Yes, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No considering the time of year, it's always fair game for criticism on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the series' first and second seasons to shreds. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she is back for another round with a "Festive Special" (aka a yuletide episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come together; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing 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 presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, word and glance will be analyzed and criticised, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. Since, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and over the top – but isn't that exactly what the holiday season is all about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the life she leads appears to be impeccably styled.
Anything she attempts, she pulls off with panache. Her cooking looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are practically too exquisite to tear into. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she ties her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be charmed, filled with festive joy and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is organized in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the level of examination she has endured ever since she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to modify or even tone down her persona, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a point that will certainly come as a relief: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished national service anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a royal or a office worker, no kid truly appreciates the dedication and labor their mother does in the holiday season. So you can take heart by envisioning her children's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a sweet treat.
