Netflix’s Stranger Things is a huge hit, and it’s left us all wondering about the fate of certain characters as we await season 2. Namely, Barb and Brenner.
Are Barb and Brenner dead? It’s a valid question. Despite things looking a certain way, this show’s science is completely unpredictable because we know so little about the world!
Speaking to IGN this week, creators Matt and Ross Duffer offered some hints about Stranger Things season 2. Specifically, they touched on whether or not Barb and Brenner are dead.
For those of you who want to see more of Brenner (Who are you? That’s really messed up), there’s some good news: He’s probably not dead.
The reason? He didn’t get the death he deserved in Stranger Things season 1. We only saw the monster attack him — we didn’t see him get torn to shreds, as we were all hoping for.
Says Matt, “I would say that if we were going to kill Brenner… as an audience member watching the show, if that was his death [at the end of season 1], that would be very unsatisfying to me — when the monster jumps on him and we cut away. He would deserve much more than that as an ending. So yes, there’s a possibility of seeing him again.”
We imagine that Brenner’s presence on a Stranger Things season 2 would tie into what’s going on with Will, who started exhibiting some interesting issues (like spitting out slugs, Ron Weasley style) once he was saved.
Now the bad news: Stranger Things’ Barb is dead. Or at least, it certainly sounds like it.
“I can’t see it happening,” Matt Duffer said when IGN asked about Barb returning for season 2. “But Barb will not be forgotten. 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.”
“It’s not like her parents are like ‘Oh Barb left. She died!’” he explained. “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 Two is to explore the repercussions of everything that happened.”
Indeed, we saw very little of the fallout from Barb’s death other than a bit of sadness from her friend Nancy. It’ll be nice to see additional reactions as her friends and family slowly realize she’s gone for good.
How do you think Brenner will come back into the mix for season 2?