(Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t watched season one of Stranger Things in its entirely and still intend to, tread no further.)

This summer, social media has been exploding over the new Netflix original series Stranger Things, created by Matt and Ross Duffer. My boyfriend and I recently binge-watched the first season, and we found the show to be exciting, intriguing, and overall an incredible watch. However, it’s impossible to ignore a major flaw in the show’s progression: the fate of the character Barbara Holland.

I don’t necessarily take an issue with the fact that Barb had to die, but the show completely failed to make her death have any meaning. Barb purpose in the show was that her disappearance advanced Nancy’s plotline, connecting her to the overarching adventure, bringing her together with Jonathan, and eventually the rest of the cast. However, Barb didn’t just wander into the woods and bump into the “Demogorgon” - she only found herself vulnerable because of Nancy. She selflessly accompanied Nancy to Steve’s party when she knew she didn’t belong there, and cut her hand because Nancy peer-pressured her into shotgunning a beer. As Barb tended to her serious cut in the bathroom of a stranger’s house, the rest of the teens jumped into the pool for a sexually-charged nighttime swim. Nancy was given one last chance to be a good friend - and save Barb’s life - as she stood on the staircase. Yet, she told Barb to go home without her, and proceeded to follow her douchey new boyfriend up the stairs. We last see Barb sitting on the diving board, staring down into the pool she wasn’t invited into. Her blood drips into the water, summoning the monster, and she is stolen away to the Upside Down.

That all sounds like the perfect setup for Nancy to feel overwhelming guilt over the consequences of her actions that night. If anything, there could have been some mention of regret over peer-pressuring her friend in an uncomfortable situation. Sadly, it appears as though her disappearance wasn’t impactful in any way. It appeared as though Nancy was more passionate about detective work and monster hunting than she was about finding her best friend alive.

I know how it feels first-hand to have a best friend pass away suddenly in high school. At any age, losing someone you love is incredibly difficult, but a teen mourning the loss of another teen is a unique situation. In addition to grieving the person who passed, you also mourn your own innocence. Every thought and dream is about that person. You suddenly realize that your loved ones aren’t invincible, and you wonder if every time you see someone is the last time. Even though Barb was only known to be missing, I believe it was important for Nancy to demonstrate at least some of these feelings, even if in subtle ways. We could have seen Nancy creating missing posters, drawing Barb in her notebook, or wiping away a tear in front of Barb’s locker. Nancy’s quest to discover the truth about the Upside Down should have been Barb-motivated, whereas it came across as being curiosity-motivated. While curiosity would have been valid motivation, it makes Barb’s death completely superfluous.

While it’s true that Nancy calls Barb’s mother when she discovers she isn’t at school, she doesn’t confess that Barb lied about sleeping over her house that night - something that would expedite the search for her friend. She fights with Steve when he doesn’t want her to go to the police, putting her friend’s well-being before him getting in trouble with his parents - however, during the interrogation, the scene focuses less on Barb and more on implying that Nancy and Steve slept together. Steve and his friends’ lack of empathy towards Barb’s disappearance make them come off as basically sociopathic - making Steve an even less likeable character. The contrived narrative that Barb ran away is passed as vaguely believable, even though it’s so contrary to her character. When Nancy has to turn Steve down for a date in episode five because her and Jonathan were going monster hunting, rather than saying she’s too upset about Barb, she blames it on what her younger brother is going through (which is, ironically, what she should be feeling). It almost seems like she deliberately abandons the memory of Barb for a less convincing front. Even in the scene where Eleven confirms that Barb is dead, there’s no focus on Nancy’s reaction, and no later mention of how it affected her. They just plowed on to finding Will.

On the subject of a Season 2 for Stranger Things, Matt Duffer told IGN “We’ll make sure there’s some justice for Barb. 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.” He went on to say "It’s not like her parents are like ‘Oh Barb left. She died!’ Season One actually takes place over the course of six or seven days – it’s a really short period of time. So part of what we want to do with hypothetical Season 2 is to explore the repercussions of everything that happened.”

Due to the fast-paced nature of the show, I can force myself to understand not dedicating entire scenes or even more dialogue to Barb’s disappearance. However, the Duffer brothers missed every opportunity to express that Barb was missed by those who loved her. Claiming that the story took place over a week is no excuse for Barb disappearing not only from the dimension, but apparently from ever existing. Small things could have been done to give the impression that Barb’s parents were looking for her. It couldn’t have been too difficult to have missing posters hanging in the background of a scene, seeing as a fan posted these with relative ease (and extreme shade thrown at Nancy). Another missed opportunity was one of the last scenes of the season finale, where Nancy is cuddling with the now less-douchey Steve in her living room. As they panned through the room, they could have added a framed photo of Barb on the wall or on a mantle. These missed moments in the show could have moved the plot forward, and made Nancy’s character more convincing.

In an interview with NPR, The Duffer brothers discussed why they believe Barb is so loved despite her tiny role. They explained that the audience connects to her because “no one casts anyone like her,” and that she “looks like someone you might really go to school with.” The trending #WeAreAllBarb hashtag on twitter seems to confirm this notion. However, if in casting teens who “have like acne”, they were attempting to break hollywood standards and generate respect for “high school nerds,” I think they missed their mark with this one. Shannon Purser, the stunning first-time actress who played Barb, does indeed break standard beauty stereotypes with her ginger pixie cut, freckles, and larger size. However, the casting choice it isn’t as impressive because she was given such a small and disposable role - a role that, by design, should have had more meaning and for some reason did not. If they truly wanted to be ground-breaking in their casting, a short-haired plus-sized actress would have played the female protagonist, rather than an actress with a more girl-next-door look like Natalia Dyer.

Stranger Things is a great show, and has had a wonderful reception. For that reason, it’s even more difficult for me to accept this one shortcoming. Still, I take comfort in the knowledge that fans have given Barb a life of her own. On playing Barb, Purser told Esquire “I love Barb, and I love the character and I had a great time, and I thought maybe a couple people would notice me and think that she was a fun character. And then to wake up and see all these tweets and Instagram posts and all this support for her... It was so surreal, so amazing.”