Kelly Ripa is said to have no plans to bring back Howie Mandel after their tense encounter on her show.

The “America’s Got Talent” judge appeared to snap at Ripa on Monday’s episode of “Live with Kelly and Mark” after she made comments about his looks and age.

According to reports, Kelly Ripa feels the 70-year-old “disrespected” her and made her feel “uncomfortable” on her own set. As such, she feels freezing him out is the best move to protect the show.

Kelly Ripa Felt ‘Disrespected’ By Awkward Exchange With Howie Mandel

A potential return for Howie Mandel to “Live with Kelly and Mark” may be off the table for now after his uncomfortable exchange with co-host Ripa during Monday’s episode.

Sources say Ripa was left unimpressed by Mandel’s response to her exchange of remarks about his age, which centered on him hitting the 70th year milestone.

“He disrespected her in her house,” an insider told Rob Shuter’s #ShuterScoop about Mandel. “That’s her show, her audience, her tone — and he bulldozed right through it.”

Meanwhile, although Ripa tried to maintain a cool front during the interaction, within her, she was unsettled as she felt that the moment disrupted the flow of her tightly run show.

“Kelly runs a tight, polished ship,” another insider said about the TV personality. “She expects guests to play along, keep it light, and protect the vibe. That interview did the opposite.”

The TV Personality Reportedly Won’t Ask Back The Talent Show Judge

Despite her reported stance, Ripa is not expected to explicitly tell Mandel he is no longer welcome on the show.

Instead, she would likely take a more subtle approach to avoid a reunion and expects Mandel to pick up on the signals.

“She’ll never say ‘you’re banned,’” an insider shared. “But suddenly bookings get tricky, schedules don’t align, and invites… vanish.”

“Howie won’t be asked back,” another source further emphasized. “Not after making her uncomfortable on her own set.”

All of this is reportedly part of her effort to keep the focus on her show, especially after Mandel disrupted its carefully maintained vibe.

“In daytime TV, chemistry is everything,” another insider continued. “Once that trust is broken, it’s almost impossible to rebuild.”

All About The Tense Moment Between Kelly Ripa And Howie Mandel

On the episode of “Live with Kelly and Mark,” Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, began the conversation by congratulating Mandel on recently turning 70.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Ripa remarked of the comedian’s age and looks, prompting Mandel to respond, “What do you mean it doesn’t make any sense?”

Trying to smooth things over, Consuelos explained, “You look great.” Mandel then repeated the phrase incredulously: “That I look great? That doesn’t mean anything.”

He went on, “No, no, no. I don’t like that because that’s a caveat, ’cause you tell someone you’re 70, and they go, ‘you look great….’”

Ripa, determined to ensure Mandel gets it, jumped in with a clarification.

“We’re not saying you look great for 70. We’re saying you look great, and I don’t believe you’re 70,” the co-host said.

Howie Mandel Refused To Back Down From His Stance During The Awkward Moment With Kelly Ripa And Mark Consuelos

Ripa’s attempt at reassurance, however, didn’t ease the tension between her and Mandel.

Instead, the moment grew even more uncomfortable as the comedian seemed to fuel it further with a pointed analogy.

“It’s like saying you’re smart for a stupid person,” Mandel remarked. “‘Oh, you seem smart, you seem smart,’ you see, no, I don’t look good.”

Fortunately, the tension eventually eased, with Mandel ultimately accepting the compliment and shifting the conversation to his workout routine.

Social Media Users Slammed Howie Mandel For Being ‘Insecure’ About His Age

Snippets of the tense moment between Ripa and Mandel went viral online and earned reactions from netizens.

Some claimed that there was nothing wrong with what Ripa said, and Mandel was just being “insecure” about his age.

“He’s insecure about his age, that’s the bottom line. Ripa was just being polite,” a user remarked.

“What a pompous jerk. A compliment from @KellyRipa  is pretty pretty pretty pretty good,” another netizen remarked.

“I don’t understand why he was offended by this. He does look great. Putting them in this situation is rude,” one more individual noted.

In a remarkable display of community support, Tyler Perry recently attempted to provide a massive financial lifeline to essential TSA workers at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. 

