The Enigma of Nicky’s Survival in ‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’
If there is a single character whose fate lingers in the minds of viewers after Netflix’s ‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’, it’s Nicky. As the credits roll on this horror miniseries from the co-executive Duffer brothers and creator Haley Z. Boston, the question isn’t just why Nicky survives, but what his survival actually means. The series, lauded for its psychological and supernatural twists, dares to toy with the traditional horror formula by presenting a curse with three disturbing outcomes. Through the lens of Rachel’s family curse, viewers enter a ritualistic nightmare where love, deceit, and destiny tangle in surprising ways.
The Nuances Behind Rachel’s Curse and the Wedding’s Horrific Stakes
The conceptual backbone of the series revolves around an ancient curse linked to Rachel’s bloodline. Throughout the show, we’re told there are three potential endings to her wedding: she marries her soulmate and lives, marries someone else and meets a grisly end, or walks away only to perpetuate the curse as the new Witness, transferring doom to her fiancé’s ancestry and dooming herself to immortal observation. Each possibility is a study in the horror of choice — and the repercussions of those choices ripple far beyond the altar.
What sets the narrative apart is its willingness to question the very nature of soulmates. The show doesn’t demand mutual love to break the curse; it only requires that one person genuinely sees the other as their soulmate. This murky morality, full of loopholes and tragic logic, forms the backbone of the dilemma and challenges viewers to reflect on the authenticity of the relationships presented onscreen.
Nicky’s Relationship with Rachel: More Obsession Than Love
While the established fan theory asserts that Nicky survives because he still views Rachel as his soulmate, the series itself casts doubts on the legitimacy of that sentiment. Their relationship is depicted as transactional and one-sided. Throughout the story, Nicky continuously disregards Rachel’s wishes — from pushing her into an unwelcome engagement to dismissing her fears around marriage and motherhood. He never truly listens, undermining her anxieties and refusing to trust her interpretations of their increasingly perilous circumstances. In essence, Nicky appears oblivious to Rachel’s true self and desires.
Unlike other couples in the series, like Boris and Victoria or the complex sibling-soulmate duo Jules, whose connections are framed by honesty and brutal self-acceptance, Nicky’s bond with Rachel feels hollow. Boris is willing to see Victoria’s flaws and still love her; Nicky, by contrast, clings to a manufactured ideal of Rachel—a «bride-shaped hole» desperate to be filled, regardless of who Rachel actually is. He goes as far as hiding crucial details about himself, from his real role in the family to the truth about their fateful meeting and even his disbelief in the supernatural events threatening them.
A Shocking New Theory: Could Nicky Be a Second Witness?
The heart of this radical theory posits that Nicky’s survival isn’t due to any romantic or mystical connection with Rachel but is the result of something far more sinister and poetic—he may have become a second Witness. If true, this interpretation would flip the established logic of the curse on its head, transforming his escape from death into a perpetual curse of his own. The Witness, as established in episode four, is someone doomed to immortally observe the curse’s devastation as penance for their cowardice and betrayal.
The show plays with the idea of Death as a sentient, trickster entity—a force that savors retribution and thrives on loopholes. This Death doesn’t offer mercy, and Nicky may have invited unique punishment through not one but two acts: he fled from the altar, echoing the cowardice of the previous Witness, and subsequently manipulated the fate of others in an attempt to outwit Death’s plan. His unique brand of betrayal—both emotional and supernatural—makes him a prime candidate for Death’s ironic sense of justice.
Technically, the order of events compounds Nicky’s guilt. Rachel misses her chance at marriage before sundown, triggering the curse. Nicky’s decision to withdraw and then to manipulate Rachel into fulfilling the marriage ritual dooms both himself and Rachel, reinforcing her new role as Witness. Rather than dying in bloody fashion like his kin, Nicky’s punishment could be immortality—a far subtler and more excruciating sentence.
Subverting Horror Tropes and Reinventing the Genre
This reinterpretation injects the series with a richer, darker ambiguity, turning what first appears to be a simple survival into a psychological horror of eternal consequence. The series uses the familiar language of curses and bloodlines to explore deeper questions about agency, identity, and the dire costs of self-deception. Nicky, rather than embodying the tragic romantic, becomes a cautionary figure—a testament to the dangers of loving an idea more than a person and to the perils of trying to cheat the fate woven by supernatural design.
For fans of horror and psychological thrillers, ‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ continues to fascinate not just for its bloody twists, but for how it forcefully bends the expectations of the genre. The possibility that Nicky walks away not as a victor, but as a second Witness doomed to eternity, marks a daring turn for modern horror storytelling—one that resonates with anyone who’s ever wondered about the true price of escaping destiny.
