Barb (Stranger Things): Nancy's best friend, three episodes and an injustice repaired
Character · The best friend · Season 1
Barbara Holland, known as Barb, is Nancy Wheeler's best friend, and the Stranger Things character whose death got the most talk for three episodes on screen. Glasses, a ruffled shirt, straight talk, she goes with Nancy to a party at Steve Harrington's on November 7, 1983, cuts her hand, sits alone at the edge of the pool, and vanishes. This page brings together everything: who she was, what happened to her, how Hawkins forgot her, and how Nancy made sure she would not be forgotten.
The essentials
- Name: Barbara “Barb” Holland
- Tie: Nancy Wheeler's best friend since childhood
- Appearance: season 1 (November 1983), three episodes
- Distinctive signs: the glasses, the ruffled shirt, the Volkswagen
- Disappearance: November 7, 1983, at the edge of Steve's pool
- Played by: Shannon Purser
- Status: killed by the Demogorgon in the Upside Down; truth revealed in 1984
Contents
Played by
Shannon Purser
It is Shannon Purser who lends her face to Barb Holland on the show.
Image: Stranger Things series, via strangerthings.fr.
Who is Barb?
Barb is the girl at the edge of the pool. The one who did not want to come, who drove Nancy to the party because Nancy asked her to, who refused to drink, then accepted so as not to disappoint her, and who cut her hand opening the beer. While Nancy goes upstairs with Steve, Barb sits on the diving board, a drop of blood falls in the water, and the night closes over her.
Before that night, she has been Nancy's best friend forever: the serious girl, glasses and a buttoned shirt, who distrusts Steve and says so. She is Nancy's last tie to the person she was before wanting to please. Nancy knows it, and that is what will make the guilt so heavy.
The show only gives her three episodes, and Hawkins does not even grant her a search party: nobody looks for Barb the way people look for Will. It is that indifference, even more than her death, that stirred viewers and gave birth to a rallying cry taken up everywhere: justice for Barb.
Justice for BarbIn 2016, after the first season aired, fans blamed the show for killing Barb without anyone on screen mourning her. The slogan became a phenomenon, with T-shirts, posters, articles. The creators answered in the next season: Nancy and Jonathan's investigation, the leak to the paper, and the funeral are written to give her justice.
In the shop: a piece from the show's universe that goes with this file, chosen by us.
In the shopWomen's oversized WSQK T-shirt25,90 €See the product
Barb, the night of November 7 and what follows
November 7, 1983The party
Nancy wants to go to Steve's. Barb drives her, comes in, and watches her friend change in front of her: the makeup, the beer, the looks toward Steve. She cuts her hand opening a can. Nancy goes upstairs with Steve. Barb goes out to sit at the edge of the pool, her hand bleeding, and talks to herself. Something moves behind her.
November 1983The disappearance
The next day, Barb's Volkswagen is still parked near Steve's. Nancy understands she has not come home, looks for her, and sees in the yard a creature that has no face. Barb's parents, the Hollands, call the police; Hopper, busy with Will, only follows the lead late. In the Void, Eleven finds Barb, and sees a slug come out of her mouth. Nancy, having crossed to the other side through a tree in the woods, discovers her body in the flipped version of the pool.
1984The truth
A year later, the Hollands still have no answer. They have hired a private detective, Murray Bauman, and are selling their house to pay him. Nancy, who lives with the secret, can no longer stand it. With Jonathan, she traps Hawkins Lab, records the confession of Dr. Owens about Barb's death, and hands the tape to Murray, who leaks it to the paper. The lab closes. The Hollands get an explanation, compensation, and a funeral. Nancy and Jonathan attend it together.
What defines her
She goes to a party she hates because Nancy asks her to, and stays when Nancy leaves her. Barb does not let go of her friends.
She sees through Steve before everyone. She is right, and she will not have time to see it confirmed.
Sitting on the diving board while the others have fun inside. That is where the monster finds her: where nobody is looking.
Three episodes, and yet a character who weighs on four seasons of Nancy. Barb is the ghost who made her friend a hunter.
Key moments
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Nancy's bedroom
Barb watches her friend get ready and tells her what she thinks of Steve. The only scene where you see her happy.