While the gesture was met with legal hurdles, the spirit of the act has resonated deeply with witnesses.

Meanwhile, Perry has also been facing legal hurdles of a different kind, having been dragged to court by one Mario Rodriguez for alleged sexual assault. 

Tyler Perry Offers Massive Support to TSA Workers

Media mogul Perry recently visited Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with the intention of donating a “significant” amount of money to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. 

These federal employees have been working without pay since the government shutdown began on February 14, causing immense financial strain. As such, Perry’s goal was to personally hand out cash to ease their burdens, but he was met with strict government restrictions. 

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, TSA officers are legally prohibited from accepting any gifts or money while at their screening locations. Consequently, Perry was unable to distribute the funds directly to the workers as he had planned.

Despite the refusal of the cash, sources told 11Alive that Perry’s presence and his efforts to thank the workers personally provided a major boost to morale. 

While individual officers cannot take gifts, Aaron Barker, president of the AFGE, noted that TSA unions are not under the same restrictions and can accept donations to distribute to members. 

Tyler Perry Pushed Back Against Sexual Assault Lawsuit 

While Perry’s recent visit to the airport was defined by his desire to give back, the media mogul is currently embroiled in a legal battle that is far less heartwarming. The filmmaker recently broke his silence regarding a second sexual assault lawsuit, this time filed by an actor named Mario Rodriguez. 

Perry is adamantly denying the claims, which allege inappropriate physical contact during the filming of one of his projects. According to The Blast, he has labeled the lawsuit a meritless “ploy” designed to extract money from him. 

This latest legal challenge follows a previous $260 million suit filed by Derek Dixon, which Perry also faced head-on. In the current case, Perry’s legal team argues that Rodriguez is attempting to treat the director like a “piggy bank” after appearing in only a minor role. 

According to court documents, Rodriguez allegedly begged Perry for financial assistance for his car and other personal expenses. Perry claims that once the financial aid stopped, the model began to lash out and eventually filed the “falsehoods” contained in the suit.

The Media Mogul Has Another Project Coming Up

Despite the legal challenges surrounding his personal reputation, Perry’s professional output remains as prolific as ever. In a major move for the streaming giant, a brand-new series titled “Where There’s Smoke” has officially been announced, with Netflix confirming that the show has already entered the production phase.

The Blast confirmed that the upcoming series will consist of 16 episodes. It will follow a crew of dedicated firefighters as they navigate intense professional emergencies and the complicated personal dramas waiting for them at home. 

The cast features a diverse lineup, including Tyler Lepley, Mike Merrill, and Joe Hunter, a notable alum from “Survivor 50.” 

Tyler Perry’s Accuser Allegedly Asked Him For Financial Aid

While Perry continues to expand his creative footprint through “Where There’s Smoke,” his legal battle with Rodriguez still rages on. 

In December 2025, The Blast reported that the case took a complex and highly personal turn when a series of private text messages between the actor and the filmmaker surfaced. 

The surfaced messages detail Rodriguez’s struggle with health issues and his lack of insurance, which he used to appeal to Perry’s generosity. He shared fears of a dental issue turning into sepsis and admitted he was “scared” and unable to handle the situation on his own. 

While Perry’s legal team viewed these messages as evidence of a “money grab” that surfaced only after financial aid stopped, Rodriguez’s representatives argued that maintaining a cordial relationship is a common coping mechanism for survivors of abuse involving power dynamics.

Tyler Perry Speaks On Cutting Ties With His Relatives

The complex financial dynamics revealed in the surfaced text messages with Rodriguez seemed to mirror a larger pattern in Perry’s personal life. According to The Blast, Perry opened up about the difficult decisions he has had to make regarding his own relatives. 

He admitted that his massive success brought forth expectations from family members that he eventually found impossible to meet without compromising his own values. Perry shared that he has had to cut off certain relatives to avoid being treated as a perpetual source of income. 

He recounted a specific instance where a family member became angry after he refused a request for a million dollars, explaining that support should empower people rather than enable them. 

