White noise entertainment
(The one where I watch With Love, Meghan)
There’s a certain brand of television show or movie that is so serenely bland, it’s like white noise for your mind. These shows are the polar opposites of Severance and Succession, which require absolute attention to keep track of the plotlines and Easter eggs.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m looking for shows that allow my brain to take a big ol’ break. My noggin’ needs to essentially take a lavender-scented bubble bath once I clock out of my 9-5.
Enter With Love, Meghan.
This show seems to exist in an alternate reality full of Chez Panisse-level backyard gardens and a pantry so well organized even The Home Edit wouldn’t have found fault with it.
Meghan is a cheerful, serene presence who comes across as a competent home cook and someone who has at least seven Pinterest boards with decorating ideas.
Is your favorite part of a Nancy Meyers movie the interiors? This is the show for you.
In every episode, Meghan is joined by a friend (or a soon-to-be friend, like Chef Roy Choi). She makes her guests a welcome treat, French presses coffee for herself and the camera crew, makes a craft, and a meal, all while wearing SO MANY NEUTRALS and no apron. The lack of an apron is how I know she’s not like us. I require an apron even when I’m cooking in sweats. Is this an Italian thing? It looks like a pomodoro bomb went off in our kitchen when I make sauce. I truly believe that Meghan would never leave a dirty counter.
Still, there is at least one moment of awkwardness in the series, when Meghan gently corrects Mindy Kaling that her name is Meghan Sussex, not Markle. After all of the hubbub around Harry and her status in the Royal Family, I don’t begrudge her insisting on being called by the name conferred on her family by Queen Elizabeth II. Honestly, it’s the most princess-like moment in the series. You know the aristocracy LOVES a title.
After allowing enough episodes of With Love, Meghan to play in a row that Neflix asked, are you STILL watching? (emphasis mine, but you know Netflix is nosy like that), I appreciated the extremely low stakes of Meghan’s life, as presented in this show. After years of seeing her dragged through the British tabloids, I hope that her life is as harmonious as it is presented in the show.
The most stressful part of watching was wondering why on Earth she would decide to make her own balloon arch rather than hire someone (as Mindy Kaling suggested). But I didn’t worry for long. I was too busy relaxing on my couch, eating the same Trader Joe’s peanut butter-filled pretzels Meghan repackaged for her makeup artist as a snack, and wondering if the reason Meghan adds edible flowers to every dish is because she’s planning to sell them.
What I’m Reading
Elissa Sussman’s latest, Totally and Completely Fine, is an unexpectedly emotional and a very real exploration of grief and finding love again after loss. It will be released on July 8, 2025. Told in alternating timelines, the book charts Lauren's past love story with Spencer, her childhood love and the father of her teenage daughter whom they lost three years earlier, and Ben, a sexy, bi heartthrob who makes her feel reckless in a way she hasn't experienced since high school. As Lauren navigates her daughter's unpredictable moods and missing her late husband, she tries to figure out whether she can explore something with Ben. Is she allowed to want something just for herself?
What I’m Eating
After watching Meghan make a variation of Martha Stewart’s famous one-pot pasta dish, it gave me a craving for the OG version. Don’t worry: I wore an apron will making it.
“Meghan, probably adding an edible flower” and the comment about SO MANY NEUTRALS cracked me up! I have had zero desire to watch that show, mostly because I want to keep liking her! But if you’re telling me it’s a good empty headed treadmill watch, I’ll give it a go if you can promise I won’t lose my vision from rolling my eyes too far back in my head. 😉
Such a good white noise show. I’m so jealous of her garden!