Season 2 of With Love, Meghan premiered on Netflix on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, and halfway through, I was ready to give up. By Episode 2, the endless “oh my gosh” reactions, awkward celebrity banter, and sugarcoated crafts had worn me down. It felt shallow and staged. That was my impression at the halfway mark, and honestly, I almost stopped right there.
But I’m glad I kept watching. While the middle episodes were a mixed bag, the finale, featuring José Andrés, finally delivered the kind of energy and authenticity the series had been lacking. Cooking paella and grilling oysters outdoors, laughing and eating with the entire crew, it was messy, generous, and joyful, proof that With Love, Meghan can work when it leans less on gloss and more on connection.
All Frosting, No Cake
Across eight episodes, the food always looks flawless. The early ones included a caramelized onion tart made with store-bought puff pastry, David Chang’s fried-egg trick, and homemade graham crackers transformed into s’mores.
Later came Radhi Devlukia’s colorful vegan curry, Meghan’s macaroons (topped, of course, with edible flowers), and Michelin-starred chef Claire Smyth patiently teaching Meghan how to cut fish and shape Parker House rolls. By the finale, José Andrés was carving jamón ibérico, cracking open sea urchins, and cooking a massive paella outdoors for the whole crew. The dishes range from clever to impressive, and sometimes even inspiring.
But even when the recipes are solid, the production can’t resist turning them into lifestyle theater. Salads are hand-tossed with manicured fingers, desserts and drinks are endlessly decorated, and even a cracked pottery mug is staged as a “Pinterest solution” by repurposing it as a candleholder. A thoughtful idea like compound butter becomes sugarcoated until it feels more showroom than kitchen.
The same gloss extends to the conversations. Guests laugh constantly, but rarely at anything genuinely funny. Chrissy Teigen admitting she had to tattoo her kids’ birthdays so she wouldn’t forget them was more cringe than charming. Meghan’s repeated “I’ve never done this before!” loses its charm when you remember these shoots are meticulously pre-planned. Even light moments like a bartender bluntly telling Meghan he never watched Suits land awkwardly.
Too often, the show feels like watching a staged dinner party where everyone’s smiling on cue, rather than people actually connecting over food.
Episode 1
In Episode 1, Meghan welcomes chef David Chang and Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi, along with her friend Daniel Martin. On the menu: a caramelized onion tart, a flower arrangement staged like an art exhibit, and s’mores made entirely from scratch, down to the graham crackers and marshmallows.
But beneath the gloss, the atmosphere feels shallow. This is a friend group you wouldn’t actually want to be a part of. The laughter is constant but rarely genuine, the conversations skim the surface, and the dynamic comes across more like a staged dinner party than a real connection.
Episode 2
In episode 2, Chrissy Teigen arrives with star power, but also proves the show’s Achilles’ heel: the “friendship” isn’t real. Meghan admits they hadn’t seen each other in nearly 20 years, and their dynamic feels less like old friends reconnecting and more like two celebrities making small talk.
The most shocking moment isn’t the food, but Chrissy joking that she had to tattoo her kids’ birthdays on her arm, and still struggles to remember which is which. There are endless “oh my gosh” reactions and staged spontaneity, but very little depth. It’s glossy, forced, and, to be fair, painful to watch. I definitely would have stopped here if I weren't on a mission to watch it all.
Episode 3
Episode 3 finally brings some warmth. Tan France’s charm lifts the entire episode, and his husband’s gift of homemade bread feels more heartfelt than anything that’s come before. Tan takes charge of the cooking, teaching Meghan how to dry bread in a toaster before making French toast, then adding a coconut twist. It’s practical, fun, and genuinely engaging.
The conversation drifts into parenting, marriage, and even Meghan’s early dates with Harry. For once, the banter feels real. Together, they make puff-pastry apple hand pies, inspired by Meghan’s love of McDonald’s drive-thru pies during her acting days, and craft aprons for their kids using vegetable stamps. The episode ends with a thoughtful gift exchange: Meghan gives Tan a masala dabba spice box, wrapped furoshiki-style, which he finds truly meaningful. It’s the first episode where the show feels watchable, even touching.
Episode 4
In there, chef and author Samin Nosrat brings credibility and a rare spark of authenticity. Meghan greets her with sourdough toast topped with homemade apple butter (her grandma's recipe) and ricotta, and offers a gift of lavashak, Persian fruit leather. Samin’s emotional reaction (“only my mom and grandma ever made this”) is one of the most genuine moments of the season so far.