Marvel has spent the last few months teasing just how massive Avengers: Doomsday is going to be, but one major piece of the puzzle has stayed mostly in the shadows. The movie is clearly building toward a full-scale Multiversal war, with heroes from across different corners of the MCU set to collide in one giant event. Even so, the villain at the center of all that chaos has remained more of a looming presence than a fully unveiled threat. That is finally starting to change, and Marvel has now offered its clearest look yet at the face behind the coming destruction.

New officially licensed Avengers: Doomsday merchandise has revealed fresh promotional art of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, giving fans a much better sense of how Marvel is approaching the character’s big-screen design. A new Amazon listing showed off two comic-style images of Doom, complete with a comic-accurate metal mask, heavy armor, his signature green cloak, and the classic clasped look that fans have long associated with the iconic Marvel villain.

These latest images mark the sixth official look at the villain ahead of the movie’s release. The most recent reveals before this included a variant cover for Ultimate Endgame #1, signed by Downey Jr., along with a Doomsday keychain that offered a lower-resolution glimpse at the costume. It’s clearly their way of showing off Doom without actually doing the big reveal.

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Who Stars In ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?

The cast of Avengers: Doomsday includes Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Simu Liuas Shang-Chi, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds/Sentry, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic.

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theatres in December 2026.

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Release Date

December 18, 2026

Writers

Stephen McFeely, Michael Waldron, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee

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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 23 seconds ago

There are many great things about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including its epic plots, cool fights, and amazing characters. However, the real strength of the show has always been its writing. Dialogue in Buffy was always fast and funny, showcasing that our titular Slayer could do more than put down killer vampires. She could, as needed, deliver witty lines just as sharp and just as deadly as her trusted stake.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the writing in Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed how an entire generation of writers approached dialogue. Because of this, I’m always fascinated to discover which lines were cut from classic episodes. Sometimes, deleted dialogue feels like a missed opportunity to flesh out our favorite characters even further. Every now and then, though, cutting a line helps the producers effectively dodge a bullet. For example, one deleted scene from “Beauty and the Beasts” predicted the show’s biggest controversy and would have forever linked Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the most infamous school shooting in American history!

Buffy, The Dark Humor Queen

The dialogue in question comes from the episode “Beauty and the Beasts,” which has Buffy dealing with a student whose magic potion transforms him into a murderous, Mr. Hyde-type figure. She also has to deal with Oz in his werewolf form and Angel, her undead lover, who is suddenly back from the dead. On top of everything else, she has to see the school psychologist because she was a runaway teen who only recently returned to Sunnydale after the harrowing events of the Season 2 finale.

While Buffy grows to really like the school shrink (at least, while he’s still alive), she initially resents having to see him and complains about having to prove she is “Little Miss Stable” just to stay in school. In a brief, deleted scene, Scott tells her to avoid certain topics, jokingly mentioning “the little men who live in your teeth” and “your compulsion to paint circus clowns.” To this, Buffy responds with an atypically ominous response: “But if God keeps telling me to kill, it just seems snotty not to, you know?”

Buffy’s Link To America’s Most Infamous School Shooting

This is, admittedly, a very funny line, especially if you have a dark sense of humor (it’s not just me, right?). But it’s one that would have likely gotten Buffy canceled for making jokes about killing people on school property. That’s because, exactly six months after this episode aired, America was rocked by the Columbine High School massacre.

That infamous school shooting cast a long shadow over Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode “Earshot” featured a lunch lady trying to kill as many students as possible by poisoning their food. At first, Buffy (who knows someone is plotting to kill students due to temporary telepathic powers) thought Jonathan was the culprit, and she finds him in a clock tower with a high-powered rifle. However, after Jonathan shockingly admits that he brought the rifle just to kill himself, she ends up tracking down and stopping the lethal lunch lady.

The Episodes You Almost Never Saw

The episode was originally set to air one week after Columbine, but it was postponed for nearly five months because the network was worried about associating Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a school shooting. Similarly, the season 3 finale, “Graduation Day, Part Two,” premiered two months later than intended because the plot involved Buffy arming her fellow students to fight the Mayor after he turned into a snake demon. Again, the network wanted absolutely no association between its top show and the most infamous school shooting in American history. 

