When anthropologists look back at the early 2000s, they will study why women, particularly celebrities, wanted so badly to be lifestyle influencers.

The success rate of lifestyle influencers seems to be even slimmer than that of new businesses, only 25 percent of which last 15 years or longer. Which may be why stars turned to launching beauty lines in the 2010s — a trend has pretty much stuck. Martha Stewart is, of course, the ultimate example of a successful lifestyle entrepreneur, the key difference between her and celebrities who try to do the same being that she became famous for her recipes and entertaining advice, versus making it her second career. (The same is true for others like Ina Garten, Rachel Ray, and Giada DeLaurentis.)

Nonetheless, it is into the great beige beyond of trad-wifery that Meghan Markle Sussex has entered with her new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. Building on the Instagram and TikTok influencers who start with sugar cane when their husbands want chocolate chip cookies, she shows us how honey goes from her personal apiary to a cake, and how the beeswax from the honey harvest becomes candles in little jars. Throughout it all, she looks utterly gorgeous and done-up. The French twist she wears in the Mindy Kaling episode is worthy of a red carpet.

With Love, Meghan has probably had the most spectacular premiere ever in the ambient television genre. The coverage of it was a tsunami compared to other titans of the category like Emily in Paris. Meghan’s Netflix world has has the spa-like vibe of a brochure for a wellness retreat while being a vacuum of problems, mistakes, and reality. It’s a perfectly fine program to fall asleep to on the couch at the end of the day.

The most stressful parts of the show are often sleeve-related — seeing Meghan chop tomatoes in white linen batwings and make bellinis with Jenni Kayne sleeves dangling precariously from her shoulders toward a gravy boat of peach nectar. Impractical linen is the best supporting actor, here: we see Meghan spill eggs out of a too-small bowl when she’s using an immersion blender to make frittata for Mindy Kaling wearing crisp white linen pants that she tells us are Zara. (“High-low” is her thing, fashion-wise — the top was Loro Piana.)

The reviews have been absolutely scathing. “‘With Love, Meghan’ Is a Montecito Ego Trip Not Worth Taking,” said Variety. Vulture called it “an utterly deranged bizarro world voyage into the center of nothing.” Time said it “couldn’t be more boring.” The Guardian called it “toe-curdlingly unloveable.” British critics have been particularly harsh — the Daily Mail, which delights in negative Meghan coverage, called it “so awful it is almost compelling.”