Welcome back to The Secrets She Keeps, the thriller that saw Meghan Shaughnessy lose her baby boy, and to Agatha Fyfle, a woman who craved motherhood. After a blood-pumping first season at the height of the pandemic, the series is back for more. According to the Paramount+ episode 1 description, Meghan goes down for murder, but how did this happen?
We will be digging into this season as we did the first. However, we’re going to be doing it a little differently. There will be no breakdowns like last time as they take too long to write. So instead, we’re going to do a highlights list. If you haven’t seen the spoilers warning, this article contains significant spoilers for S02E01.
1. Trauma
In the opening minutes, Meghan explains via narration that her family is still dealing with the trauma of Ben’s kidnapping. She mentions that Jack feels guilt. Their daughter, Lucy, doesn’t feel safe. Eldest son, Lachi,e is constantly angry and little Ben, now aged two, still shows signs of his ordeal.
If it wasn’t bad enough, Agatha pleads guilty to the manslaughter of two other infants she kidnapped, leaving two other families to deal with their grief of losing their children to her. One of the mothers who lost her child to Agatha’s obsession, Karen Simons, is outraged that Agatha’s sentencing has been delayed due to the need for a psychiatric assessment. She believes that the baby snatcher did murder her baby.
Agatha is suffering from trauma of her own while in a maximum-security prison. She is suffering abuse from the other inmates who taunt her for kidnapping babies. She hates that the other prisoners are still on about her ‘murdering children.’
Karen tells a journalist she’s annoyed that all the media talks about is Ben’s kidnapping. She also explains that she and her husband had been trying to have a child for years, and Emily was their only baby.
2. Agatha Attempts To Recounsel With Her Mother
Agatha’s trauma started with her mother, who allowed the priests to rape her and get her pregnant. She attempts to reconnect with her on the behest of her lawyer, who says it would look better for her in the long run if she tried getting along with her mother. It’s also revealed that Charlotte, Agatha’s mum, is footing her legal bills.
3. Lorelei
The journalist Karen talked to at Agatha’s trial is Lorelei, and she’s doing a podcast. Now, this is where things get interesting. She shows up at Meghan’s house and is instantly rebuffed. However, she slips something under the front door that she wants Meghan to read. She then heads to Charlotte’s house in Katoomba, where she takes pictures and videos. Something tells us that she’s the child Agatha had taken from her.
4. Simon And Grace Are Hooking Up
It was hinted at earlier in the episode that Grace was hooking up with someone, and it’s revealed rather quickly that she’s sleeping with Simon. However, no one is aware of their relationship, at least not yet. Meghan catches them smoking weed and tells them to grow up.
Immediately, it is apparent that the family have no idea about it, and if they did, someone would commit murder to keep them apart.
5. Agatha Is Doing Something Dodgy With Her Meds
When it’s time for her pills, Agatha goes to the desk and has to swallow the medication she is given where she stands to show she’s done it. First, she hides the pill under her tongue and spits it out once she is back in her cell. She then hides it in a pen. This has so many questions within itself.
Someone slips a card under the door.
6. What’s Up With Ben?
Once the kids are asleep, Meghan asks Jack if it was odd that Ben wasn’t looking at anyone when they had the family over for Mother’s Day lunch. Jack then asks what she did with the letter Lorelei pushed under the door. She tells him that she threw it out. However, a few seconds later, she has the letter in her pocket.
Given the symptoms, Ben might be autistic.
7. Agatha Is Having Sex With One of The Guards
In a Wentworth-like twist, the card slipped under her door was a keycard. So she can get out of her cell and get it on with a guard. It might seem obscure, but as the first season showed, every aspect of the series is a clue to something bigger. So, could it be possible that the guard she’s having sex with could have a more significant role in the murder aspect of the story?
Moreover, later in the episode, Agatha learns she’s pregnant with the guard’s baby. Unfortunately, her obsession with having a child hasn’t gone away. She is punched in the stomach after confronting an inmate about a dead mouse on her bed.
8. Lorelei Approaches Meghan Again, And Hayden Resurfaces
While out with a friend, Lorelei shows up again and talks with Meghan’s friend, Sarina. Despite being told off by Meghan due to the privacy breach, Lorelei is surprised that Meghan has read her note, despite saying she hadn’t. Moreover, Lorelei questions whether Agatha was why Meghan shut down her blog.
Meghan says she and Jack are journalists, so if they wanted to speak on their son’s kidnapping, they would’ve. Also, it strikes as fishy that Lorelei could be potential big bad for this season and perhaps an Agatha superfan. We mention this because of what she tells Hayden, Agatha’s ex, who was the supposed father of her child.
Lorelei tells Hayden that she believes Agatha is a victim of the trauma she never healed from. Hayden admits she’s right and explains that Agatha’s brother was run over in front of her. This was a point we’d forgotten about until now. Hayden also reveals that the church elder who abused Agatha was named Brother Bowler, a name that was not mentioned in court.
9. Is Agatha’s Obsession Returning?
A pregnant inmate at the prison becomes a new potential “plaything” for Agatha. Agatha attempts to become friends with her and asks how she’s doing and whether she will be allowed to keep the baby.
The inmate is uncomfortable with the influx of questions but answers in politeness. One of the other inmates dumps food on Agatha’s head and tells her to stay away from the pregnant lady.
Later, she lies to the shrink about taking her pills during her evaluation. Not to mention, the minimum security facility she hopes to be sent to is full of mothers and their children. The creepiest thing is that she asks what the guy is writing down.
10. Jack’s Mistress Resurfaces
We get bits of Jack’s mistress, Rhea, throughout the episode. She sends him a text that she needs to see him. He declines, but she resorts to blackmail and sends him a video of them together in the middle of a sex act.
Could this lead to murder if the truth is found out?
11. Lorelei Can’t Take No For An Answer
Lorelei resorts to stalking Meghan and even get Lachie to give Meghan a letter. She records her being abusive towards her, which could be used against her later. She tells Meghan she is sympathetic to Agatha’s story and believes others might feel the same way.
The police are called, and Lorelei is interviewed by the police, who tell her to go back another day as Meghan watches from the window.
12. Could Lorelei Be The Murder Victim?
The episode ends with Meghan still covered in blood. She sits in a prison cell. However, could Lorelei be the murder victim? Given she was the last one shown before the episode cuts back to the present, it’s a massive possibility.
For our coverage of the first season of The Secrets She Keeps, be sure to use the tag, ‘The Secrets She Keeps.’ Highlights for S02E02 are coming soon. For more on the series, go to the IMDb page.
