A brutally honest review of Meghan Markle's new Netflix series.

The one thing I know for sure after watching Meghan Markle's new show is that I would happily give up every single one of my friends and family members for the chance to stay in her guest room. Where I would bathe in personalised Epsom salts and enjoy my hand-wrapped lavender towel.

With Love, Meghan is the new Netflix lifestyle series hosted and executive produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (or Meg Sussex, the moniker she prefers to go by, as she notes many times over the course of the series). After being postponed due to the Los Angeles fires, the series premiered on Netflix this week to a series of predictable headlines.

If you scanned these headlines then you could easily assume that the biggest takeaway from the series is the moment Prince Harry scurried into frame to nab something from the dessert table, or the moment Meghan talks about how you need to use a soothing voice in the presence of bees.

Yet if you watch all eight episodes of Meghan's televised love letter to charcuterie boards and the colour beige, the biggest takeaway is actually that the actress turned Duchess-turned-balloon-arch-engineer just really wants you to love her.

Desperately.

So much so that at times during the series, her need to win your love freezes her in place, unable to build on her companion's joke, or offer up the personal details that her audience crave far more than the children's sandwiches shaped like lady beetles we see her make on screen.

Instead, she peppers her cooking segments with pre-planned anecdotes about her childhood and speaks about her love of hosting, always bringing the story back to her central theme of taking care of others.

With Love, Meghan is the new Netflix lifestyle series hosted and executive produced by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Image: Netflix.

The thing about With Love, Meghan is that many people will gravitate towards the series in the hopes of a second look into the lives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a sequel to the raw pain and access they put on display during their first foray into the Netflix world.

But if you're looking for intel on the royal family, pushback on the brutal rumours that have built around them over the years, or even a glimpse of their red-haired offspring Archie and Lilibet then I'm sorry to say you're barking up the wrong citrus tree.

Watching Harry & Meghan felt like stepping inside the private room of your favourite restaurant and pulling up a chair at the chef's table. In contrast, With Love, Meghan is very much like sitting on the verandah of your favourite restaurant, unable to deviate from the pre-fixed menu.

Take a look at the trailer for With Love, Meghan on Netflix.

Meghan drops a handful of revelations, including her love for using sparkling water when cooking eggs, and the personal growth she experienced while learning how to make a mini-doughnut, but always stops short of revealing anything outside her carefully crafted Instagram personality.

During the eight-part series, Meghan is joined by a series of guests, including a collection of close friends, a celebrity chef and entrepreneurs who are at times forced to do manual labour such as cracking open salted fish, but mostly just get treated to a series of lavishly presented treats in the form of tea heated by the sun while wrapped up in a mason jar.

If you only have the strength in your soul to watch one episode of this Goop listicle come to life, then I highly suggest you head straight to episode two, 'Welcome To The Party' which features an appearance by actress, writer and producer Mindy Kaling.

This is the most palatable episode of the series for two reasons.

The first is that Mindy Kaling has the kind of enticing personality that authors everywhere attempt to fuse into their leading ladies (but mostly fail to). It's also the only episode where the tea being served is of the gossip-related variety, rather than loose-leaf with a name that cannot be pronounced.

It's in this episode that a chronically online Mindy decides to cosplay as a detective (or at least a semi-informed Reddit sleuth) and asks Meghan about the biggest mystery that has plagued her name in recent months.

Which is of course the hierarchy of jam that she sent to celebrities last year when she launched her somewhat ill-fated lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard (since renamed to 'As Ever' following a series of copyright and legal infringements, including but not limited to the company's inability to make the letter 'O' recognisable).

Mindy, who received one of the coveted jars of jam (or 'preserves', as Meghan points out is the correct term) in the company's first celebrity PR drop, said she immediately started scouring every social media platform in existence to see who had ranked above her in the gift basket hierarchy, since they appeared to be numbered in ordered of importance.

In this scene Meghan looks perplexed, and laughs off the jam/preserve drama, in a premeditated deflection move that would bring the Kardashians to their feet in rapturous applause.

It's an early and firm warning for viewers, telling us that online gossip and backlash have no place in this world of pristine kitchens and cakes that are 'beautiful on the inside'.

Meghan Markle and Mindy Kaling debate jam in With Love, Meghan. Image: Netflix

The thing about Meghan Markle is that she doesn't come across as unlikeable in this show, a some reviews would have you believe.

Instead, she seems like the type of person who, although extreme at times in her quest for visual perfection, has the type of Tom Cruise laser-like focus and flattery that makes even a background player feel like the most important person in the room.

After all, who wouldn't want a friend who sprinkles edible flowers on every available surface and whose chickens live such a life of luxury that you find yourself dreaming of sprouting feathers. Just so you can escape the horrors of Sydney's rental crisis and live out your days staring at the hills of Montecito.

But instead of leaning into the crazy whimsy and opulence we want to see from Meghan Markle, she always pulls herself back in this series at the last minute. Pointing at a fruit platter that costs more than some people's weekly food budget and insisting that it's inexpensive. All you need is a sharp knife and unlimited funds to spend at your local farmer's market.

The most telling moment of the series is when the fourth wall is broken and the crew, camera operators and producers break into this dream of domestic bliss.

From the moment she started dating Prince Harry, Meghan has been labelled as a bully to the people who work for her, with accusations that she is difficult to be around flying about faster than the bees whose honey she harvested while only speaking in whispers.

With Love, Meghan shows the crew joking with Meghan many times throughout the series, happily devouring the food she's prepared for them, which seems like a calculated move to make her look like an inclusive hostess (rather than an ice queen preparing yoghurt parfaits alone in her tower).

But it's a filming device that actually works. In most cases, as these are the moments throughout the series where Meghan looks the most relaxed in front of the camera.

But it is also a sombre look through the curtain into how carefully she has to package up her image in order to keep the waves of hatred at bay. Once you realise this is a move born out of self-preservation, it's a scene that has the power to change how you see Meghan Markle.

With Love, Meghan feels like a Pinterest board come to life more than a must-watch series, but it's also clearly the role Meghan Markle has always wanted to play.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Feature image: Netflix