Dani Kessel Odom (they/them) is an autistic lead writer and TV critic who frequently covers sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and Pluribus, fantasy shows like The Magicians and Percy Jackson, horror,andsuperheroes. Their specialty is onscreen book adaptations.
They have covered events, such as the Denver Fan Expo. Their articles have also been shared by professionals in the field, such as Damien Leone and Lucy Hale. Their review for Ponies was quoted in the show's TV trailer.
In university, they majored in English Writing with a minor in psychology. They have always had a passion for analyzing TV and movies, even taking filmography and scriptwriting classes in university. They also studied and participated in onstage and onscreen acting extensively from the ages of 7 to 18.
Aside from working at Screen Rant, Dani has worked as a freelance editor and writer over the past decade, often in a ghostwriting capacity.
Warning: This article includes MAJOR SPOILERS for Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen!
The story follows an engaged woman named Rachel (Camila Morrone) who discovers that her family is cursed to die if they marry anyone except for their soulmate. Unfortunately, her future husband, Nicky, isn’t the person she thinks he is. As the title promises, their nuptials become disastrous, affecting every character in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.
My review of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen for ScreenRant praises the show’s ability to blend different forms of horror. One of these subgenres is paranormal horror. The premise already leans into this, but the supernatural elements could extend further than that.
Rachel's Family Might Have Supernatural Powers In Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen
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At the start of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen, Rachel is treated as overly superstitious and paranoid. The first two episodes specifically make it seem like she’s reading into things too much. However, Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen’s main character is vindicated when it turns out there is actually danger around her.
She gets feelings of dread and nosebleeds as she gets closer to anything related to the curse, even if she can’t identify the specifics. For example, the feeling of dread outside the plane happened right before she met Nicky. The panic attack before Iceland happened before she met her fiancé’s family, which is a step towards their marriage. The fear in the bar comes from The Witness being closer.
On top of that, Rachel can subconsciously recall things her mother experienced, leading to déjà vu and her ability to draw the Coldies logo despite never having been there.
Interestingly, Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen episode 4 reveals that Rachel's mother, Ali, has prophetic dreams about people in her family line. She can sense danger, and she also has deja vu and nosebleeds. This heavily implies that the family has latent supernatural abilities.
That being said, both Rachel and Ali seem to have actual moments of fear unrelated to their family curse, like Rachel thinking Nicky’s family is going to kill her and Ali fearing the Coldies owner. As such, it’s equally possible to argue that some of it is just hypervigilance.
The Precognition & Sixth Sense Could Come From The Family Curse
The most interesting part of Rachel and Ali’s abilities in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is that they seem to connect back to the family curse. Both characters can see either forward or backward in their family line to the other folks cursed by Death. They never have that experience with non-cursed family members, though that could theoretically just happen offscreen.
The feeling of dread in the Netflix horror show always hits when they’re getting closer to marrying the wrong person, which will kill them. The nosebleeds similarly happen more as they get closer to the wedding. For that reason, I’m inclined to think that any paranormal abilities happen as a side-effect of Death’s curse.
How This Shapes Rachel's Ending In The Duffer Brothers' Horror Show
The idea that Rachel and her cursed ancestors have latent supernatural powers recontextualized a lot of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen’s ending. Portia seems genuinely shocked that Rachel successfully summons the dead, implying that she never successfully did so despite being into witchcraft. Additionally, it would explain why her ancestor could make a real potion that helped her survive her wedding.
On top of that, Rachel’s role as The Witness is much more important now that the curse has passed on to Jude. The young boy will eventually become an adult who may or may not consider marriage. If supernatural powers come along with the curse, he’ll also have to cope with that.
Rachel has been through the dread and the deja vu. The previous Witness never bothered to tell her what she was experiencing and why until it was too late. Unless there’s some unstated rule that The Witness can’t discuss the curse in Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen, Rachel has the ability to guide Jude through these supernatural experiences before he makes a terrible mistake.
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