an emotional gut punch.

Maxine’s new version of “Is That All There Is?”

Perhaps Maxine should’ve taken astronaut Grant Herkimer’s (Avi Rothman) sudden departure as a sign that the night was doomed. After rejecting Grant’s advances in the previous episode, Maxine tells him this song isn’t a metaphor for her dying marriage but “about accepting your fate, for better or worse.” Maybe she understands the song’s themes better than her snappy arrangement suggests.

Unfortunately, this was before she discovered Douglas’ infidelity. Douglas’ aunt, Norma, facilitated this revelation. Watching a legend like Burnett go toe-to-toe with Wiig all season in this one-sided grudge has been endlessly entertaining, even before it comes to a head in the finale.

Norma may have failed at murder—we lost count of how many times she tried to off Maxine—but she finally kills Maxine’s spirit. Norma has not softened her approach after waking from a coma, using her medical issues to manipulate everyone around her. Up until the finale, most people were under the assumption that she couldn’t speak. When she offers Mitzi a sympathetic ear, little does Norma know that she has hit the scandal jackpot.

Unlike Maxine, the audience knows what dearest Dougie has been up to. It doesn’t take Maxine long to realize that the husband Mitzi is talking to is hers, and Wiig nails the precise point at which Maxine’s heart breaks in two.

Rather than bolt, Maxine launches into “Is That All There Is?” with alternative spoken-word lyrics acknowledging her orphanage upbringing in the opening verse. Her voice is at odds with her insistence that everything is fine, cracking slightly during the first chorus. She sings “Let's break out the booze and have a ball” before shouting out Palm Beach itself to a smattering of applause as the crowd can’t figure out what might happen next.

Going off-book further, Maxine starts singling out audience members to unmask. Co-host Evelyn Rollins (Allison Janney) is not on hand to hear Maxine spill her bankruptcy status as Evelyn left the party early for a perfect reason (“I'm going back to my house to fuck”). Hence, the cunnilingus lyric addition.

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Instead of betraying Dinah Donahue (Leslie Bibb)—Maxine is the only one who knows Dinah had an abortion—she points out that Dinah “tried to warn me” about the folly of believing in true love. Maxine directs her sharpest, pain-filled words at Douglas and Mitzi. As the jewels on her custom gown and tiara sparkle, so do her glassy eyes. Wiig is raw in her delivery as the tears and snot cascade down her face.

Fake identities and second acts

Ever the performer, Maxine returns to the song she worked hard to nail. “It’s getting a little depressing,” she says without a hint of irony over the resigned sadness in the lyrics.

While the president can’t leave quickly enough, Norma sits at the side of the stage, giddy at the implosion. Her joy is short-lived, though. Robert (Ricky Martin), her former pool boy and confidant, interrupts her basking in Maxine’s misery by revealing he knows her true identity is Agnes. Robert knows she murdered her wealthy boarding school roommate and assumed Norma’s identity decades earlier.

Another TV character who ditched his real name to start a new life is Mad Men’s Don Draper (Jon Hamm). “Is That All There Is?” was almost the theme song for the hit AMC show. Creator Matthew Weiner realized its release was too late to make sense with the show’s 1960 start date, but held it in his pocket until the final season’s episode, “Severance.” The tension between life as expected and life as it ends up—and the shiny version sold by ad men like Don—is central to both Mad Men and Palm Royale.

“Is That All There Is?” was a second-act victory for Lee, giving the 48-year-old singer her first No. 1 in over a decade, following the impossible-to-resist “Fever.” Long before Mad Men and Palm Royale expertly utilized this bittersweet track, Scorsese used it in a pivotal scene toward the end of After Hours, when a sleep-deprived and desperate-to-get-home Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) uses his last quarter in the jukebox in a moment of respite from a seemingly never-ending ordeal.

Similarly, Maxine finds solace in the lyrics, which she has altered to reflect her life. Unfortunately, blood is spilled on the stage. Robert is shot, though it’s unclear if he was shot by Mary (Julia Duffy) aiming for President Nixon, or Norma from the wings to protect her secret. As Lee’s 1969 cover of The Beatles’ “Something” plays over the ensuing chaos, Wiig nails the switch from Maxine centering herself in a sad awakening to screaming in terror that enemy-turned-best friend Robert is dead.

Peggy Lee’s song ponders lost love, disappointments, and death, and Palm Royale follows suit. Thanks to Wiig, it is deeply funny and incredibly tragic. It is the season's crowning achievement, and Wiig is the queen.

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