It's as if the show collected all the strengths of its predecessors. Even with the minor narrative issues mentioned previously, The Duffer Brothers’ Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen will go down in history as one of the best Netflix horror shows of all time.

For those who can stomach it (and, mind you, horror enthusiasts will be feasting), “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” proves a rewarding, otherworldly treat.

While those in the market for jump-scares galore may be disappointed by the relative restraint here, the show is a masterclass in slowly building a sense of tension and anxiety while not being afraid to bring in the blood and gore when required.

There’s plenty of dread-inducing fun to be had in the early episodes, despite their reliance on well-worn genre tropes. But Boston unveils the “very bad” something of the title surprisingly early, and the twist is altogether much sillier—and a bit more contrived—than what the show’s eerie opening stretch suggests.

Too often, the answers it provides are as underwhelming as its action is woefully underlit.

The back half of the season is better overall. The ending isn’t revelatory, in the sense that it doesn’t quite complete Something’s thoughts on matrimony or family or inherited attitudes toward either, but it’s clever and kind of exhilarating. Characters like Nell and Jules gain some depth. There are a few well-executed twists among the many that are easy to anticipate. But those developments create new problems.

There’s a lot going on, including a spinning of wheels. It may not be “very bad,” I hasten to add, but the “something very bad” in “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” is the pumping of 10 gallons of horror into a 5-gallon vehicle, which never really catches fire and whose wheels fall off.