Yes, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the time of year, it's always open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes apart. The general consensus was that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the much-discussed pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (aka a Christmas special). Yet now, it's different. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – remain, but set of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan has become the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – providing random tips, and supplying 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 quite a personality, but her aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems happy enough; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She understands her every micro expression, word and gaze will be picked apart and judged, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Because, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Admittedly, 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 absurd, but the example she sets genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the wreath she makes is breathtaking, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is ordinary or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she creases wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the intensity of attention she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her shtick, even though it being so persistently, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a thought that will certainly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished the draft these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are overcome with longing about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a royal or a office worker, no kid fully understands the dedication and labor their mum expends in December. So you can console yourself by imagining her children's faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a chocolate.
