Actress Shannon Purser earned her first screen acting credit playing Barb on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, and although Barb was not a main character she did manage to become a favorite of fans who appreciated her dowdy, “Martha Plimpton in THE GOONIES” fashion sense. Barb was also one of the most unfortunate characters in the series’ eight episode first season, lost forever in the mysterious Upside Down dimension… and her disappearance didn’t seem to make much of an impact on any of the other characters.
While Barb, being dead and all, isn’t likely to be back in the second season (officially announced yesterday) next year, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have said that they will be addressing fans’ calls for “justice for Barb” in the upcoming continuation.
A skit on The Tonight Show has beaten the Duffers to punch, though. In the three minute clip below, Tonight Show head writer A.D. Miles (who you may recognize from WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER) takes over the role of Barb from Purser as the character returns from the Upside Down to have some words with those who left her behind.
Miles is joined in the skit by host Jimmy Fallon, taking over the role of high school hot shot Steve Harrington from Joe Keery, and – this is the best part – Stranger Things stars Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin, reprising the roles of Mike, Eleven, Dustin, and Lucas, respectively. It’s crazy to see how much the child actors have clearly grown already. This is why the Duffers had to set season two almost a year after the first rather than just picking up right where it left off.
The skit is pretty amusing and definitely worth checking out for Stranger Things fans: