10 Sci-Fi TV Shows That Wasted Incredible Characters

1. Barbara Holland - Stranger Things

Stranger Things Barb
Netflix

We've already established the ways in which Stranger Things wasted one of its main characters, but what about the character we never got enough of?

Barbara Holland - Barb, to her friends - first appeared in season one as the sweet, innocent, wise-beyond-her-years best friend of Nancy Wheeler.

Clearly the more sensible of the two, Barb acted as Nancy's big sister, looking out for her while Nancy began a relationship with bad-boy Steve Harrington.

After reluctantly agreeing to drive Nancy to a party at Steve's house, Barb attempts to fit in with the more popular kids.

Spoiler alert: she fails. Hard.

Sitting alone by Steve's pool, Barb is attacked by the Demogorgon. She tries to escape, but is taken into the Upside Down, where she was brutally killed and partially devoured by the creature.

Just to rub it in, we get to see her remains a couple of times, really hammering home her wasted potential.

While her death inspired Nancy and Jonathan Byers to expose the Hawkins National Laboratory, really, we'd have rather she'd lived to continue to set Nancy straight.

In this post: 
Sci-Fi
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Antisocial nerd that spends a lot of time stringing words together. Once tried unsuccessfully to tame a crow.