I also just finished last night - what a great show! I can't remember a show in recent history where I really, really liked all the characters. My favourites were Hopper, Eleven and the toothless grin kid. The kids actually acted like kids. I don't get the criticism of Ryder's acting either, I thought she was stellar and played the crazy, determined lady pretty well.
As far as the show playing off the Barb disappearance: she was a teenager with her own car, which was staged at a bus station. So even the police chalked it up to her running away. To me, it's obvious why a missing 12 year old would garner more attention from the town. If they rushed through anything for me, it was the deadbeat Dad angle. He didn't even put up a fight when she kicked him out? And that was that?
Did anyone else see Jonathan (Will's older brother) as pretty much Norman Reedus' twin from when he was that age? I mean, if they ever want to do a Daryl Dixon flashback in TWD, they definitely have their actor.