In viewing quite a number of highly rated Australian shows, I have noticed a great many similarities:
1. There is strong language; the f-word is used frequently; and the words God, Jesus and Christ are all used, but without any reverence whatsoever. 2. There is a lot of sex, including random hookups and unexpected one-nighters and various forms of adultery and unfaithfulness. For most Australian series, there is very little actual nudity; and rarely of the main characters (my guess is, most main characters in Australia have a no-nudity clause in their contracts). 3. Traditional marriages and relationships are almost nonexistent. Most "relationships" begin with sex (sometimes after a few dates); and often this sex is accompanied by the consumption of alcohol or marijuana. Long-term relationships tend to begin with drunken sex, eventually produce children, and, after many years of living together, maybe marriage. 4. Oddly enough, there does not appear to be a great deal of condemnation of adultery, although most of these Aussie shows eventually show some of the harm done to the injured parties. 5. Expect to see alcohol frequently abused, but without any long- term affects; and marijuana is used regularly, but generally without any long-term or short-term affects of drug use. For the most part, pot smokers do not use too many heavier drugs. 6. There tends to be a strong push of various plot points. People do things which are absolutely wrong, immoral or stupid; and then the episodes revolve more around characters reacting to what they have done or to what other characters have done. I felt as if the characters were moved along more by the plot points than these plot points being natural outcomes of the personalities and foibles of the characters themselves. 7. Other big events move the story along. Sudden deaths, car accidents are not uncommon. So far, I have not seen any Aussie shows where someone dies from drinking too much or taking a bad mixture of drugs.
"The Secret Life of Us" (along with at least a half-dozen other highly rated Aussie shows) pretty much follow those rules; so it depends upon the cast of characters; and obviously upon the writers. Whereas, most of their characters were interesting; and the dialogue is sometimes interesting; it is not unusual for some big thing to occur in the show which may not seem to be completely in character.
For instance, one character when seeing and hearing that her best friend was contemplating adultery, has very little negative to say about it. However, when another friend attends an AA meeting to gain inspiration, she found that to be reprehensible.
The show is entertaining, most of the time; but the 6 points above will be seen over and over again. There are times when I wish that the characters would slow down, interact more, and have fewer life- altering circumstances to react to.
Despite some of these characters having "careers" they live lives of surprising rudderless abandon. None of the characters appear to have any deep sense of morality or right and wrong, with the exception of their relationship with gays, and that gayness MUST be accepted and approved of at all costs. Speaking of which, there are are two main characters who are gay (out of 9); and some episodes feature a considerable amount of gay making out scenes.
So far, in the first 2 seasons, I cannot think of any character who actually seems to grow; or recognize some kinds of behavior as wrong or destructive, and decides not to engage in it. Apart from some of the female characters pursuing "love", most of the characters appear to be aimless, even in their late 20's and early 30's. It does not appear that they have advanced much since their teen years. Even those who pursue love often make some of the worst choices imaginable which dooms the "love" relationship from the start. Again, this drives the plots.
Any Aussie series with an M on it means what it says. Personally, I would not allow any child under the age of 18 to watch this in my house. I would not want anyone related to me to think that these were values which I approve of or think are okay things to try out.