They talk about Samin’s 15-year dinner group, and wander through Meghan’s garden for herbs and produce. In the kitchen, Meghan roasts a chicken. The same dish, Meghan says, she was cooking the night Harry proposed, joking that it turned out “terrible.” That honesty is refreshing after all the "oh my gosh, I love it".
Episode 5
This episode leaned into vegan and ayurvedic cooking, with Meghan greeting Jay Shetty and his wife, Radhi Devlukia, with alcohol-free drinks poured over ice cubes frozen with edible flowers. It was thoughtful, considering they don't drink alcohol.
The episode mixed crafts with cooking, starting with handmade olive oil soaps before Radhi took over the kitchen. She prepared a sweet potato and green bean curry with naan, explaining her lifelong vegetarianism and vegan lifestyle. Her point, that spices and herbs make plant-based food vibrant, carried weight and gave the episode more substance than usual. Meghan closed with vegan chocolate macaroons, topped (of course) with edible flowers, while Radhi brewed chai masala. It was a cozy episode, one where Meghan leaned back, let her guest take the stage, and asked genuine questions.
Episode 6
If Episode 5 was cozy, Episode 6 was culinary credibility. Meghan welcomed Michelin-starred chef Claire Smyth, who famously cooked at her wedding. Meghan’s hostess instinct shone through thoughtful touches, such as a travel kit for her London guest and homemade salt-and-vinegar chips, although her eagerness for compliments felt forced.
The kitchen, though, was Claire’s domain. She taught Meghan how to cut and cook fish, as well as shape Parker House rolls. Meghan proved to be a good student, listening and learning with genuine curiosity. They shopped together at a fish market and laughed about the cilantro vs. coriander, as well as other British versus American terms.
The episode closed with Claire teaching Meghan how to “beautify the plate.” For once, the gloss was backed by real skill, making this one of the season’s strongest episodes if you are interested in cooking as such.
Episode 7
Episode 7 shifted gears again, this time with Heather, a longtime friend Meghan met through Pilates years ago. They began at the pottery wheel, then later visited a cocktail bar and learnt to make two different kinds of cocktails. Meghan made shower bombs and baked thumbprint cookies for her friend and her family.
There were awkward beats; Meghan asking the bartender, a former lawyer, if he watched Suits and getting a flat “no.” But there were also sweet ones, like Meghan explaining she always packs real photos of her family when she travels because they feel more sentimental than digital ones.
We genuinely learnt nothing about Heather or their friendships. It was weird.
Episode 8
The finale finally delivers what the whole show has been missing. José Andrés arrives with a huge (and I mean huge!) wheel of blue cheese and a whole jamón ibérico, instantly changing the energy. Their connection feels genuine. The dynamic is warmer and more authentic than with any other guest.
José joyfully cooks a seafood paella outdoors in a massive pan. His passion is infectious, and for once, Meghan isn’t performing; she’s laughing, learning, and enjoying the food alongside him.
The episode concludes with a feast for the whole crew, loud and generous, the opposite of the sugar-coated plates and edible flowers that dominated earlier episodes. It’s messy, communal, and joyful. Proof that this series could have been something more.
Do I want more of this series?
Definitely not. Halfway through, when Meghan called her thumbprint cookies “so charming, I feel like we’re in Europe,” I couldn’t stop wondering about what gives her the confidence to take the center stage in a Netflix show. Beyond her rich and famous friends, her obvious good taste, and her evident love of hosting, what we’re really watching is the kind of average European mom cooking from scratch and caring for her family with small, thoughtful gifts and crafts.
The Problem of Timing
The larger issue with With Love, Meghan is still tone-deaf escapism, the disconnect between its glossy abundance and what real audiences are living through right now. Episode after episode is filled with curated crafts and lifestyle hacks that resemble Pinterest boards more than everyday life.
I kept wishing for more connection, not consumption. That’s the ingredient that would finally make the show feel real. Watching Meghan hand-toss salads with manicured fingers or turn a cracked pottery mug into a candleholder, while guests laugh on cue, feels out of step with the moment.
Recent protests against billionaire excess (like the demonstrations against Jeff Bezos’ lavish Venice wedding) show just how impatient people are with displays of curated privilege. Against that backdrop, a series built on styled abundance, even when occasionally cozy or instructive, lands awkwardly.
Finale
Overall, there are only a few episodes I’d call worth watching, but the finale proves that such a show is capable of more. The last episode with José Andrés felt authentic in a way the rest of the season rarely managed, and Meghan herself seemed more relaxed and genuine than at any other point. The two strengthened each other.
His passion for food and her warmth as a host finally clicked into place. I wish the entire series had been like that: less sugarcoating, more substance, and built around real connection.
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