“Love is the flower that you’ve got to let grow”- John Lennon

“The Secret Of Us” is an emotional journey detailing the complexities of what it truly means to love and be loved.

Quick Summary: Dr. Fahlada Thananusak (Lingling Sirilak) is a highly accomplished doctor, fluent in several languages and affectionately known as the “angel doctor” for her exceptional skills and nice disposition. Working at her parents’ hospital, Dr. Fahlada’s world is turned upside down when she encounters her ex-girlfriend, Earn (Orm Kornnaphat), who broke her heart years ago. As Earn joins the hospital staff, unresolved emotions, and painful truths resurface threatening to disrupt Dr. Fahlada’s life once more.

The main problem Fahlada and Earn have is that they don’t talk to each other. Their inability to communicate with one another is one of the root causes of their breakup. After being manipulated by Lada’s homophobic mother, Earn chooses not to tell Lada that she was pressured into ending their relationship to secure her mother’s medical care, instead, she chooses to lie and keep everything to herself. This creates a big riff between the two that leaves both heartbroken.

Lada and Earn are also both a bit immature throughout most of the series. While both have stable jobs and are responsible in other areas of their lives, they still have much to learn as it relates to romantic relationships. Throughout the series, they engage in petty attempts to make each other jealous, resorting to childish tactics like holding hands with or feeding other people.

On the one hand, I think this is a very realistic portrayal because sometimes relationships can reveal how much growth needs to take place both as an individual, as well as collectively with the other person. There is a lot to be learned about emotional maturity, communication, and compromise. However, watching Lada and Earn’s constant misunderstandings, which could have been resolved with clear communication between two mature adults, became frustrating. After a while, I just wanted to yell at the screen “Just talk to each other!”.

(And a quick PSA to writers: Please stop having drunk characters have sex with sober characters. It is a problematic trope that doesn’t accomplish anything. Clear consent is important and being under the influence of substances does not allow for that no matter what the person’s feelings are. It just makes both characters seem irresponsible and clouds the line between assault and consensual sex.)

However, I am glad that ultimately both Lada and Earn learned from their mistakes and were honest with each other. They matured as people while allowing their love to grow and develop, which is crucial for them to have a healthy relationship.

For me, one of the highlights of this series has been the lead actresses’ performances, particularly as their characters navigate the complexities of a relationship while confronting the destructive nature of homophobia from a relative. They were given heavy material with many emotional scenes and handled it extremely well.

Gap Jakarin Puribhat who plays Thaen in the series was also a delight to see. I loved him in the amazing series “The Sign” and he did a great job in this series as well. I do feel like his character got the short end of the stick at times. He was constantly supporting Lada as her best friend even when she struggled with alcoholism after her breakup with Earn but didn’t have as much support in return. That being said, I am glad he got the chance to perhaps begin something new with Dr. Wisanu towards the end.

Overall, “The Secret Of Us” is a well-crafted series about two people falling in love and discovering what it truly means to love and be loved. As this was my first GL series, it exceeded my expectations. Getting to see queer women love each other and get married on screen is something special. And after watching “The Secret Of Us”, I am eager to see more stories like this be told.

Rating: 4 out 5

Streaming on- Netflix