Speaking with IGN, Matt Duffer—of the Duffer Brothers—noted how fans reacted to the character’s death and assured those reading that there would be “repercussions” in the event that the show is picked up for a second season.
While she probably won’t come back (it could’ve happened), he ensures that her death will be explored.
“It’s not like her parents are like ‘Oh Barb left. She died!’ 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 2 is to explore the repercussions of everything that happened,” he said.