What Happens at the End of 'Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen'?

Jason Sargent Friday, March 27, 2026

Kayleigh SchweikerFri, March 27, 2026 at 6:52 PM UTC

Spoilers below.

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen makes no secret of the sinister forces that will corrupt what might otherwise be a very good time for newly engaged protagonists Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone of Daisy Jones & the Six) and Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco of The White Lotus and Overcompensating). It’s right there in the title: Neither Rachel nor Nicky, nor the audience, will make it out of Netflix’s latest horror series without enduring something terrible.

The series is executive produced by Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer—marking the first of three new projects from the brothers’ production company, Upside Down Pictures—and is brought to life by a roster of genre-savvy directors well-versed in psychological horror. At the center is showrunner Haley Z. Boston, who describes Something Very Bad to Netflix’s Tudum as “fall[ing] somewhere between” Carrie (1976) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) in both tone and visuals. But where those films explore the transformations of a girl into a woman and a woman into a mother, Boston asks: What horrors lurk beneath a woman’s transformation into a wife?

What was meant to be an intimate, snow-crested wedding at Nicky’s family home turns sour before the couple even reach the altar. In the early episodes of Something Very Bad, Rachel—already prone to paranoia and superstition—meets her future in-laws for the first time under less-than-ideal circumstances, and becomes even more on edge after she endures a cryptic exchange with Nicky’s mother, Victoria (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who vaguely remarks, “We won’t be seeing much of each other anymore.”

Later, Rachel’s wedding dress goes missing under suspicious circumstances; Victoria is revealed to have a terminal brain disease; and we learn of a chilling Harkin family legend about a figure known as the “Sorry Man.” The legend is as follows: After a family argument years ago, Nicky’s brother, Jules (Jeff Wilbusch), ran away from the Cunningham home and into a cabin nearby. Noticing he was not alone, Jules hid under the bed—only to then witness a brutal murder. As he watched a man cut open a pregnant woman in a wedding dress, all Jules heard was the murderer repeatedly apologizing, thus earning him the moniker “Sorry Man.”

After kidnapping Rachel from the Cunningham home at the end of episode 3, Rachel’s estranged father reveals himself to be this mythical “Sorry Man.” But that’s not all! Rachel’s father also tells her that the Harkin family lineage is burdened by a centuries-old curse—one that prevents Rachel from marrying anyone other than her true soulmate. Clearly, Rachel’s father was not her mother’s soulmate, as her mother met a brutal end on their wedding night in that cabin years ago. By extracting the infant Rachel from her mother’s dying body, her father was able to save Rachel herself.

This is not the first time that mentions of “soulmates” have floated around since Rachel’s arrival upstate. During episode 1, she had a strange interaction with a mysterious man in a dive bar, who asked her about Nicky: “Are you sure he’s the one?”

Believing his question might have been more of a literal warning than a rhetorical question, Rachel later returns to the same dive bar for answers on how she can circumvent her family’s curse. There, the Anonymous Mystery Man (Zlatko Burić) admits that he is a victim of the curse himself. He divulges: Rachel can say “yes” to the wrong partner and die that same night; walk away from the altar and live forever; or marry her soulmate and earn a consequence-free happily ever after. Choose the second option, and the result is a life like his: one with immortality, anonymity, and a condemnation to witness all cursed family members' weddings for eternity.

By the penultimate episode, Rachel is mere hours away from the altar—and confronting the curse head-on. She scrambles to gather the ingredients for a rather stomach-churning cocktail. If consumed before noon on her wedding day, legend has it that she will be transformed into the perfect soulmate for her partner. The recipe calls for blood, hair, and bone, requirements Rachel ultimately fulfills with her own pinky toe. I’ll spare you the specifics, but we leave her before the finale hobbling through the house, cocktail in hand, as the officiant calls for guests to “please rise.”