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The can
She refuses to drink, then gives in, and cuts herself. One drop of blood, and everything else follows.
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The diving board
Alone, her hand clenched, she calls Nancy. The pool light flickers. She is pulled backward.
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The Void
Eleven finds her, sitting, motionless, and a slug comes out of her mouth. The shot that announces the next season.
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The funeral
In 1984, in the rain, Nancy and Jonathan stand near the grave. Barb finally has a stone with her name.
Another piece from the selection: a piece inspired by Barb Holland.
In the shopLego bearded Jim Hopper mini figure14,90 €See the product
Their ties
| Person | What he or she is to Barb | The key moment |
|---|---|---|
| Nancy Wheeler | The best friend since childhood, the one she comes to the party for | Nancy's bedroom; the diving board |
| Steve Harrington | The boy she is wary of, and at whose house she vanishes | The party of November 7, 1983 |
| The Hollands | Her parents, who sell their house to find her | The private detective, 1984 |
| Murray Bauman | The detective hired by her parents | The escape to the paper |
| Eleven | The one who finds her, too late, in the Void | The slug |
| Jonathan Byers | The one who helps Nancy get her justice | The 1984 burial |
Barb never met Eleven, Jonathan, or Murray, and yet they are the ones who write the end of her story. That is the particularity of the character: she exists mostly through what others do with her after her death. Nancy buys a rifle, enters the other world, brings down a federal lab. It all starts from a girl who did not want to go to a party.
Among fans, Barb also became something else: the symbol of supporting characters that shows sacrifice without thinking. Stranger Things's answer, a season later, set the standard. Since then, few shows kill someone without giving them a funeral.
Not to be confused
| People often say | In reality | The landmark |
|---|---|---|
| Barb is found alive | No: Nancy sees her body in the Upside Down | The flipped pool |
| Barb dies because of Nancy | The Demogorgon kills her; Nancy carries the guilt, not the fault | The cut on the hand |
| Barb comes back later in the show | No; only her shadow weighs on Nancy, even in Vecna's vision in 1986 | Lover's Lake |
| Nobody looks for Barb | Her parents hire Murray and sell their house | The 1984 season |
A rarer confusion: Barb is not the first victim of the Demogorgon. Will was taken the day before, and Benny, the cook who took Eleven in, was killed by Brenner's men in the meantime. Barb is the first victim whose disappearance we see, and the only one the town chose not to look for.
Our Barb products
Barb has become a symbol for fans: T-shirts and posters inspired by the girl at the edge of the pool and the slogan that made her famous. We pick every piece ourselves, and claim nothing beyond our passion for the show.
To go with your reading: a piece from the show's universe that goes with this file.
In the shopHarrington card keychain12,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
Who is Barb in Stranger Things?
Barbara Holland is Nancy Wheeler's best friend in 1983. Serious, lucid, loyal, she goes with Nancy to a party at Steve Harrington's on November 7, cuts her hand, sits alone at the edge of the pool, and is taken by the Demogorgon. She appears in only three episodes.
How does Barb die in Stranger Things?
Drawn by the blood from her cut, the Demogorgon pulls her into the Upside Down from the edge of Steve's pool. Eleven sees her in the Void, a larva coming out of her mouth, and Nancy finds her body in the inverted version of the pool. Her death is confirmed in 1984 by the lab's confession.
Why “Justice for Barb”?
Because in season 1, nobody in Hawkins seems to look for Barb or mourn her, unlike Will. Viewers were outraged, and the rallying cry became a phenomenon. The next season answers it: Nancy and Jonathan get the lab shut down, and Barb gets a funeral.
What becomes of Barb's parents?
In 1984, the Hollands hire a private detective, Murray Bauman, and sell their house to pay him. Nancy, who can no longer stand lying to them, gets the lab's confession and leaks it. The Hollands receive an explanation, financial compensation, and a funeral for their daughter.
Does Barb come back in the show?
No, not in person. She stays present through Nancy, who carries her death for four seasons, and even in the vision Vecna inflicts on her in 1986. Her funeral, in 1984, is her last appearance on screen.
Who plays Barb?
Shannon Purser plays Barb in season 1. The character, planned for three episodes, became one of the most famous on the show. The images on this page come from the show and its promotion; they remain the property of their rights holders.