Yes, it's Packed with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the time of year, it's always open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned once again with a "Festive Special" (aka a yuletide episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – are still present, but framed of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing random tips, and supplying the periodic peculiar declaration. ("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 presence is familiar and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems pleased; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her every micro expression, syllable and gaze will be dissected and scrutinized, but still appears carefree and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. Since, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that exactly what Yuletide is about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the walk she's walking appears to be impeccably styled.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she creates is stunning, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she ties her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of examination she has weathered ever since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to modify or even tone down her shtick, even though it being so persistently, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. 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 don't have to. We don't have the draft these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a everyday person, hardly any child truly appreciates the time and energy their parent puts in in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a candy.
