The dark real reason foxes keep appearing in Netflix’s Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen

You might think the foxes in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen are just there to make things creepier, but there’s actually a much deeper meaning behind them, and the creator has explained the significance of them.

The show, which is produced by the Duffer Brothers, follows Rachel, who goes to meet her fiancé’s family before their wedding. From the very start, something just feels off. She’s anxious, uneasy, and constantly worried that, as the name suggests, something bad is going to happen.

And that’s where the foxes come in. From the beginning of the series, the foxes feel important. We see that unsettling moment with the dead pregnant fox and her unborn babies, which is hard to watch. Then later on, there’s the fox hunt at Nicky’s family home, where one fox literally chews its way out of a trap. By the end, we see a final image of a fox running wildly through the woods, finally free.

So, what do these foxes actually represent?

via Netflix

Creator Haley Z. Boston has said the symbolism wasn’t accidental at all. In fact, it was there from the very beginning. “When I was writing the pilot, the fox in the bathroom just felt right to me. It represented Rachel’s origin story,” she told Tudum.

So straight away, the fox isn’t just a random creepy detail. It’s directly tied to who Rachel is and where she’s coming from. Basically, the foxes are a reflection of Rachel.

As the series continues, the meaning behind the foxes becomes more obvious. Rachel starts off feeling trapped and unsure, much like the animals we see. Then comes the fox hunt, which is where everything really clicks into place.

Boston said, “When we were writing episode six, and there’s the fox hunt, that’s where it was solidified. … I [liked] the idea of using this animal to represent how she’s feeling at different points in the story.”

The fox that chews itself out of the trap? That’s basically Rachel reaching her breaking point. It’s painful, messy, and a bit shocking, but it’s also about survival. Doing whatever it takes to escape.

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By the time we get to the final fox, the one running free through the woods, the meaning has fully come together. At that point, Rachel isn’t just scared anymore. She’s changed. She’s been pushed to the edge and is finally acting on it.

So the fox isn’t trapped or hunted anymore, it’s free. And that mirrors Rachel’s journey perfectly.

But why a fox?

via Netflix

It’s not just about the situations, but also about what foxes represent. Boston pointed this out, “A fox is an interesting, mysterious animal, so it fits within the world.”

When you put it all together, the foxes are basically an emotional stand-in for Rachel. At first, they’re vulnerable and trapped. Then they’re wounded and desperate. And finally, they’re free, but only after doing something quite extreme.

So while it works as horror imagery, it’s also showing how Rachel feels at every stage of the story, without always saying it out loud.

And once you clock that, all those fox scenes hit very differently.

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