, it eventually works its way up to merely bad rather than painfully awful . 
(ROOT (S (, ,) (NP (PRP it)) (ADVP (RB eventually)) (VP (VBZ works) (NP (PRP$ its) (NN way)) (ADVP (RP up) (PP (IN to) (ADJP (ADJP (RB merely) (JJ bad)) (CONJP (RB rather) (IN than)) (ADJP (RB painfully) (JJ awful)))))) (. .)))
(ROOT (S (, ) (NP (PRP )) (ADVP (RB )) (VP (VBZ ) (NP (PRP$ ) (NN )) (ADVP (RP ) (PP (IN ) (ADJP (ADJP (RB ) (JJ )) (CONJP (RB ) (IN )) (ADJP (RB ) (JJ )))))) (. )))