At last, the finale opens with Rachel walking down the aisle in Victoria’s wedding dress and a fierce red lip. Everyone looks pretty pleased—except for Anonymous Mystery Man, who is stoic as usual.

Rachel reads her vows first. Will she say yes or no? As I fall victim to Love Is Blind flashbacks, she begins: “Falling for you was so easy and happened so fast.” In her classic Rachel way, she drops an F-bomb. “The only certainty in life is death,” Rachel repeats—twice. “Fuck certainty. I have nothing to worry about. You are my good luck charm…I believe you are my soulmate.”

The scene then cuts to the moment just before Rachel walked down the aisle—11:59 A.M.—where she decides not to drink the absolutely unhinged cocktail she made with blood, hair, and her own pinky toe.

Cut back to Nicky, who is nervous. “That’s tough to follow,” he jokes.

But his response is nevertheless an unforgettable one.

“I wrote these vows a week ago, and they don’t quite feel right anymore,” he begins. Ultimately, he concludes that he and Rachel don’t need to get married at all. “Marriage destroys people. It was already starting to get to us. And I don’t want our relationship to change.”

It’s clear that Nicky thinks he’s doing Rachel a favor: hatching an escape plan since she never wanted to get married in the first place. But it is equally clear that Nicky has not been briefed on the rules and regulations of the curse. Is there a Harkin from the ‘20s we can summon via Ouija board for clarification? Is there a rubric for this situation?

The not-so-happy couple leaves the altar and finds a private room to hash things out, where Nicky explains what he thought the curse was really about: “Marriage is the curse…I’m absolving us from that,” he says proudly. “I think both of us have been cursed by the systems that raised us. And by not getting married, we fix that.”

As much as generational trauma is indeed a curse, it would seem Nicky may have misunderstood the assignment. Rachel informs him that if he doesn’t marry her by sundown, the curse will spread to his entire family! Nicky is shocked by her seriousness—even with all of Rachel’s on-edge behavior and mentions of the paranormal, he considered all her talk of curses to be purely metaphorical. In other words, Rachel just lost a pinky toe to prevent a curse her now-maybe-husband doesn’t even believe in.

The severity of the situation soon settles in for Nicky, but, outside, the reception continues. The crowd seems largely unfazed by the fact that Rachel just got dumped at the altar. (I guess when you’ve already paid the barman, the show must go on.) Rachel and Nicky continue arguing as the open bar gets absolutely drained. “I don’t believe in supernatural shit or cosmic retribution or curses!” Nicky insists. Jules (Jeff Wilbusch), Nicky’s brother, bangs on the door; the sun is about to set. Time is running out.

“If you weren’t cursed, would you have still said yes?” Nicky asks his would-be wife. This is a question Rachel clearly cannot answer with confidence. They are fully expunging their relationship in this private room while the rest of the guests dance to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

Finally, the entire Cunningham family intervenes by inserting themselves into their argument and offering more unsolicited (and conflicting) marital advice. But Jules cuts through the noise: “Marry her, or we’re all f***ed.” He has a point. Nicky offers Rachel the opportunity to “go back out there and try again.” But just as it is in Love Is Blind, there are no altar redos in this house. Rachel declines.

It’s now 4:45. Still no marriage. The crowd keeps dancing! The Cunninghams exit their private room and follow Rachel, who might or might not have her eyes fixed on the dance floor. But then—Victoria’s nose starts bleeding. If we remember the way in which Rachel’s mom went down in episode 4 (and how could we not), we know exactly where this is headed.

Simultaneously, chaos ensues inside the reception. Nosebleeds everywhere. There are bloody eyeballs. People are collapsing. Blood is pooling from every direction. It is…a lot of burgundy.

Rachel, notably, is unscathed. The cameraman, however? Not faring so well, but still snapping photos. Respect the commitment. While the crowd quickly goes down, Jules and his son, Jude (Sawyer Fraser), reunite, so far unaffected. Same with many of the plus-ones. Rachel corners Anonymous Mystery Man, who reminds her: He did tell her the curse would spread to Nicky’s bloodline. I just wish he’d emphasized the word “blood” a bit more.