Therefore, deleting Buffy’s flippant joke about murdering people on God’s orders from “Beauty and the Beasts” was definitely the right decision. The episode aired well before Columbine, but this dialogue would have painted a target on the Slayer’s back for a culture that wanted to know who to blame for youth violence. Plus, it might have retroactively worried the network when they began considering whether the show really did encourage violence. Fortunately, the episode aired without any issues or scandals, and we can now appreciate Buffy’s deleted line for what it is: a downright hilarious joke and a perfect example of peak Millennial humor.  

For a while there, it felt like the Alien franchise was drifting through deep space with no real place to land. Some of the movies vanished from streaming, others were split across platforms, and keeping track of where to watch the saga became more trouble than it should have been. That has been especially frustrating for a series this important, one that did not just help define sci-fi horror, but changed the genre altogether. Nearly 50 years after it first burst onto screens, the Xenomorph is still one of the most iconic monsters in movie history.

Now, the whole situation is finally getting sorted out. HBO Max has confirmed that it will become the new streaming home for much of Disney-owned franchise beginning Wednesday, April 1, when a major batch of Alien titles arrives on the platform. The lineup includes the first four films, multiple alternate cuts, and both Alien vs. Predator crossover movies.

The April 1 rollout includes *deep breath* Alien, Alien: Director’s Cut, Aliens, Aliens: Director’s Cut, Alien 3, Alien 3: The Assembly Cut, Alien Resurrection, Alien Resurrection: Special Edition, Alien vs. Predator: Extended Cut, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem: Extended Cut. Two other franchise titles, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, are already streaming on HBO Max after joining the service last summer.

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Period Pieces are such a staple of movies, they might as well be their own genre. Dust off your history books to pass this test on Historical Dramas.

Where Is ‘Alien: Romulus’ Streaming?

Not to worry, you won’t miss out. Alien: Romulus, the franchise’s 2024 shot in the arm, is set to arrive on HBO Max on Friday, April 3. Once it lands there, it will leave behind its current streaming home on Amazon Prime Video. The original franchise stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, with key cast members across the series including Tom Skerritt as Dallas, Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, John Hurt as Kane, Ian Holm as Ash, Carrie Henn as Newt, Michael Biehn as Hicks, Charles S. Dutton as Dillon, Winona Ryder as Call, and Cailee Spaeny as Rain Carradine in Alien: Romulus.

Disney is still moving ahead with Alien: Earth Season 2 for FX, which is expected to begin production in the coming months for a 2027 premiere. A sequel to Alien: Romulus is also in development after the 2024 film pulled in more than $350 million worldwide.

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Release Date

June 22, 1979

Runtime

117 Minutes

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Writers

Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett

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Sukihana is expecting her fourth child. When she first announced her pregnancy earlier this month, fans had questions about her co-parent’s identity. When the name-dropping started, Dr. Umar Johnson somehow ended up in the mix. Recently, he cleared the air on those rumors just as the alleged father of Suki’s unborn baby revealed himself. Meanwhile, the mother is swerving the daddy talks. Instead, she and her bestie Bobbi Althoff are gearing up to release their podcast, ‘That’s So BS.’

RELATED: Congrats! Rapper Sukihana Reveals She’s Expecting Her Fourth Child (PHOTOS)

Dr. Umar Says He’s Open To Having A Child With Sukihana

He’s not the daddy. That part, Dr. Umar made clear in a recent ‘Breakfast Club.’ Released on Netflix and YouTube earlier this week (March 23), the episode shows him calling Suki his “sister,” giving her a shoutout and speaking on her education. Then, he clarified that they’re just friends and he’s not expecting a child with her.

“Suki is a friend of mine. I’m not the father of the child. She’s happy and looking forward to being a mother again, and of course, I support her as her brother. Now, down the line ’cause I don’t have a son, down the line, if I need an heir to the throne…if I ain’t wifed out, Suki might carry that baby for me,” Dr. Umar said.

After Charlamagne Tha God replied, “That’s interesting,” Umar explained why. “Because Suki is conscious…Don’t get me wrong, she would have to make some changes to be mama of the prince, but Suki is very much conscious and I’ll be honest with you, if something happened to me, God forbid, she is one of the few women I know who would raise my son the way I would want him to be.”

