WITH LOVE, MEGHAN: EPISODE 1.1

“Showing Love to Our Neighbors”

What You Need To Know:

Netflix’s series WITH LOVE, MEGHAN follows the Duchess of Sussex as she shares tips on hosting and the art of cooking. The first episode of Season One begins with Meghan Markle preparing small gifts for her dear friend Daniel, who’s coming to visit. She walks us through her thought process and what she has planned for Daniel. Once he arrives, she prepares a meal for him, and then they make some candles out of beeswax that Meghan collected. The duo set out with tea and a cake they baked to enjoy a treat in front of a gorgeous view, overlooking a national park in California.

The main worldview of the episode is Christian/Biblical. Throughout the episode, Meghan discusses how to make people feel welcome and loved. She discusses going out of her way to do things for the people she cares about. Like baking a cake, even though she doesn’t enjoy baking. She really goes out of her way to show love to her neighbor. But there is also an LGBTQ+ element, as Daniel is a homosexual. His husband is mentioned multiple times throughout the episode. Given how little his sexual orientation appears in the episode and how good the content is, WITH LOVE, MEGHAN is a worthwhile show. However, MOVIEGUIDE advises caution for older children and sensitive adults.

Content:

(CC, BB, Ho, LL):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

A Christian/Biblical worldview that highlights one of the most important commandments in loving your neighbor. The show showcases what it means to go out of your way to showcase love for your neighbor. An LGBTQ+ worldview, as a guest is homosexual and references his husband multiple times;

Foul Language:

There were 10 total instances of foul language. 8 total instances of profanity, all of which were OMG. There were 2 instances of obscenities. One was a censored F, the second was a D in a song playing over the ending credits;

Violence:

One instance of mild violence. A person was cutting tomatoes and accidentally nicked his finger with a knife. It was immediately patched up;

Sex:

No sex;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking/drug use; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Nothing objectionable.

More Detail:

WITH LOVE, MEGHAN is a Netflix show about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. She stepped away from show business after marrying Prince Harry but has started a return with the series. But this time, she has a new approach. Instead of acting in drama, she has a new reality TV series that focuses on being a good hostess and the art of cooking.

Like most reality TV, the first episode of Season One of WITH LOVE, MEGHAN is put together well but lacks any plot. The episode feels as if Meghan is having friends over, settles on activities with them, and uploads the footage to Netflix as a series. The show relies on the personalities of the people in it. Meghan is kind, sweet and empathetic, but that doesn’t make for a very entertaining show. Instead, she attempts to educate the audience, but her efforts fall flat.

The main worldview of the episode is Christian/Biblical. Throughout the episode, Meghan discusses making people feel welcome and loved. She discusses going out of her way to do things for the people she cares about. Like baking a cake, even though she doesn’t enjoy baking. She really goes out of her way to show love to her neighbor. But there is also an LGBTQ+ element, as Daniel is a homosexual. His husband is mentioned multiple times throughout the episode. Given how little his sexual orientation appears in the episode and how good the content is, WITH LOVE, MEGHAN is a worthwhile show, but MOVIEGUIDE advises caution for older children and sensitive adults.

The episode starts with Meghan visiting a beekeeper. You see them suited up, smoking the hive. They pull out the board filled with honey. We quickly cut to a quaint little house, where Meghan introduces us to the activities of the episode. Her close friend Daniel Martin is coming over. She wants to prepare an assortment of things to ensure a great stay and showcase her joy of hosting.

She starts her preparation by making some bath salts. She combines her mixture and makes a little teabag of scents. Then she starts to prepare some snacks, popcorn and peanut butter pretzels. She places the bath salts and snacks on a small tray to set by the bedside. Then she sets off to make a veggie platter. While she is finishing up, Daniel arrives. They decide to make a meal and settle on Meghan’s single-skillet spaghetti.

They start prepping, cutting a batch of cherry potatoes. While doing that, Daniel accidentally nicks his finger. Meghan immediately patches him up, and they continue to make the meal. While making it, they talk about Daniel’s husband. At the same time, as they add more ingredients, they discuss how they met, bringing them back to a time when Meghan was acting in SUITS and worked on her lifestyle website, The Tig. They worked together on both and became close friends.

Then they talk about Daniel and his passions. His grandmother and sisters inspired him to pursue a career in the makeup industry. That marked the beginning of his career as a makeup artist. He got introduced to Meghan when he did her makeup for SUITS. At that time, Meghan was working on Tig, and Daniel became her beauty editor.

After that brief conversation, they cook the spaghetti, and before you know it, it’s ready to serve. They demonstrate a sophisticated way to plate the spaghetti, making the presentation look like something you would find in a high-quality restaurant. The rest of the episode covers how to make a beeswax candle and how to bake a honey lemon cake. Once the cake is ready, the duo set out with tea and cake to enjoy a meal in front of a gorgeous view, overlooking a national park in California.

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