Anyone still holding out for Barb's return to Netflix' Stranger Things is about to get hit hard with a major dose of reality courtesy of the show's executive producer. The AV Club reports that Shawn Levy confirmed Barb's fate during a Facebook Live event, saying that the show's team sought to specifically avoid "fan service-based decisions" in the second season.
Unfortunately for those still seeking justice for Barb, Levy says that the show's first season made it pretty clear that she didn't survive her jaunt to the Upside Down. The footage of Barb's untimely end doesn't stop fans from approaching Levy and questioning the character's fate, however.
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"I've had a lot of people — some huge celebrities come up to me at these awards shows and are like, 'So between us, Barb's coming back, right?'" Levy explained during the event. "I'm like, 'No. You saw. She had like a creature-slug-worm-snake coming out of her mouth! I don't know that there's a bounce-back from that!?'"
That's a big blow to fans that had their hearts set on Barb's return this Halloween (rethink those trick-or-treating plans, because that's when the show 's next season will hit Netflix), but Levy says that it's all for the sake of storytelling. Perhaps another epic show (ahem, Game of Thrones) has desensitised viewers to the permanence of death with its resurrections and fake-outs? Levy insists that none of that's at play in Hawkins, Indiana. What's done is done — Barb included.
Instead of changing things to fit fans' fickle whims, Levy explained that he simply wanted the Duffer Brothers to tell the story that they set out to tell. No compromise and no changes just because the show's loyal legion of viewers want something. Those '80s homages, the amazing soundtrack, and the creepy moments? Those are all the Duffers' visions, not them pandering to anyone. So pour one out for everyone's favourite underdog. Here's hoping that season 2 brings fans another character to rally behind.
Check out Levy's full interview, below.
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