The activist added that Sukihana’s character is what makes him believe what he said. Loren Lorosa jumped in, also confirming that the rapper is a conscious woman. Umar then shared that after having dinner with her, he couldn’t believe she was the same woman in her online videos.

“Intelligent, brilliant, and I’m saying to myself, how you end up here? I have faith in Sister Sukihana and I believe that before it’s all over, she gon shock the world,” Dr. Umar said.

Umar also previously denied the paternity questions in social media posts reposted by Live Bitez.

RELATED: Oop! Dr. Umar Shares Spicy Reaction After Ray J Sent Him A Message Following His Recent Link Up With Sukihana

The Alleged REAL Co-Parent Makes Himself Known

As the questions of Sukihana’s co-parent kept dragging, one man stepped to the front! Snoop, allegedly Suki’s boyfriend, per The Shade Room, recently shared clips on social media of them shopping together. He also included a mirror selfies of Suki and her baby bump. Snoop shared the post on March 23—the same day Dr. Umar’s interview went up on ‘Breakfast Club’ platforms. His caption didn’t hold back the details, clearing speculations about who she’s pregnant by.

“My Fine Azz C00ch!3 Mama 😍😎🤰🏽‼️Spoiled & Fed How Much Yall Think She Make Me Spend On Food Each Day 🤣🤦🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️,” Snoop wrote.

Suki slid into the comment section, writing, “I’m hungry now sir” in one comment and a heart-eye emoji in another.

The day Sukihana revealed her baby bump, The Shade Room reports that Snoop replied to multiple congratulations comments that tagged him. “Appreciate Brudda Get Ready For The Baby Shower U Know I’m Broward With It,” Snoop replied to one. Details about their relationship are unclear at this time. 

Swipe below to see the related social media posts. 

Sukihana & Bobbi Warm Hearts With Podcast Promo 

Co-parent questions and comments isn’t the only chatter surrounding Sukihana lately. Her sweet friendship (and now partnership) with podcaster Bobbi has also been trending. After the rapper announced her pregnancy, Bobbi shared a video showing the moment they read the positive pregnancy test together. It racked up over 10,000 comments and more than a million likes on Bobbi’s IG page alone.

One day after Dr. Umar’s ‘Breakfast Club’ interview upload and Snoop’s post, the girls dropped promo for their new podcast, ‘That’s B(Bobbi) S(Suki).’ The photos showed them a beach, wearing business attire and swimsuits, covered in sand and holding a phone and laptop. And yes the baby bump was in full display! Their weekly Monday show premieres on April 6.

RELATED: That’s Dada? 5 Reasons Why Fans Think Latto Is Expecting Her First Baby With 21 Savage (PICS + VIDEOS)

Anne Hathaway may be turning heads with her youthful glow, but behind the red carpet appearances, she’s keeping it real. The 43-year-old actress, who has recently been making waves while working on “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” is opening up about the insecurities that still creep in, even as fans rave about her seemingly ageless look.

Anne Hathaway Admits To ‘What?’ Moment Over Her Body

In her latest interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Hathaway revealed that confidence isn’t always consistent. “Some days you look in the mirror, and you’re just like, ‘Not bad,’” she said. “And some days you look in the mirror, and you’re like, ‘What?’ And I was having a ‘What?’ day.”

Hathaway went on to share a relatable moment that forced her to confront those feelings head-on. “And you know how you have your aspirational swimsuit that you keep around, just in case you have a good day?” she asked. “And then you have your swimsuit that’s got you no matter what? I accidentally packed the aspirational swimsuit.”

She continued, “Which I then had to wear on a ‘What?’ day. So, I’m ready to have this great day with my family. And I am going to be in front of strangers, and people have phones. And all of the things.”

Hathaway Embraces Her Body After Insecurity

Despite the initial insecurity, Hathaway said she made a conscious choice to shift her mindset. “But my family is waiting for me,” the actress said. “And I looked, and I just went, ‘What?’ And then I looked again and I said, ‘You are 43.’ And looking at a 43-year-old body, I was like, ‘Nice.’”

She added, “When I was expecting to see something that I am not, I felt insecure. But when I actually looked at what it actually is, I was okay with it.”

