The opening scene of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen's first episode finds Rachel walking down the aisle on her wedding day. Her heart races with anticipation as she approaches the altar to meet her fiancé, Nicky. As he lifts her veil, a flurry of tense moments from their past comes flooding back—fights, intimate moments, and everything in between. As Nicky slides the ring onto her finger, the scene shifts to a dog wandering through a blood-soaked hallway, screams piercing the air.
We then cut back five days to the present, reuniting with the couple as they drive to Nicky's family home. Rachel falls asleep at the wheel, leading them to a near-accident. To stay awake, she asks Nicky to talk to her. He regales her with tales from a crime podcast about Larry Poole, a 90s serial killer who once owned a frozen custard shop called 'The Coldies.' He describes in detail how one of Larry's victims, a pregnant woman, managed to escape.
Later, Nicky takes over the wheel, and they turn on the podcast. They stop at a gas station for food, where Rachel overhears a couple arguing about missing dogs. Nicky brings up the possibility of having children, but Rachel expresses her fear that their kids would be tormented and that having kids is selfish. She brings up her deceased mother and jokes about his overbearing parents.
Nicky is surprised when she draws the Coldies logo without ever having been there. They get back on the road and as dusk falls, they stop at a secluded rest area. Rachel notices a baby locked in a parked car by himself. The scene builds suspense and sets the tone for the upcoming twists and turns in this intriguing episode.
She darted into the restrooms, searching frantically for the baby's parents. But her search yielded nothing but a rotting dog on a broken toilet. Rachel returns and instructs Nicky to stay with the child while she attempts to break a window while driving back to the nearest gas station for phone service and assistance. This is how she finds herself at the secluded Swan Dive Bar, a place that appears isolated with only one server at the reception.
Rachel explains the situation with the child and begs the server to call for help. As she waits, she heads to the restrooms to relieve herself. Rachel is startled to see an elderly man observing her in the bathroom. She hurriedly leaves, but he follows her back to the bar. There, she reflexively uses her car keys to stab him in his arm. To her surprise, eerily, he pulls the car keys out of his hand and passes them back. He then asks, 'Are you sure he is the one?' The female server appears and informs her that the police are on their way.
Rachel heads back to her car and spots a truck with 'just married' signage. She also notices the old man watching her as she drives off. Rachel drives back to where she left Nicky but doesn't see him or the car with the baby. Suddenly, he pops up with a bruised face and reports that the baby's family came back, thinking he was stealing the child and hit him before he could explain.
Instead of waiting for the cops, they drive off, and Rachel notices that the truck is still parked at the bar as they pass it. They finally make it to Nicky's place and start settling in. Rachel offers to grab some ice for his face while he unloads their stuff from the car. She heads to the kitchen and finds Nicky's brother, Jules, and his wife, Nell. She also meets Portia, Nicky's sister. Portia warmly welcomes her but also accuses Rachel of trying to avoid them since they have never met before. On the other hand, Nell tries to be normal while Jules quietly continues eating his meal.
They all become intrigued when Rachel explains what happened to Nicky's face. Portia suggests that maybe what happened was the Sorry Man's fault. The others take this as a sign to leave, but Portia insists on Rachel staying. She tells Rachel the story of the Sorry Man, who apparently Jules met in the woods when he was 8. According to her, Jules ran away from home and accidentally walked in on a man cutting a woman open. The story goes that the man kept apologizing as he killed the woman, hoping to be reunited with the ghost of his late wife. As the story reaches its climax, Portia spots Jules' son, Judie, eavesdropping. She manages to scare Rachel by pretending there is someone behind her. Portia introduces him to Rachel and assures her that The Sorry Man only kills brides.
Back in their bedroom, Nicky apologizes to Rachel for Portia's horror story. Although he doesn't believe the story of the Sorry Man, he does believe something happened to Jules back then. Rachel tells him about the creepy guy from the bar and admits she's been feeling dread and a sense of déjà vu. Nicky says he's been feeling off lately too. She asks why Portia knows she's afraid of flying, and Nicky explains that he told his family about how he met Rachel. She insists on doing 'the thing' before they have sex.
In the middle of the night, Rachel wakes up and finds herself with a nosebleed. She hears an odd sound and leaves the room to check it out. This is when she notices the main door is open, and for a while, she goes outside to watch the snow. Rachel comes back and finds Victoria, Nicky's mom, standing alone in one of the rooms. She looks dazed and only responds after Rachel gets close and waves her hands at her face. Victoria quickly grabs her hand and calls her the next Mrs Cunningham. Suddenly, her husband, Boris, opens the door of their bedroom and apologizes to Rachel. He gets Victoria and starts directing her towards their bedroom. She turns to Rachel and says that they won't be seeing much of each other. Obviously, Rachel finds this odd but ignores it.
On the floor, she finds a letter addressed to her. She opens it up and finds a wedding invite inside. Written behind the card is a note, warning her not to marry Nicky.
