What Is The Conformity Gate? Stranger Things Season 5's Fake Ending Theory Explained
This article contains spoilers for the "Stranger Things" finale.
After 10 years, "Stranger Things" wrapped up with a divisive series finale that has many fans confused and frustrated. Out of this tumultuous reaction to the final episode has grown a new movement known as "Conformity Gate," but what exactly is it? Well, in short, the term refers to a widespread online theory that the finale was a fake-out and that we'll actually be getting a secret ninth episode to wrap up the series on January 7, 2025. But there's a little more to it than that.
If you use social media as a gauge, the "Stranger Things" finale was a historic blunder that should have resulted in creators Matt and Ross Duffer being hauled before a tribunal to face merciless justice. Of course, social media isn't always the most reliable metric for how the majority of viewers are feeling. Many audience members who liked the show well enough felt as though the "Stranger Things" finale was almost perfect, and some might have even been fully satisfied with the way the show ended. But there's no doubt hordes of fans are confused or even downright furious about the finale, and out of this fervor has come "Conformity Gate."
The movement essentially uses small moments from the finale as evidence to suggest that it was all just a fake ending, and that the Duffers and Netflix have pulled the wool over our eyes, much like Vecna with one of his illusions. Furthermore, the theory suggests Netflix will announce or even surprise-release a ninth episode on January 7, 2025, which will truly wrap up the series. Is this just wishful thinking among a crazed fanbase, or is there any legitimacy to Conformity Gate? Let's take a closer look at the evidence.
What is Conformity Gate and why is it called that?
The "Stranger Things" finale was a huge hit for theaters but faced a torrent of criticism online, with fans furious over Eleven's ambiguous fate and the way the show copped out with the obvious character deaths. What's more, the "Stranger Things" finale left far more unanswered questions than viewers expected. According to Conformity Gate adherents, however, all of those lingering threads will be tied up when the secret ninth episode arrives to fix every problem created by the "fake" series finale.
What does "Conformity" have to do with anything? It refers to the way in which some fans view the "Stranger Things" characters as having conformed to boring, straightforward, and predictable story endings, which stand at odds with the ostensible endings telegraphed by the writers throughout the series. "Stranger Things" was about defying conformity and fighting the forces of oppression, most notably in the case of Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven and her escape from a lifetime of torment at the hands of the U.S Government and supernatural forces of evil. There was also Noah Schnapp's Will and his story of coming out, mirroring the more general fight against the Upside Down and its assorted horrors.
As Conformity Gate believers see it, however, the finale gave every character a conformist ending. Not only did Mike and Will didn't not end up together (as many fans had hoped they would), every character (other than Eleven) just seemed to walk off into the sunset with happy endings. Sadie Sink's Max Mayfield even calls out the rote endings during the final Dungeons & Dragons match, saying to Mike, "That's it? Comfort and happiness? Could you be more trite?" Well, according to fans, this is yet more proof that the whole finale episode was fake.
What evidence is there for Conformity Gate?
Conformity Gate suggests the final 40 minutes of the "Stranger Things" finale were just a mirage projected by Jamie Campbell Bower's Vecna, who didn't actually die but completed his mission to fuse Dimension X with Earth. Fans point to the scramble of letters on the spines of the Dungeons & Dragons books, which can form the phrase "X A Lie." This is apparently evidence that Dimension X was never destroyed and that Vecna is still alive and projecting an illusion. Then, there's the fact that certain props changed color, specifically the voltage dial, mirroring the way certain elements of Vecna's previous illusions would be slightly off and thereby act as signs for Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) and Max to follow.
More evidence supposedly comes in the way characters stood during the 40-minute epilogue, which, according to fans, mirrored the way Vecna/Henry Creel himself would stand. There's also the fact that users searching the term "fake ending" on Netflix have noted that "Stranger Things" is the only show that appears in the results, though this is likely due to the sheer volume of online discussion around fake endings and the show, which has likely prompted the Netflix algorithm to associate the two.
Does this mean we're getting that secret ninth episode? Almost certainly not. There's been absolutely no official confirmation of any of this "Conformity Gate" stuff, and the Duffer Brothers have been consistent in saying that this is the official end of the show. Will may well have rolled a seven during his D&D game, and Netflix might be announcing a new slate on January 7, 2025, but the likelihood is that "Stranger Things" is, like the Upside Down, gone for good.