There’s an eclectic group in the cast of kids and the sprinkling of adults that make up the characters of Netflix’s newest hit Stranger Things. From Eleven, the super-powered girl played by breakout actress Millie Bobby Brown, to the return of the acting goddess Winona Ryder as the lost child’s mother Joyce, it’s a true toss-up as to who is the best person in this show.
However, none other has gripped the Internet’s collective love than Barb. Given (a brief) life by Shannon Purser, there have already been countless articles, memes, and tear-soaked social media posts about the beloved redheaded friend who was taken early (in episode two) by the monster, called the “Demogorgon,” from the Upside Down. Other than her less-than-two-episode time in the normal world, Barb made a cameo once more in the series–as a corpse, rotting after being snacked on by said Demogorgon.
Needless to say, fans who had grown overly fond of Barb became inflamed. Now, though, it seems as though Barb ‘Taken Too Soon’ [No Last Name] will be getting some “justice” after all.
While Stranger Things has not yet been renewed for its second season, the two show-runners, Matt and Ross Duffer, are already saying that they have ideas for how they will honor Barb in forthcoming episodes, Deadline reports.
Of course, there was one possibility for her that the creators wanted to quash right off the bat. In regards to whether Barb could miraculously come back to life, Matt Duffer says, “I can’t see it happening.”
The creators point to the fact that the events of the series did only happen over about a week’s time, meaning that in the horrific fray of everything going on, from young Will’s death to non-death to near-death, to Nancy (Natalie Dyer) nearly losing her life in the Upside Down after brilliantly crawling into a creepy tree-hollow to discover it, and many, many more events, it is reasonable to the creators that the kids and adults would not have had time to stress too much over Barb. After all, Nancy does ask about her to Eleven when she’s entering the Upside Down to look for everyone.
Still, as Deadline pointed out, that does not account for the end of the season finale, which fast-forwards to the future. While there’s much attention given to Will, who throws something sickly up in the bathroom, and to Eleven, who may have received an Eggo waffle treat from one world to the other, nothing is mentioned of Barb. Not even her parents make an appearance again.
“But Barb will not be forgotten. We’ll make sure there’s some justice for Barb,” says Duffer. “People get very frustrated, understandably, that the town doesn’t seem to be really dealing with Barb. That stuff is all happening. We’re just not spending any screen time on it.”
According to the pair, the second season will focus much more on how the town reacts to the week-long horror-fest that the Demogorgon brought on. While Barb will never be seen alive again, perhaps there will be a tribute of some kind to her.