{"id":2100600,"date":"2025-10-18T20:28:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2100600"},"modified":"2025-10-18T20:28:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:28:17","slug":"stranger-things-creators-didnt-understand-netflix-audiences-obsession-with-one-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/stranger-things-creators-didnt-understand-netflix-audiences-obsession-with-one-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger Things Creators Didn&#8217;t Understand Netflix Audiences&#8217; Obsession With One Character"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Season 5 of &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; is finally <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1981405\/stranger-things-season-5-split-release-difference\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:coming to Netflix at long last;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">coming to Netflix at long last<\/a>, dropping in three parts on\u00a0November 26, December 25, and December 31, 2025, hopefully giving fans of the 1980s-set horror show some real closure. &#8220;Stranger\u00a0Things&#8221; has been going for nearly a decade, and while it&#8217;s wrapped up some of its major plot threads ahead of the final season, there are still some things that feel unfinished. You know, like justice for Barb (Shannon\u00a0Purser), who was killed by the\u00a0creatures from the Upside Down in season 1 and never really spoken of again because everyone was so focused on the disappearance of\u00a0Will Byers\u00a0(Noah Schnapp). They even promised that <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/546108\/stranger-things-barb-season-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:season 2 would give her justice,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">season 2 would give her justice,<\/a> though other than depicting her funeral, they didn&#8217;t really do much for the bookish best friend of Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In an interview with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7324811\/stranger-things-season-5\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Time;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Time<\/a>\u00a0during a set visit, series creators and showrunners, the Duffer Brothers, revealed that they never fully understood why fans got so attached to Barb, and that it took prodding from\u00a0Netflix for them to really pay attention to her again at all. While it&#8217;s understandable that they were focused on Will&#8217;s story, their total inability to see why fans cared about Barb is kind of weird!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1722719\/best-movies-the-twilight-zone-episodes-inspiration-ranked\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The 5 Best Movies Inspired By Twilight Zone Episodes, Ranked;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The 5 Best Movies Inspired By Twilight Zone Episodes, Ranked<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The Duffers just don&#8217;t understand fan love for Barb<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Shannon Purser as Barb standing in front of her locker in Stranger Things season 1 &#8211; Curtis Baker\/Netflix<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The\u00a0writer of Time&#8217;s article,\u00a0Eliana Dockterman, shared that she &#8220;nearly tripped over&#8221; the replica of Barb&#8217;s body in the Upside Down when she traversed the set, so we&#8217;ll definitely be seeing\u00a0Barb again, just not in a particularly positive way. When she asked the Duffers about Barb, they were pretty blunt, with Ross Duffer apparently rolling his eyes when discussing how they got notes back asking about Barb, because\u00a0&#8220;it&#8217;s a show about Will.&#8221; While his brother points out that Netflix kept at them and &#8220;they were right,&#8221; Ross said that &#8220;we neglected her, and as such, Hawkins neglected her, and it made her that much more famous.&#8221; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/950267\/the-most-controversial-moments-in-stranger-things\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Barb's death became a big controversy,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Barb&#8217;s death became a big controversy,<\/a> with the hashtag #JusticeforBarb going viral, because many fans felt she simply deserved better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While the focus of season 1 was certainly on Will, having\u00a0Barb exist only in service to his plot definitely feels like fridging, which is when (usually female) characters are killed off only to create a plot point for their male counterparts\u00a0(like when Emilia Clarke&#8217;s\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1331783\/secret-invasion-episode-3-giah-death-fridged\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Giah was killed in Marvel's &quot;Secret Invasion&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Giah was killed in Marvel&#8217;s &#8220;Secret Invasion&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Phoebe Waller-Bridge&#8217;s L3-37 and Thandiwe Newton&#8217;s Val were <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/558602\/the-women-of-solo-deserved-better\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:killed in &quot;Solo: A Star Wars Story.&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">killed in &#8220;Solo: A Star Wars Story.&#8221;<\/a>) Barb only ever existed as a sidekick whose death would be a catalyst for more, and that stinks. It&#8217;s a shame that the Duffers still don&#8217;t quite seem to get it, but maybe\u00a0seeing dead Barb means there&#8217;s a chance for catharsis yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Part 1 of season 5 of &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; hits Netflix on\u00a0November 26, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you&#8217;re looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.slashfilm.com\/newsletter-syndicated\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sign up to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sign up to our free newsletter<\/a>? You can also <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=slashfilm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:add us as a preferred search source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/1999108\/stranger-things-duffer-brothers-didnt-understand-obsession-barb-netflix\/?zsource=yahoo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on SlashFilm;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on SlashFilm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Season 5 of &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; is finally coming to Netflix at long last, dropping in three parts on\u00a0November 26, December 25, and December 31, 2025, hopefully giving fans of the 1980s-set horror show some real closure. &#8220;Stranger\u00a0Things&#8221; has been going for nearly a decade, and while it&#8217;s wrapped up some of its major plot threads [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2100601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[388472,397090,397088,397089,23191,305890],"class_list":["post-2100600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-jonathan-byers","tag-mike-wheeler","tag-nancy-wheeler","tag-natalia-dyer","tag-netflix","tag-stranger-things"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Stranger-Things-Creators-Didnt-Understand-Netflix-Audiences-Obsession-With-One.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2100600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2100602,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100600\/revisions\/2100602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2100601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2100600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2100600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2100600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}