Susan Granger’s review of “With Love, Meghan” (Netflix)
Accompanied by an avalanche of publicity, the eight-part “With Love, Meghan” Netflix series just dropped with a thud, and a second season has already filmed.
Touted as a crafts ‘n’ cooking ‘reality show,’ it’s anything but…the luxurious Montecito lifestyle that the former “Suits” actress/now Duchess of Sussex cheerfully touts with her celebrity friends is so out-of-touch that viewers may cringe as each extravagant, self-glorifying segment unfolds.
The first episode opens with an overnight visit from make-up artist Daniel Martin for whom Meghan arranges welcoming flowers, prepares ‘teabags’ of herb-infused bath salts and explains that ‘crudites’ are simply fancy cut-up vegetables. They then conduct a ‘how to’ involving harvesting honey to make DIY beeswax candles.
The second episode features her chum Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) cooking kimchi and assembling a balloon arch, decorative frittatas & parfaits for a kid-friendly party – minus the children, of course. (Prince Archie & Princess Lilibet may not be photographed, except from the rear, so they cannot be recognized.)
The most memorable moment occurs when Mindy refers to ‘Meghan Markle’ and is quickly corrected: “I’m Sussex now. You have kids, and you go, ‘No,’ I share my name with my children’…I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family.’”
(Ego-tripping Meghan is incorrect. Sussex is a title bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II. Princes William and Harry’s family surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.)
It’s obvious that Meghan is not only an inexperienced cook but – unlike Julia Child, Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, Rachael Ray, even Gwyneth Paltrow – she also lacks any inventiveness. Indeed, her ‘signature’ one-pot spaghetti recipe is lifted directly from “Martha Stewart Living” (2013).
Meghan’s primary culinary prowess focuses on arranging pre-cut pieces of fruit and ‘edible flowers’ on a ‘rainbow breakfast platter,’ a time-consuming task that no ‘working mother’ could possibly duplicate before sending kids to school.
In other episodes, Vicky Tsai makes Chinese dumplings and Roy Choi claims that racism against Asians underlies the negative reputation of powdered monosodium glutamate – a.k.a. MSG – that he uses in a dry rub for his Korean fried chicken.
Eventually, Meghan gushingly pays tribute to Berkeley chef/founder of Chez Panisse Alice Walters, who pushes ‘conviviality’: the idea that the guests, the setting, and the presentation are just as important as the food itself.
Completely lacking in spontaneity, the dialogue sounds pre-planned and carefully rehearsed. Then there’s Meghan’s cooking/gardening garb. Unlike those of us who splash, spill and squirt, she steadfastly maintains her meticulously pressed white Loro Piana shirts, Zara pants, and Jenni Kayne cardigan draped around her shoulders, plus Cartier wristwatch and pristine manicure.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “With Love, Meghan” is a pointless, obviously phony 3, streaming on Netflix.