Anne Hathaway Says Life Gets Better After 40

Hathaway also shared that her perspective on aging has evolved in a positive way. “I think that very often, conversations about aging presume that the first part of life is the happiest and the most fulfilling, and I don’t necessarily think that’s true,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to find another gear at 40.”

The “Princess Diaries” actress added, “I think you realize that worry should be reserved for the really big stuff.”

Hathaway Shuts Down Plastic Surgery Rumors

As speculation continues about her youthful look, Hathaway made it clear she’s not interested in entertaining the noise. She declined to “discuss medical information,” despite ongoing rumors suggesting cosmetic procedures.

Instead, the Oscar winner has previously credited lifestyle choices, like giving up alcohol, and her skincare routine, including her work with Shiseido, for her appearance.

Anne Hathaway Shares Simple Beauty Hack For ‘Snatched’ Look

Anne Hathaway may be keeping it real about insecurities, but she’s also letting fans in on one of her go-to beauty tricks. In a behind-the-scenes video from the 2026 Oscars, the actress revealed how she achieves a more “awake” appearance, and it’s surprisingly simple. Her secret? A subtle braided hairstyle designed to create a lifted, snatched effect.

While the tip sparked buzz, Hathaway made it clear her approach to beauty is evolving alongside her mindset. “I think that very often, conversations about aging presume that the first part of life is the happiest and the most fulfilling, and I don’t necessarily think that’s true,” Hathaway explained. “I wasn’t expecting to find another gear at 40.”

Hathaway Previously Took Control Of Her Image During Pregnancy

This isn’t the first time Anne Hathaway has addressed how she’s perceived in the public eye. Back in 2016, while pregnant with her first child with husband Adam Shulman, the actress took matters into her own hands after noticing she was being photographed without her consent.

She shared a bikini photo of herself on Instagram, explaining her decision in a candid caption. “So, posting a bikini pic is a little out of character for me, but just now while I was at the beach I noticed I was being photographed,” she wrote. “I figure if this kind of photo is going to be out in the world, it should at least be an image that makes me happy (and be one that was taken with my consent. And with a filter.”

Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for the Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen finale.

Netflix’s new horror show, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, doesn’t pull any punches as far as its title is concerned. Despite the seemingly happy premise of young couple Rachel (Camila Morrone) and Nicky’s (Adam DiMarco) impending nuptials, the series created by Haley Z. Boston (Brand New Cherry Flavor) and executive produced by the Duffer Brothers shows its sinister hand from the very beginning. Of course, we don’t know how things will go awry by the time their wedding day dawns, but it does in spectacularly bloody fashion, with a generational curse unleashed upon the members of Nicky’s family — and even Rachel herself — leaving almost no character spared before the finale.

Ahead of the show’s premiere, Collider had the opportunity to sit down with Boston for a conversation about the show’s biggest and most surprising twists — including the deeper meaning behind Rachel’s death and rebirth, whether she considered changing any of the characters’ fates (especially Nicky’s), Episode 4’s most surprising cameo from an icon of Netflix horror, which graphic scene she thought she’d get more pushback on from Netflix (and why she used a new tattoo to defend a different creative choice), and more.

COLLIDER: How early did you have the ending of this show in your head? Was it there before you even started writing anything down at all?

HALEY Z. BOSTON: Yeah. When I came up with the idea for the show, it was like, “Okay, what if when you marry the wrong person, you spontaneously bleed to death at the altar?” That was the first thought. I was picturing a bride bleeding to death. That then turned into this idea that was very big. It was a global thing. It was like The Leftovers. As I was going down that path, I was like, “But what was the origin?” So then I was thinking about a very small story about the wedding that started it all. Obviously, that’s not where this story ends up going, but once I was locked into that more intimate story, then I figured, “Okay, what if I just told the story of one wedding where everyone bleeds to death?”

I was thinking about the idea of going to a wedding, and I feel like at a wedding, you can’t help but think about yourself and your own relationship. Maybe if you’ve been married, you think about your own wedding and your vows, and maybe you wonder if you stuck to them. I think it brings up a lot for the guests at a wedding. So then the idea became, “Okay, what if everyone who didn’t marry the right person bleeds to death at the wedding?” Then the story evolved into what it is, and I had to build, obviously, some mythology about why people are bleeding to death. But yeah, that’s where it started.

