Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always open season for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, both professional and armchair, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when gleefully ripping the series' first and second seasons apart. The common opinion seemed to be a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). Yet now, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – providing random tips, and contributing 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 strangely comforting. And she seems content; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, utterance and glance will be analyzed and judged, but manages to seem relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. The reason is, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that exactly what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking appears to be beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she makes is stunning, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is average or ugly – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't toss a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she creases gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the level of examination she has endured since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her unwillingness to change or even soften her routine, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are gripped with envy about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a royal or a office worker, no kid completely grasps the effort and hard work their mother does in December. So you can console yourself by picturing her children's faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a sweet treat.
