Will wasn’t the only kid to go missing in season one of “Stranger Things.” There was also Barb Holland (Shannon Purser), Nancy’s best friend.
Shortly after Will’s disappearance, Barb accompanied Nancy to hang out with Steve (Joe Keery) at his house — begrudgingly, yes, but out of love and support for her best friend. It wasn’t long before Nancy asked Barb to leave so she and Steve could be alone.
Barb, left stranded and bleeding by Steve’s pool, became an easy target for the Demogorgon.
The creature dragged Barb into the Upside Down and killed her, leaving her rotting corpse for Eleven to find later. Barb’s death became a catalyst for Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve to join the fight against the supernatural evils in Hawkins — but otherwise, it didn’t receive much screentime.
Barb’s death struck a nerve when the first season aired. Fans demanded justice, enraged by the fact that no one in Hawkins except for Nancy seemed to care about Barb as much as Will. The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, were taken aback by the passion.
“The one note that we consistently got back was, ‘What about Barb?’ And we’re like, ‘It’s a show about Will,'” Ross recently told Time.
“Netflix kept harassing us about it,” Matt added. “And it turns out they were right.”
Time of death: Season one, episode three, “Holly, Jolly.”
Cause of death: Killed by the Demogorgon.
Sadness ranking: 9. Barb’s grisly death was made even more distressing by Nancy’s grief.
Tormented by survivor’s guilt, Nancy made #JusticeForBarb her mission in season two. She enlisted Jonathan and Murray, a journalist-turned-private investigator with a penchant for the supernatural, to publicly blame Hawkins Lab for Barb’s death. Even if it wasn’t the whole truth, it at least gave Barb’s grieving parents some closure.
Still, the lack of attention paid to Barb’s disappearance in season one — and the fact that she basically died because she was forced to be a third wheel — made her death one of the show’s most memorable to date. Without Barb, “Stranger Things” would have had a lot less heart.
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