Some Stranger Things fans have come to believe the show’s entire ending was a fake, even suggesting there’s a secret ninth episode due to come out on January 7. The Stranger Things series finale ended with an emotional episode on graduation day for Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. It was all keyed to emotion rather than logic, meaning there are a surprising number of unanswered questions after Stranger Things Season 5, but that seems to have been a strategic decision by the Duffer brothers. It has, however, led to an unexpected new theory.
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The hashtag #conformitygate is currently performing well on X, TikTok, and Reddit, and it’s a shocking theory; according to these fans, the entire ending was an illusion cast by Vecna, who actually won. The theory points to explicit dialogue in the finale, plot holes and unanswered questions, and even elements of set design, arguing that all of these come together to suggest we haven’t seen the show’s true ending. Some of these fans have gone one step further, arguing we’re about to get a surprise ninth episode drop on January 7.
The Evidence for Conformitygate
The theory is named because the end of Stranger Things sees all characters “conform” to the pattern of their time. Max and Lucas are together, Mike leaves his childhood behind him and adopts something resembling his father’s hairstyle, Dustin gets the cathartic moment he’d always dreamed of before being invited to a party by girls, and Will moves away from Hawkins to meet a nice guy. Hopper and Joyce get engaged, Steve settles down and is playing father figure even if he doesn’t have six “nuggets” yet, and Nancy too seems to be conforming to her mom’s pattern (again, look at the hairstyles).
What makes this even more striking, though, is that the Stranger Things finale literally calls out such an ending. Dustin turns down the party in favor of a last game of Dungeons & Dragons, where Max derides Mike at the end of his campaign. “That’s it? Comfort and happiness? Could you be more trite? I thought you were some kind of master storyteller or something.” These fans believe that scene is a clue, a warning that we need to look deeper, that something is not right about the ending.
Some are pointing to elements of the set design, which they argue follows a pattern we saw in the show; where Max and Holly identified an exit from one memory because they noticed something that had changed color.
Others point to the graduation ceremony itself, which they argue shows the sheer scale of the conformity.
Stranger Things Fans Are Probably Seeing Patterns That Aren’t There
There’s a scene in Doctor Who where Fourth Doctor Tom Baker makes a telling comment about human nature; “I love humans. Always seeing patterns that aren’t there.” That, sadly, is probably what’s really going on with #conformitygate; Stranger Things fans have picked up on genuine plot holes, a finale that appeals to emotion over logic, and mistakes of set design, weaving them into a theory about an alternate ending. To paraphrase Hanlon’s Razor, though, it’s best to never attribute to conspiracy that which is adequately explained by error.
The Duffer brothers have always liked to work in blocks of eight episodes (they arguably set the pattern for all streamers with Stranger Things Season 1). The finale was presented as a literal cinematic event, even releasing at theaters. What’s more, despite all the plot holes and issues, it’s received a positive reaction; episode 8 has a score of 7.8/10 on IMDb, a notable achievement given it’s had 152,000 reviews at time of writing. Stranger Things avoided Game of Thrones‘ curse by focusing on emotion rather than narrative, and it’s been appreciated for doing so.
Naturally, it won’t be to some viewers’ tastes. Max’s criticism does seem appropriate, in that Stranger Things ended on the safest possible note, and the storytelling was indeed lacking. These problems are real, and they’ve left some parts of the fanbase deeply unhappy on social media. But that IMDb score proves social media is not always representative, because most audiences have chosen to look beyond the problems and simply enjoy the finale. For all its flaws, Stranger Things Season 5 worked, and that’s what counts.
What do you think of the Stranger Things finale? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme -
A photo of the Retrovolt Arcade taken in 2017, showing several classic arcade cabinets and stools. -
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