Angel Shaw is a TV Lead Writer and Critic with ScreenRant who knows far too much about Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.
In all the chaos of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, foxes stand out. The Netflix horror series delivers all the necessary thrills and chills of the genre, leaning into a variety of body-horror and psychological-thriller tropes to get the job done.
This is enhanced with just the right amount of satire-like comedy. Still, the cherry on top for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is all those layers of symbolism. Among the most intriguing is the meaning behind the show's foxes. We first see a fox in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen's first episode, when Rachel goes exploring in the rest-stop bathroom. When the door of a stall goes flying open, she peeks in to find the corpse of a fox curled up in a toilet. If this wasn't horrifying enough, the realization that the fox was pregnant upon its death, evidenced by the still stirring fetuses within the torn apart carcass, really does it. Later, the idea of foxes comes back up as Nicky, Jules, and their father, Boris, head out on a fox hunt. The Cunninghams are a big hunting family, and Boris is a hobby taxidermist. Their goal for this rather strange bachelor party is to get Nicky a fox that can be stuffed, mounted, and put on display to commemorate his big day. Of course, it doesn't work out that way. The fox Nicky catches eats off its own paw to escape. That same fox is then seen thriving in the woods in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen's ending. The Foxes In Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen Represent Rachel & Her Mother Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen's foxes represent Rachel, her mother Ali, and, on a subtler level, other brides like them. We learn later on in the horror series that Ali dies while she is pregnant with Rachel. Just after marrying Rachel's father, it becomes evident that Ali did not believe that her groom was her soul mate. She suffered the family curse's executionary brain hemorrhage, and Rachel's father was forced to cut his infant daughter free from Ali's corpse. Nearly 30 years later, when Rachel discovered the dead, pregnant fox, she was looking at a grotesque representation of her own origin story. The second fox in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is much more on the nose. Nicky's trapping of the unfortunate creature reflected his proposal to Rachel. His dishonesty about how they met led her to believe that this man was worth setting aside her own aversion to marriage. The truth of the curse only added to the idea that, from the moment Rachel said yes to Nicky's proposal, she was trapped. Rachel wasn't able to escape the trap of the curse, but she did escape Nicky. She walked away from the horror of her wedding, not quite whole, but she still free of her groom. Similarly, we see that the footless fox Nicky trapped had somehow managed to survive. It should have bled to death hidden away in the forest—another corpse like the one Rachel found forgotten in the bathroom—but it made it after all. Why A Fox Is The Perfect Animal To Tell Rachel's Story Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen could have picked any hunted animal to represent Rachel and her mother. A rabbit might have been a fair choice, since we could draw parallels between the creature's discarded foot and Rachel's good luck. However, it wouldn't have achieved as much as the horror show's foxes. These are mysterious creatures, a little harder to find than rabbits or deer. Also, they are predators just as much as they are prey. Subscribe to the newsletter for fox symbolism and TV insights Explore deeper—subscribe to the newsletter for more close readings of on-screen symbolism, from fox metaphors to examinations of marriage and agency. Expect thoughtful analyses and cultural context that sharpen how you interpret TV and film storytelling. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. Foxes have a pretty bad rep, and we see in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen that Rachel doesn't have the best self-esteem. She thinks that Nicky is all goodness and sweetness, while she considers herself a wholly bad person. Though Nicky plays nice, it slowly becomes clear that he shares Rachel's opinion. He thinks he's superior to her. Nicky coos at Rachel and pretends to accept her, but he still considers her a tricky sort of problem. Women like Rachel and Ali, who are reluctant to ever get married, are often treated this way. They are lovely, tricky temptresses that their grooms want to trap and put on display. In this way, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen emphasizes its criticism and exploration of marriage. It's not all bad in all circumstances, but when love is more about locking down someone who would much prefer to be free, it can't be considered more than a predatory game. 9.0/10 9/10 Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed Horror Release Date March 26, 2026 Network Netflix Showrunner Haley Z. Boston Writers Haley Z. Boston Cast
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