In a frenzy, Nicky gives things another stab with Rachel. In the main reception area, he drops to one knee: “I believe we’re soulmates.”

“You believe me now?” Rachel asks. Too little, too late. Dr. Cunningham (Ted Levine) tries to officiate, and Nicky is told to kiss the bride, but Rachel refuses: “Getting married is only going to kill us.”

Despite Rachel’s resistance to finalizing their marriage, Anonymous Mystery Man reminds us that Rachel already promised Nicky forever at the altar, so it is now his turn to decide. Nicky votes yes, and their marriage license is signed. They are now pronounced husband and wife! But now Rachel’s nose is bleeding. Not great.

She walks out into the courtyard, snow falling, and collapses to her knees. Her white dress is quickly overtaken by blood—from her eyes, nose, mouth…you get the picture. I suppose Nicky’s mother was right: It turns out they didn’t see much of each other for very long.

Eventually, morning comes. Anonymous Mystery Man sits alone at a reception table, the fallout of the ill-fated wedding surrounding him. Then, abruptly, his face drops into his plate. Ouch! But outside, Rachel’s eyes open. They’ve switched places! She’s the immortal one now. Revived, she heads into Nicky’s bedroom, wearing what may as well be a maroon dress. She casually asks Nicky for a lighter, looking frankly incredible for someone who just bled out.

In the hallway, she comforts Jude: “I’m sorry this happened to you. But it did happen. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Perhaps now Rachel will be Jude’s version of Jules’s Sorry Man. Might I suggest we call her the Lady in Red? “You have to be really careful who you choose to marry,” she advises Jude. “But don’t worry—I’ll be there to witness.” At least she’s decided to use her immortality for good.

She walks past Anonymous Mystery Man’s body on her way out of the house. Written in blood at his table: “YOUR TURN.” She takes his car keys and leaves.

Aside from a bit of dried blood on her nose, Rachel looks…fine. Good, even. She’s changed out of Victoria’s blood-soaked wedding dress and into a spiffy suit, as she gets into Anonymous Mystery Man’s car, “Just Married” still plastered across the back. She turns on the radio. Coincidentally, “We Will Not Be Lovers” by The Waterboys plays. Driving off, Rachel smiles. Single life isn’t so bad, huh?

Although it’s not the fairytale ending Rachel initially hoped for, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ultimately argues for severing what no longer serves you—even if it means enduring some pain along the way. Between Rachel’s deep reluctance toward marriage, Nicky’s lies about their supposedly “fated” meet-cute, and Victoria’s terminal brain tumor, it becomes clear that these pre-wedding jitters are more than cold feet for Rachel, curse or not. Although women are often under immense pressure to conform to marital traditions and the expectations of their partner, Rachel’s insistence on not taking the potion signals an unwillingness to sacrifice herself to gain the favor of a man (or his family). And while postponing the wedding might have been a more apt first step than the massacre that ultimately followed, I am glad to see Rachel finally letting her hair down as she drives away from the Cunningham home.

“Ultimately, I think it’s hopeful,” showrunner Boston told ELLEof the show’s ending. “I’m a romantic, and it does have that lens to it…For Rachel, it’s a second chance.” Now fully independent (and immortal), Rachel’s character is proof of the power of letting go. “You leave all these people behind and you may never see them again and this family you've gotten to know. But that's the past, and then you're reborn and onto the next thing.”

Just as Rachel defiantly leaves the Cunninghams’ town with more questions than confirmations as to all the eerie symbols she’d encountered along the way, perhaps we as viewers are meant to sever our ties to those answers, too. If the song she drives off to is any indication of the breakup playlist ahead—and that suit she’s wearing is any sign of who she’ll become—I think Rachel will be just fine.

DEN MAG

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