Meghan Markle approaches her first—and potentially last—holiday special with a wink. During a crafting session, author and restaurateur Will Guidara wonders aloud whether Meghan might have some Matchbox cars he could put inside a Christmas cracker he’s making for his young son. We don’t see Meghan’s crew scramble to produce the cars, but moments later—and after a few quick edits—two small vehicles materialize on her table. “They found a car? The magic of television,” she jokes, doing jazz hands.
Over the course of its 16 episodes, With Love, Meghan has tried to be many things. It’s a parenting how-to guide; it’s a chatty talk show; it’s an advertisement for Southern California’s various flower shops and artisans. The show’s brand-new holiday special, which went live Wednesday on Netflix, revisits all of those past lives in a rapid-fire format. Over the course of 56 minutes, viewers get chalkboard puns, therapy language, low-key yet impressive crafts, and a display of Meghan’s prowess as a gift wrapper—all scored by golden oldies holiday hits. But this time around, the show also makes a point of revealing its own seams. Meghan breaks the fourth wall by good-naturedly teasing the crew. She puts on an apron when it seems obvious that she might get some mess on her neutrals. Her guests are a mix of real friends, like Kelly Zajfen and Lindsay Jill Roth, new acquaintances Naomi Osaka and Tom Colicchio, and Guidara—whose wife, Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, was a guest during season two. (Naturally, Meghan mentions the ample research she did on her new friends to make them feel at home.)
Meghan and Netflix are less forthcoming, though, about whether the duchess’s foray into lifestyle media will return for a third season. The special ends with another cameo from Prince Harry (he reveals that he hates beets and cured olives but loves the gumbo Meghan’s mom makes for the holidays) but doesn’t nod toward either future episodes or this being the series’ conclusion. Either outcome seems possible. Though With Love, Meghan’s first batch of episodes was met with decidedly mixed reviews, the show still found its way onto Netflix’s top 10 list after its premiere in March. But season two—which premiered in August—did not, reportedly getting fewer than 2.1 million viewers in its first week.
In an appearance at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in October, Meghan mentioned the holiday special and a desire to keep sharing recipes via short-form video, but didn’t otherwise speak about the future of With Love, Meghan. Perhaps revealingly, she did say that As Ever—the lifestyle brand she developed alongside Netflix’s consumer products group—would continue on even after the show itself ends.
The special also contains a potential clue about the show’s future, though it’s subtle enough to pass a casual viewer by. Just a couple minutes in, the camera zooms in on a Christmas tree, showing an embroidered ornament with a dog’s face and the label “Guy.” Soon, Meghan is shown petting the real Guy—her beloved rescue beagle. Later, he is shown dozing in a dog bed.
