Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen creator explains Rachel’s cryptic smile in final scene

Haley Z. Boston also spoke about the possibility of a second season.

Camila Morrone as Rachel Harkin on ‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’.Credit: 

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What exactly did Rachel’s smile mean in the Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen finale?

The horror series’ creator Haley Z. Boston broke down the buzzy Netflix show with Variety and gave insight into the final moments when Camila Morrone smiles to herself while driving off in the rusty pickup truck that has “Just Married” scrawled on the back. Is the moment hinting toward something more in Rachel’s story beyond the days leading up to her wedding that never was?

Boston said that the show’s ending, mainly Rachel’s, was that she took a “leap of faith” at the start of the final episode. “She realizes the opposite of doubt isn’t certainty: It’s belief. You can’t be certain about any choice you make in life or what the outcome will be. So she takes that leap, and that’s her arc. She goes from having all these doubts to having belief. And Nicky (Adam DiMarco) f—ed it up.”

The showrunner said that during Rachel and Nicky’s major argument, Rachel begins to realize that that she no longer believes the man she was going to marry. “So she has to make that choice again and chooses herself instead of him,” Boston explained. “That causes all this chaos and mayhem, but she’s choosing herself.”

Boston broke down the bigger picture of the show, explaining that the series is “ultimately a breakup story.”

“In choosing herself, Rachel becoming the new witness is a rebirth. You end a relationship, and there’s a mix of sadness and catharsis. She’s reborn and leaves the relationship behind. Metaphorically, when you end a relationship, those people are dead to you in a way. They’re no longer in your life. That’s why she leaves by herself. She’s on a new journey.”

As for the elusive smile? “That smile is a mix of emotions,” Boston said. “Cami played it so well. She’s emotional, exhausted from the week, and then there’s this small smile of, ‘I got out. I made the right choice. Now I’m on to my next adventure.’ “

Boston also weighed in on the possibility of a second season, saying it would be a “great opportunity,” as the story is “very personal” to her. “It came from a real fear of mine, something I was using to explore my own fears. I’ve thought about the show as a potential anthology, and whatever that next existential fear is, I’d need to figure out what to explore there.”

Boston noted that “horror runs deep,” and she’s interested in exploring the genre’s taboos, along with more of her fears.

She previously told Entertainment Weekly about how she relates to both main characters in the series. “I relate to Rachel from a kind of vibe perspective, the essence of Rachel, but I am actually much more [like] Nicky, who comes from this loving family and has this ideal perspective on marriage,” she said in January. “So I think I’m both of them and I’ve put them in conflict with each other.”

Added Boston: “It’s really just therapy for me.”

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is now streaming on Netflix.