In this episode, Glenn (Steven Yeun) tells Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn) that Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) is pregnant and there are numerous walkers in the Greene barn.

Meanwhile, Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) attempts to teach Andrea (Laurie Holden) how to use weapons and Lori agonizes over the decision to terminate her pregnancy or keep the baby.

In preparation for filming, producers initially converted a vacant building in downtown Sharpsburg, Georgia into a temporary pharmacy in July 2011.

Hershel believes they are still people, including his wife and stepson, and can be cured, and refuses to kill them after Dale explains the danger.

Shane takes Andrea aside to give her advanced training after seeing how good she is with a weapon, but she is unable to hit a moving target.

Back on the farm, Maggie confronts Lori about being almost killed due to her request, and tells Glenn the rest of the group is using him as "walker bait".

Lori contemplates the act of raising a child in this world, and decides to take the pills, but after a moment, runs away from their camp to immediately regurgitate them.

[2] It features recurring appearances from Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, IronE Singleton, Emily Kinney, Jane McNeill, and James Allen McCune.

Dale gently confronts her about her pregnancy when he sees that she becomes nauseated at the smell of cooking meat, and Lori explains that Rick is the biological father of the child.

"[1] Kirkman felt that he had to responsibly approach controversial issues from a neutral standpoint and insisted that abortion should warrant discussion, considering the circumstances.

[1] In an interview with MTV News, Bernthal stated that Walsh was suffering from the "loneliness you feel when you're right there with them and you can't be with them in the way you want.

It was the second highest-rated cable program of the day, having been beaten by a stock car racing event as part of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

[7] In the United Kingdom, the episode received 561,000 viewers and became the highest-rated television program on FX for the week dated November 27.

[11] Aaron Rutkoff of The Wall Street Journal echoed synonymous sentiments; "Viewers tuning in each week in the hope of watching pulse-quickening battles between overmatched humans and armies of the undead are sure to be frustrated.

Things are static in an action sense, but the show’s admirably nuanced characters are changing and reacting to the world in surprising and complicated ways.

Starlee Kine of New York stated that despite having high hopes in the beginning of "Secrets", the episode overall failed to meet her expectations.

"I'm not even sure it would be possible for her to abort the pregnancy at this point, but the show's working on the assumption that having a child in a world where death literally lurks around every corner is an unequivocal good.

The only person who’s been anti-pregnancy is Lori, and the show hasn't managed to cast her in a very good light, so it’s not like her arguments hold much water—which is also ridiculous, because ultimately, her opinion is the only one that matters.

"[15] HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall reflected similar thoughts, and stated that Rick's arguments against Lori's attempts were obsolete.

"[14] Ritkoff expressed that the episode's conclusion was a rational and level-headed resolution to the storyline; "Whatever jealousy he might feel, it would have been absurd for Rick to punish the woman he loves most in the world for post-apocalyptic infidelity under these circumstances.

[10] Venable wrote: " Dale’s lack of personality traits, beyond being the wise sage who gets in everyone’s business, makes him an unpredictable foe in my book, and could be as interesting as Shane’s violent selfishness.

"[13] Morgan Jeffrey of Digital Spy avouched that Shane continued to be an interesting character; "Just as we were beginning to like him again, he murdered Otis in cold blood.

"[21] There is considerable confusion about the difference between medication abortion and emergency contraception, and it was distressing to see this misunderstanding further spread by a show like The Walking Dead.

[23] Erin Gloria Ryan of Jezebel wrote: "Lori would have been better off sending the men off to loot a shop that sells herbal remedies and brewing herself some pennyroyal tea or climbing a tree and jumping out in hopes that the impact would end the pregnancy.

[23] Danielle Aronson of ACLU summated that the effectiveness of terminating a pregnancy with emergency contraception would be equivalent to "cutting a zombie's finger off to kill it.

"[22] Similarly, Slate's Amanda Marcotte opined: "The problem with this storyline, outside the tedious fear of getting letters from irate anti-choicers that dictates TV's near-absolute approach to unintended pregnancy, is simple: Morning-after pills are not abortion.

In his interview with The Daily Beast, he stated: "The producers and writers of The Walking Dead are fully aware that the morning-after pill would not induce an abortion or miscarriage, we exercised our artistic creative license to explore a storyline with one of our characters, not to make any pro-life or pro-choice political statement.