My Thoughts on "With Love, Meghan"

I didn’t think I would ever say this, but in the last week, I have really been feeling sorry for Meghan. Her show has been brutally reviewed by every major outlet. The only positive press she received was her People magazine cover. We know Meghan does not have a very thick skin, so this has to have been a very difficult week. Perhaps taking a cue from her in-laws, she has kept a stiff upper lip, cheerfully announcing the the second half of her show will air in the fall, and, today, announcing her new podcast coming in April.

Unfortunately for Meghan, I think the handwriting is on the wall. I watched all eight episodes. I was actually sick at the time, so I didn’t mind being on the couch and listlessly tuning into the next episode…and the next. For me, the eight episodes were up and down. Some were very slow and others were more engaging.

In episode 1, Meghan had Daniel Martin, her make-up artist from her Suits days—and someone who seems to be a genuine friend—out for the weekend. The episode started with Meghan heading to her bee hives with her beekeeper. She admitted she only started beekeeping a year ago, and she is too afraid of the bees to open the box herself. I don’t blame her—I’d be afraid, too. The key is, she isn’t a beekeeping expert, and that lack of expertise seemed to become a theme throughout the series.

Meghan made a cake and told the film crew she doesn’t actually like baking, but she will do it for people she loves. Then, as she was cooking a pasta dish, Martin asked her if she has always cooked like this. Again, she admitted she hasn’t, but back in the day she liked to watch cooking shows. Fair enough, but again, a little odd. As the show progressed, one began to wonder, what are we doing here, what expertise is she bringing to the table?

There wasn’t enough detail on the cooking or crafting we were supposed to be learning. One good example was the candle making. At the bee boxes, Meghan and her beekeeper put the honeycomb in a strainer that allowed the honey to drip through. Meghan asked the beekeeper what she should do with the leftover wax. She had the wax in a big mason jar, and it looked like you’d imagine honeycomb would look—kind of dark from the honey. The next scene she is back in the kitchen to make candles with Daniel Martin and the wax is suddenly milky white and in thick, slab-like chunks. So obviously there had to have been a middle process. The wax had to have been heated in some way and cleaned of honey and debris. There is no explanation of that middle process. We were supposed to be watching a “farm to table” process, and really important steps were left out entirely.

A lot of other parts felt simply unoriginal. Meghan prepared bath salts and some snacks to put in her guest bedroom for Martin. I felt like Meghan has been scrolling Instagram and writing down ideas from popular influencer reels. Everyone I follow has, at some point, done a post about how they put effort into preparing their gust rooms with love and personal touches. Treat bags are pretty popular. I have seen bath salts done, too, although I really don’t know who visits someone else’s home and immediately draws a hot bath and soaks for an hour.

In episode 2, Meghan had Mindy Kaling over. The episode started, though, with Meghan walking in her berry garden (her own garden) alone. She explained that these berry bushes were on the property when she and Harry bought the home, and that the bushes produce an enormous amount of fruit. Meghan explained that she started making jam with the berries as a result. I found this interesting! It felt real—they were actually her bushes; we were watching her doing something she really does do regularly; she had an explanation that was natural and made sense.