Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. But I Do Love Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the time of year, it's always open season for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to shreds. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she has returned with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (or a Christmas special). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The usual elements we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – persist, but set of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – dispensing unasked-for guidance, 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 aura is known and strangely comforting. And she looks happy enough; she's causing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, word and look will be picked apart and scrutinized, but manages to seem unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. Since, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and over the top – but doesn't that represent just what Christmas is for? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the life she leads appears to be impeccably styled.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with panache. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she creates is breathtaking, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by festive joy and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but despite that, after the intensity of examination she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her decision to modify or even moderate her routine, regardless of it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a point that will surely come as a reassurance: you don't have to. There isn't national service these days, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are gripped with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a everyday person, hardly any child fully understands the dedication and labor their parent does in December. So you can console yourself by picturing the young royals' faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a chocolate.
