Indeed, it's Packed with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly open season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The general consensus held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back for another round with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – offering random tips, and delivering the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 an interesting figure, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks happy enough; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, syllable and look will be picked apart and judged, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. Because, you know what?, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent just what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking seems authentically shop-bought.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with panache. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she crafts is breathtaking, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she secures her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a dish in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the degree of attention she has weathered since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her routine, regardless of it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a point that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription these days, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are overcome with envy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their mum puts in in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning her children's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
