Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ending: Explaining the 'curse', who dies and what happens to Rachel
The new Netflix series ends with a brutal bloodbath
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ends with – wait for it – something very bad. It’s a blood-soaked, jaw-dropping ending, so let’s break down exactly what happened, whether it’s Rachel’s fate, what goes down at the wedding, or the curse.
What does it really mean to be someone’s soulmate? That’s the big question at the dark heart of the new Netflix series, created by Haley Z. Boston and executive produced by the Duffer Brothers (their first series since the end of Stranger Things).
Rachel (Camilla Morone) never saw herself as the marriage type, but she still agreed to marry Nicky (Adam DiMarco) and host their not-so-intimate wedding at his family’s remote home in the woods.
However, despite its Evil Dead flourishes, this isn’t a typical cabin in the woods story. By the end, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen absolutely lives up to the promise of its title.
***Warning: spoilers for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ahead***
How does Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen end?
The Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen finale revolved entirely around Rachel and Nicky’s ill-fated wedding – and its horrific aftermath.
In the penultimate episode, Rachel got Jules (Jeff Wilbusch) to cut off her pinky toe. She also snipped a piece of Victoria’s hair (Jennifer Jason Leigh), had sex with Nicky, and cut Zlatko Burić’s immortal man (more on him later) to get his blood.
Why? Combined, all of those things (something living, something dead, something stolen, and something red) would offset the curse and transform her into Nicky’s soulmate, as long as she collected (and ingested) them before she said, “I do.”
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However, in episode 8, she decided to place all of her faith in her love for Nicky. She walked down the aisle, spoke about how marriage is a “leap of faith” in her speech, and for a brief moment, it looked like everything would be okay. How wrong we were.
Do Nicky and Rachel get married?
Yes, Nicky and Rachel are technically married by the end of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen – but it’s not a happy union.
Nicky didn’t deliver his vows. Instead, after his mother’s decades-old affair shattered his ideas about love, he told Rachel that “marriage destroys people”. In his eyes, he’d have been “freeing [them] from the institution” by not getting married.
Of course, it helped that he didn’t fully believe that Rachel was cursed (something he would come to regret – again, more later). That said, he lied to Rachel about believing her, which didn’t go down well.
When Nicky grovelled and begged her to marry him, she told him no. Alas, that didn’t stop him.
Later, amid all sorts of nightmarish bloodshed, Nicky, his father (Ted Levine), and the rest of her family gathered around Rachel and concluded the ceremony against her will. She had already said, “I do”, so all that remained was Nicky’s vow and his dad pronouncing them husband and wife.
Other bad stuff happened after, but when all is said and done, they got married.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ending: How does the curse work?
The curse in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen came from Death itself, and it dates back well over a century.
As explained by the Witness, many moons ago, a bride lost her groom to a hunting accident just before their wedding.
“She called out into the darkness. She begged Death to bring her soulmate back,” he explained. “Death was happy to play. Death loves a bargain.”
However, the deal came with a catch: she had to believe he was her soulmate, and her children (and every future child born from this “fated union”) could only marry someone if they wholeheartedly thought they were their soulmate. If not, they would die.
It reached the Witness, and he’d been told that he must marry his soulmate by sundown, or he’d die. He left her at the altar, meaning the curse spread to Marianne – one of Rachel’s ancestors.
“In time, she found another man. His name was Thomas Harkin, your great-great-great-great-great-grandfather,” he told Rachel.
As for the Witness, his cowardice came at a cost. Death cursed him with immortality, forcing him to bear witness for every wedding in the bloodline.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen creator unpacks Rachel’s curse
Speaking to Netflix, Boston explained why the curse is actually “pretty romantic”.
“It’s looking for people to actually believe that they’re making the commitment of marriage for true love alone. Ultimately, the curse spread down through the woman’s bloodline. If anyone in the bloodline was engaged but didn’t choose to get married, the curse would spread to their fiancé’s bloodline, and so on,” she said.
“The curse sets an implication that if you choose to make this promise, you have to follow through — effectively, that the intention of marrying needs to come from a place of true love. By the rules of the curse, if you choose not to get engaged and not to get married, it doesn’t mean you can’t spend your life with someone or with love in your life.
“It’s shining a light on the tradition of marriage and why we do it. What I’m saying is, if you’re going to do it, then do it for the right reason.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ending: Who dies?
A lot of people died in the last episode of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.
By forcing Rachel into marriage, the curse spread to Nicky’s family en masse. Rachel died (initially), but then everyone else started to die, too.
Portia (Gus Birney) had gotten secretly married to someone she didn’t truly love, so she died. The vast majority of the attendees died, too, slipping, sliding, and wailing in their own blood.
As for how they died, the curse caused a fatal haemorrhage, with blood spilling out of its victims’ noses, eyes, and ears until they collapsed. This made for a gnarly sequence, with everyone’s futile panic teeing up more grotesque deaths than we ever imagined.
Victoria, who was one of the first family members to succumb to the curse, also died in her husband’s arms.
Who survives?
Not everyone died, though. Jules, Nell (Karla Crome), their son Jude (Sawyer Fraser), Nicky, and his dad all make it to the end of the show.
Remember, the curse only affected those who didn’t marry their soulmate. Even though Jules and Nell bicker and threaten to get divorced, it was clear they were meant to be together. Thankfully, Death agreed!
“Be careful who you choose to marry,” DiMarco told Netflix.
“Some might walk away from it feeling cynical about love and lifelong commitment, and some people might be inspired. This is really a nightmare, worst-case scenario, so maybe people will look at their partners and think, ‘things aren’t so bad over here, actually.'”
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen ending: Does Rachel survive?
Yes! Not only does Rachel survive the events of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, but she arguably does the absolute opposite of dying: she becomes immortal.
It didn’t seem that way at first. Soon after being pronounced husband and wife, Rachel suffered a haemorrhage and collapsed in the garden, covered in blood.
However, in a shock twist, Death finally claimed the life of the Witness, and his immortality was passed onto Rachel. Perhaps it was because the wedding was carried out under false circumstances, or maybe Death sympathised with her.
Either way, the series ended with her alive and smoking a joint as she drove away. Crucially, she wasn’t with Nicky, who was last seen cuddling a teddy bear.
Rachel also made one last promise to witness Jude’s wedding, and urged him to choose his future partner carefully.
“When you see how it ends, some may take away an anti-romance perspective, but I feel the ending is actually really triumphant. It ultimately tells the story of someone who is choosing to believe that the person she’s marrying is her soulmate, and that is beautiful and brave in itself. It’s not about fate, ultimately,” Boston said.
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