I was just really looking to explore my own fear of commitment. It sort of came from the idea of: How can you know? Everyone always says, “You just know. When you meet the right person, you just know.” I was in a relationship at that time, and I was like, “Do I know? How do you know?” I know that that’s true, because my parents have a wonderful marriage and they’re still in love. I was like, “I know that true love exists, so now I have to figure out how to know for sure.”

“… it made sense to do a wedding video.”

Image via Netflix

Episode 4 was such a great narrative swerve while still tying into the overall mythology. The story jumps back, and we see what happened to Rachel’s mother, Alexandra, played by Victoria Pedretti, who I know fans of Netflix horror are going to immediately reaction to. I thought it was a really interesting creative choice, too, to shoot the episode through a found-footage approach for a majority of the runtime. When did you come up with the idea of approaching Episode 4 that way?

BOSTON: I wanted to tell Rachel’s origin story, and I’m not a big fan of flashbacks. I don’t remember exactly when this idea came, but it made sense to do a wedding video. I wanted to mirror the pilot’s road trip, but yeah, it took a lot of drafts of the script to figure out what the structure of that episode would be. Actually, what we shot, the draft we shot, had that footage in our cut through Rachel watching it. The concern was, are we going to be able to leave Rachel for that long? She’s been leading our show. So it was shot intercut with Rachel watching the tape, and then when we were in the edit, it just felt like you wanted to be with Rachel then.

The whole Jude and Jules storyline was also spread out throughout the episode, and we played around with it in the edit, and we were like, “Let’s make Jude the teaser.” Now, we’re jumping back and seeing what Rachel’s seeing. If we can connect the tape to Rachel and have Alexandra look into the camera and say, “Hi, Rachel,” that, I think, feels jarring. You’re like, “Oh, fuck, this is her mom.” And Victoria and Logan’s performances are just so good that we’re able to get away with it, because that story works as its own little mini-short film within the show. But it was a real trial and error, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. I remember watching the first cut of it and being like, “Ooh, this doesn’t work,” and then we figured it out. Our DP, Bobby Shore, he wanted to shoot on real vintage cameras, which was very cool that Netflix let us do that. I’m really happy with it and how that turned out.

Continuing along the throughline of what you were and weren’t allowed to do, that episode specifically culminates in really terrifying and gruesome fashion, where you really have the first sense of what this curse is going to be like. Even in the first episode, that scene where Rachel finds the dead fox in the bathroom… there are just so many moments of really visceral horror. Did you ever get any notes to pull back at all, or was it more, “Let’s just see how far we can push this and whether there’s ever going to be any roadblocks”?

BOSTON: Yeah, there was some pushback specifically about the birth scene. It was funny because I was in the edit going, “I wish we had a close-up.” Netflix has been so supportive of the freak shit in the show, but I think, for them, it was like, “That’s real. It’s different when someone’s bleeding from the eyes and, obviously, that doesn’t actually happen, but someone cutting a baby out of this woman’s stomach…” So we did end up compromising a little bit. I wanted to stay on that shot for the whole time. We cut back to the kid and shortened it, and I wanted to enhance the gore in the effects, and I agreed not to do that.

What’s funny is I thought that there would be pushback on the semen shot in the glass. No one ever… not once. I never got a note once about the semen. The other one was the toe, and I think, in part, it’s because this show has a hard tone. It goes back and forth between being grounded and being heightened. There was some question of: is Rachel cutting her toe off too out there for this pretty grounded experience that she’s going through? And I really wanted to keep it. This was at the script stage, and me and one of the other writers got these tattoos of a severed toe, and I showed it to one of my Netflix execs, and I was like, “We got to keep it in. It’s tattooed on my body.” It was like, “Wow, that’s the most creative way anyone’s ever fought a note.”

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The series is executive produced by The Duffer Brothers.

In terms of the finale itself, it’s both the wedding and the curse climaxing in this absolutely blood-soaked way. Did you ever go back and forth over who would survive versus who wouldn’t? Were there versions of this story where different family members made it through than the ones who succumbed to the curse?

