 " The Secret " was written in roughly 26 hours and was the fastest episode written for the series at the time . The title for the episode is purposely vague and refers to Jim 's hidden feelings for Pam , Dwight and Angela 's relationship , and Oscar 's homosexuality . The shots at the Hooters restaurant were filmed relatively early in the day , and a majority of the scenes were improvised by Carell . " The Secret " received largely positive reviews from television critics and was watched by 8 @.@ 7 million viewers , ranking as the forty @-@ fourth most @-@ watched television episode of the week . 
