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