The series is set in Los Angeles, and depicts the lives of the Fisher family, who run a funeral home, along with their friends and lovers.
In the episode, Nate faces uncertainty over his future with either Lisa or Brenda, while David and Keith get into another fight when Karla gets involved in another incident.
For the episode, Rachel Griffiths received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Brenda later joins Melissa (Kellie Waymire) at a swinger party; despite claiming she is just accompanying her, she ends up having sex with some of the guests.
While driving Taylor (Aysia Polk) in the car, Karla runs into a homeless man, and quickly engages in a hit-and-run.
For a project at school, Claire (Lauren Ambrose) decides to photograph many corpses in the morgue, but Nate scolds her for doing it, as they could face a lawsuit.
The show's grimmest quality might not be the constant death but rather its frequent observation that in life, people struggle mightily to effect even the slightest change in themselves.
"[4] Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a "B+" grade, and wrote, "Karla's hit-and-run is among the season's more garishly ill-advised plot twists, especially since the rest of ”Secret” is smart and subtle drama.
In a striking, melancholy sequence set to the chanting of Buddhist monks, everyone is depicted alone and miserable — just the sort of agreeable romanticization of depression that Six Feet Under does best.
[9] In 2016, Ross Bonaime of Paste ranked it 34th out of all 63 Six Feet Under episodes and wrote, "There are plenty of secrets that could be the eponymous one in the title — Nate's kid with Lisa, Brenda's sex addiction, Karla hiding the fact that she killed a homeless man in a hit-and-run.
"[10] Rachel Griffiths submitted the episode to support her nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards.