At the beginning of The Secrets She Keeps, Meghan (Jessica De Gouw) lies awake in bed beside her husband Jack (Michael Dorman) while a dog barks outside. She gets up and looks through the window but doesn’t notice anything. Then, she says it is time to let us in on a secret. The couple did not plan to have another child. She says the baby wasn’t unwanted by her and that they took a rare weekend away for a friend’s 40th while her mother watched the kids. They made love in the morning and Meghan got pregnant. Moments later, Jack walks into the house with Lachlan (Henry McWilliam) and Lucy (Eva Greenwood) to tell his wife that the birdhouse was broken. Before too long, Jack rushes off to work. Meghan checks her blog and finds a message from someone who wants her dead.

Meanwhile, Agatha Fyfle (Laura Carmichael) stocks items at a nearby store. She watches as Meghan enters with her kid until her boss Derek interrupts and complains about her not fulfilling her duties. Agatha has to leave so she can visit the doctor because she is pregnant as well. Meghan takes the kids to the park and she shows an attorney the nasty comments. She is told not to engage them until they notice the kids are missing. Meghan looks around briefly but the kids show up quickly. After the intro, Agatha returns home where she is catcalled by Dave and she promptly tells him to drop dead. On her way inside, she gets a call from her mother but she doesn’t answer it.

She listens to voice mails from her mother and others before placing a baby doll in the nearby crib. Then, she begins working on a wreath of sorts. After that, Grace (Cariba Heine) hangs out with Meghan at her home and they speak about Jack’s work and him not wanting to have sex. Before Grace leaves, Meghan tells her not to be late for Reg’s birthday thing. Agatha speaks with a little boy, Leo, and gives him candy. His mother comes out into the hallway and makes sure Agatha will care for her boy on Tuesday. Agatha lets the woman, Jules (Candice Storey), know that they’re going to let her sailor boyfriend call her on Sunday night before she leaves to hang out with friends. Jack finally returns home drunk and he doesn’t want to spend any time with Meghan.

The dog begins barking because Agatha is watching the family’s house and drinking outside. In the morning, Jake and Meghan chat about the dog going nuts the night before. Jack gets a call from Simon Beecher (Ryan Corr) and invites him over although Meghan doesn’t want that. Meghan goes to the store. Agatha spots her and keeps a close eye on her. Meghan ends up running into her and they chat about their pregnancies. Both are having boys. Agatha rushes to a private room and thinks about the conversation. Simon visits Jack and Meghan. While Jack is away, Simon tells Meghan that he has been following her blog. The kids and Jack return soon before the conversation turns to Jack trying to pitch a show to Arnie. Next, Agatha leaves work and runs into Nicky Fyfle (Richard Sydenham) and he can’t believe she is pregnant.

She says she didn’t know how to tell him because she was afraid he would be upset. Agatha says she didn’t want to tell anyone after what happened last time. She says they named their little girl but lost her at 32 weeks. Nicky admits he still thinks about the little girl too. Then, Nicky reminds Agatha that she won the lottery since that is what the specialist said and she wasn’t likely to have children. She leaves and visits a makeshift grave for the daughter she lost before playing the wreath on around it. After that, Meghan, Jack, and the kids meet up with Grace so they can attend Reg’s birthday party. While the men head outside for drinks, the women stay inside and chat about Jack not getting a pay raise. Meghan reminds her mother that not everyone marries for money.

Grace wants her sister to have a baby shower but Meghan doesn’t want to do that. Then, Megan tells her sister that she is having problems with Jack because he is not dealing with having another baby. Agatha prepares to speak with Hayden (Michael Sheasby) on the computer. We quickly learn that Hayden is not happy to be a father and he doesn’t want anything to do with Agatha. Meghan and Jack talk that night about Meghan telling Grace that he didn’t want a third child. Jack reminds his wife that she promised to return to work when their son was two but she never did. They argue about moving and other things until Jack pleads with her not to do this. He says everything built up and got to him.

The following day, Agatha visits Hayden’s family. His brother is skeptical that she is pregnant but Hayden’s mother and father want to do the right thing for their grandson. The father promises to help pay for the rent. Agatha has a big smile on her face as she leaves. While she counts the money at home, she listens to a video of Meghan. Then, she receives a call from Hayden who has changed his mind. He is willing to do the right thing for his son. Agatha talks dirty to him until he pleases himself. Then, Meghan gets another threatening comment on her blog. She returns home and Jack sneaks up on her with flowers and a new birdbath. He apologizes and says he pitched the show to Arnie, he loved it, and he is going to pitch to the networks next. He came home to have sex with his wife.

He also promises he will love the new baby. Agatha meets up with a realtor who shows her the house beside of Meghan’s. She learns that the same woman sold Jack and Meghan that house last year. When Agatha returns to work, she is belittled by Derek (Alan Dukes) until a man enters and tries to rob the place. He ends up pushing Agatha to the ground and running off with a bag full of cash. Derek doesn’t pull the gun until the man is halfway gone so Agatha ridicules him. An officer wants to take Agatha to the hospital for a checkup but she refuses. She returns home and tells Jules about the incident at work. After that, Agatha cares for Leo. She gets up to grab something and Leo tells her that she is bleeding. She goes to the bathroom and takes off her clothes. At this point, we see that she is faking her pregnancy.

 

The Secrets She Keeps Review

The Secrets She Keeps could be really good but I am afraid it was a bit too easy for Agatha. There wasn’t any push back against her pretending she was pregnant. Most of the characters had suspicions but Hayden’s brother is the only one who questioned it. It is going to be a bit cheesy if she manages to pull together enough money to move into the big house next to Meghan and Jack. I guess it isn’t the most unrealistic thing in the world but it could’ve been better.

At the very least, the show is interesting and well acted. I’ll likely stick with it and see how things play out. The opening episode scores a 7 out of 10. By the way, am I the only one who believes Bernard Curry and Michael Sheasby could be twins?