Indeed, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. But I Do Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the season, it's perpetually fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments to shreds. The general consensus was that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (aka a holiday episode). Yet now, it's different. The standard components audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – persist, but within the context of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – providing random tips, and contributing 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems content; she's causing a bit of damage.
She understands her every micro expression, utterance and look will be analyzed and criticised, but still appears carefree and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Since, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not precisely what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Whatever she attempts, she pulls off with panache. Her cooking looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she makes is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is average or ugly – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't toss a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, overcome by festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but even so, after the intensity of scrutiny she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her decision to change or even soften her routine, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription these days, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are consumed by longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a everyday person, hardly any child completely grasps the effort and hard work their mother expends in December. So you can find comfort by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a chocolate.