BOSTON: Yes, absolutely. That was a big, big point of discussion. Frankly, should Nicky die? Should Rachel die? That went back and forth. What was important to me was that I thought of everything from Rachel’s arc and Rachel’s emotional journey, and she ultimately goes from having doubt to having faith. She gets up there, she takes this leap of faith, and she says yes, and realizes that the opposite of doubt is not certainty; it’s faith. That’s a beautiful arc for her. If that was the end, then that would be the happy ending. Of course, Nicky ruins it, so then, the argument seems like Rachel’s clinging onto this belief, and it slowly leaves her. I really wanted her to force her to make another choice and be active in that moment.

So she says no, and she chooses herself. At that point, it’s like, well, are both Nicky and Rachel not going to die then? Is she just going to watch all these people die? I thought it was important for one final betrayal. Nicky just makes it worse. I love Nicky, and I hope that people understand him and his side, and I hope it’s not all negative. He’s just growing at a different pace than she is. Once we had that double wedding, which we called the upside-down wedding, covered in blood, that was the image that I really wanted to get to, Rachel being forced to marry him while this room is covered in blood. Ultimately, the red herring at the beginning of the show, that the family’s going to kill her, comes true at the end, because they do sentence her to death there.

I wanted Rachel’s horror arc to mirror her emotional arc, so she chooses herself, and then she dies and is reborn. It’s like a breakup. You leave that family behind, that person behind, and she’s free. For her, that’s where, “Okay, Rachel’s going to die,” came from. I wanted Nicky to stay alive and be confronted with what he did. Ultimately, the idea of dying if you don’t believe the person is your soulmate is about the death of the self, the soul. If you are in a relationship with the wrong person, you’re going to lose yourself.

Jules and Nell, that was a later decision. We were in the writers’ room like, “Well, obviously Victoria and Boris should repair after this fight, and they should live.” But that felt too obvious to me. I thought it would be more interesting for Jules and Nell to make it at the end. I ended up rewriting their story a little bit to make that feel earned, but their relationship is very honest. That was ultimately the takeaway — that Rachel and Nicky couldn’t do that, and Jules and Nell could.

‘Something Very Bad’ Creator Haley Z. Boston Explains Rachel’s New Destiny in the Finale

“… ultimately, it’s about giving her a second chance.”

Image via Netflix

Rachel waking up in the snow does feel very much like a rebirth. There’s symbolism in her taking the truck and leaving, obviously in symmetry with the beginning of the show and that first drive to the house, but it also feels like she’s taking on the role of Zlatko’s character — someone whose job it is to now guard the curse that’s still out there.

BOSTON: Yes, definitely. That’s her destiny. She becomes the overseer of this curse. It just felt like it was a way to bring her back to life and give her a second chance. For the Witness, he saw that as a punishment for himself, but Rachel has this new… for someone who fears death and is very anxious and wrapped up in it to becoming immortal, there’s this relief for her, but ultimately, it’s about giving her a second chance.

Previously, you’ve said that you really wanted to avoid doing something that’s often common in the horror genre, which is posing questions that are never really answered. Is there anything in the show that you purposefully kept more open-ended or open to interpretation?

BOSTON: Yeah. With the ending, I wanted you to understand what happened. Emotionally, it’s a little open-ended in terms of how you feel about Rachel or Nicky or any of them. I like the idea of giving Rachel a complicated moral dilemma in this episode where… I mean, the whole season, she has a complicated moral dilemma, but she’s navigating it in a way that I think is understandable. And then, of course, by choosing herself, she does condemn all these people to death.

But we talked about this in the writers’ room. “Okay, but why does Rachel have to sacrifice herself for this family?” I wasn’t sure how it would play, and I’m still not. I guess we’ll see what reactions are. But I feel like Rachel… it makes sense, what she did, but I like that you might watch her make that decision and walk out of that house and maybe feel complicated about that. I was thinking about the “Good for Her” cinematic universe, and that’s often a woman making a morally questionable decision. At the end of Midsommar, are we rooting for her, that she sentenced her boyfriend to death? She seems happy about it. So the concept of “Good for Her” made me feel better about making that narrative choice, but it definitely was a debate, and I do hope people have conflicting feelings about it.

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