Admittedly, it's Full of Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the season, it's always open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The general consensus seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back with a new offering with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a holiday episode). But this time, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – persist, but framed of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – offering random tips, and contributing the odd random outburst. ("I love spinach!" … "A tradition has to have a beginning." … "A tree is part of my memory and love of the holiday season.") She's a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, utterance and gaze will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that old chestnut – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. The reason is, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that precisely what the holiday season is all about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the life she leads appears to be beautifully curated.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with panache. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is gorgeous, her presents are practically too exquisite to open. Not a single thing is average or ugly – including the way she fastens her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't toss a dish in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the form of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the level of scrutiny she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even tone down her persona, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her brand, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you don't have to. There isn't national service anymore, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are overcome with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, no kid completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent puts in in December. So you can console yourself by imagining Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a sweet treat.