Admittedly, it's Packed with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The general consensus was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a holiday episode). Yet now, it's different. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – persist, but within the context of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing random tips, and contributing 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she seems content; she's causing a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be analyzed and scrutinized, but manages to seem unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent precisely what the holiday season is all about? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the life she leads genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she attempts, she pulls off with panache. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is gorgeous, her presents are nearly too beautiful to open. Nothing is average or ugly – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but despite that, after the degree of examination she has weathered ever since she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would struggle to act this authentically. Her refusal to alter or even soften her routine, despite it being so persistently, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished the draft these days, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the dedication and labor their mother expends in December. So you can find comfort by imagining her children's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a candy.
