Rachel's fears are beyond dark in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. She's spent most of her life living under a dark cloud until she met her man.
Still, her mother Alexandra's (Victoria Pedretti) death plagues her, and she comes to find out how her mother died. But there's a secret there that explains everything, something that Rachel and the audience wait for the reveal for.
Rachel's lifetime of misfortune has nothing to do with Nicky. At least, in the beginning, but we'll get to that! Unfortunately for her, Rachel's entire bloodline is cursed and has been for hundreds of years. Long story short, one of her old relatives made a deal with death to bring back the man she loved. The condition: her children and generations after them would have to find their soulmate. If they didn't marry their soulmate, they'd die. This is why we see glimpses of death hanging around Rachel once she's at the Cunningham's, because once she agreed to marriage, the invisible contract was agreed.
Sadly, Rachel's fate is sealed, and though she marries Nicky, she doesn't just die. Rachel comes back to become the witness, the man who had witnessed every one of her family's past weddings. A very bloody finale, if you will.
Now that you're up to speed, let's go through what we want to happen if Netflix renews Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen for season 2!
1. Nicky to get what he deserves
Though Nicky's not the worst male character in the history of horror, he's very spineless. We start off believing he's a good guy, a loving fiancée, and a good man, when in reality, he's a liar. Rachel may be jaded, but when she meets Nicky on a plane, she believes it's fate. However, she later learns he lied about his reason for being at the airport: a breakup with his ex-girlfriend and his avoidance of his brother Jules's (Jeff Wilbusch) wedding.
Suddenly, Rachel's fated meeting with her partner of three years is a lie, which wouldn't be bad if he hadn't deceived her for three years. Also, Nicky reveals he doesn't believe Rachel about the curse; he doesn't trust her until it's too late, when he essentially forces her to marry him after learning the curse will transfer to his family if she doesn't. Much to my irritation, the reason Nicky survives at the end is that he fulfills the end of his deal. In his and Death's eyes, he marries his soulmate.
Still, I would've liked to have seen Nicky get what he deserved in the Cunningham bloodbath. While many of the others died, Nicky did not deserve to live! In the eyes of the audience, the other couples who died at the wedding did nothing wrong, but Nicky lies and tries to keep up appearances, even partly contributing to Rachel's death! Ideally, Nicky would've joined them, because Rachel being his soulmate doesn't even make sense.
DiMarco said in an interview with Screen Rant that Nicky "still believes Rachel is his soulmate", but otherwise, in what we see in the plot, it doesn't add up. He berates Rachel, gaslights her, and doesn't believe her like a real partner would when she tells him about the curse.
In comparison, Jude believes her straightaway, which is weird, considering she'd only known him for five days at that point! So, in season 2, I hope to see Nicky become part of the curse. Perhaps he and Rachel reunite a few years later, and his own marriage gets cursed, or something along those lines. After all, we know the Cunningham family is now cursed, since his relatives all died at the wedding, so what does this mean for him?
2. Rachel comes back to get revenge on Nicky
Kind of similar to number one, but my big wish for season 2 is for Rachel to come back as the Witness to exact revenge on Nicky. Her forced marriage to him effectively killed her, and his selfishness cost her everything. I'd love to see Rachel haunt Nicky and for him directly to face the ramifications of the curse. It would be very fitting if there were a time jump, and we cut to Rachel at Nicky's future wedding, and she explains to him that he now faces the same curse because of his selfishness.
Alternatively, Nicky could face a lifetime of celibacy and loneliness for forcing the curse into activation upon Rachel. Nicky may be traumatized, but it would be nice to see some horror as Rachel gets personal revenge on her ex, and not as the Witness, but as herself. If showrunner Haley Z. Boston decides to go down that route, we'd all be satisfied.
3. Rachel reuniting with her mother
Since Rachel is technically undead, wouldn't she be able to cross over between worlds? I'm not too sure how the lore of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen works, but since we saw Pedretti play her mom, it would be great to see the two reunite. Since Pedretti is the Princess of Horror, there's no reason why we couldn't see a conversation between her and Rachel.
If Rachel and Alexandra could reunite, even in one scene, that would be an amazing way for Rachel to process her mother's death and gain closure, since she now knows what happened. Rachel did see her mom die on videotape from the old camera, but since we know Rachel is deeply affected by her mother's death, it would be nice to see this plotline resolve and for this to transition into Rachel accepting her new position.
4. An anthology style season: New couple, same curse
Not everyone loves an anthology-style show, but for the horror genre, they work so well. In season 1, there's no indication that the show is set in an anthology-style narrative, but it could be. With the curse now transferred to Nicky's family, we could follow the aftermath of the curse through his perspective, although it might be more interesting to do a time jump and follow his children or another family entirely. That way, the show could keep its continuity and freshness, as American Horror Story does by using new characters each season to explore a new horror story.
If we wanted to tie in Nicky and Rachel, Rachel/Morrone could appear again as the Witness. The audience would get to see Rachel in action in her new role, and we could have flashbacks or scenes calling back to the curse of the Cunninghams. The show could even bring back those left from the Cunningham family to see how they're coping with life post-curse.
Boston has already hinted that the show could become an anthology. Speaking to Variety, she said she'd "thought about the show as a potential anthology", so it is likely we may see future Cunninghams or new couples enduring the curse.
5. How the curse started
One thing that is explained to us that we don't see is how the curse started. It starts with a woman bargaining with death, but what if season 2 explored that prequel storyline? Seeing the original Witness (Zlatko Burić) created by Death would be incredibly interesting, as there isn't much detail on how and why he was selected as the Witness.
If Boston doesn't want to focus an entire season on the origin, we could have a flashback/prequel episode, like we did with Rachel's mother. Prequels work in the horror genre because they explain the origins and lead up to the central plot. Many viewers, especially horror fans, will want to see the context behind the curse and its rules.
If season two goes ahead, it's important to see the beginnings of the curse, as this affects the present version of the curse. Even if the series shifts to following multiple couples and an evolved version of the curse, for example, one that hinges on a person’s belief in who their soulmate is, it would benefit from clearly explaining how the curse has changed. Grounding that evolution in the show’s mythology would make the storytelling feel more cohesive and intentional.
Whether Something Bad Is Going To Happen will remain a limited series or evolve into a multi-season horror masterpiece, we hope to see Rachel back on our screens soon!