Why Stranger Things fans are convinced there is a secret episode about to drop on Netflix
Hit TV show may or may not be back for a finale
Stranger Things fans, or at least a section of them online, are convinced that Netflix will release another episode this week, even though the series has finished.
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The finale of season five dropped on New Year’s Eve, but social media users have, under the banner “Conformity Gate”, suggested this was not the real ending.
“Conformity Gate is getting more and more real every time I see evidence,” tweeted one fan.
Another added: “The Conformity Gate theory is absolute madness… and I desperately want it to be true, but if it comes true? I’m emotionally done.”
If these Stranger Things fans get their way, the extra episode will be released on Wednesday, January 7. Here is what we know so far.
What is Conformity Gate?
Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up, the final episode of Stranger Things 5, was broadcast on December 31 to tie up the season.
And directors Matt and Ross Duffer gave the fans what seemed to be a happy ending, with (spoiler alert) teens graduating high school and making plans to meet up once per month.
Vecna, the antagonist, also appears to have been defeated.
But a fan theory has started that Venca is still around and that the happy ending was just an orchestrated illusion. This has been backed up by what fans have called subtle inconsistencies, including around character appearances and hidden messages within the sets.
Also, searching “Conformity Gate” on Netflix does bring up Stranger Things, although not (yet) a ninth episode of the series.
Is Conformity Gate real?
It is just a theory and Netflix has not confirmed a ninth episode.
Still, fans are excited. One tweeted: “This conformity gate theory is INSANEEE, if it doesn’t happen we truly are better writers than the Duffer [brothers].”