'Stranger Things' "Conformity Gate" Theory Teases A Secret Episode 9

Netflix

Spoiler alert: This post discusses details from Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 8.

Stranger Things may not actually be over — at least, that’s what a new viral fan theory claims. Though the long-running sci-fi series got a cinematic send-off with its Dec. 31 finale, some fans of the series aren’t buying that this was the true ending. Instead, they believe the final episode’s epilogue is a huge fake-out, and thus the “conformity gate” theory was born, which purports that a secret episode will reveal the story’s actual ending in due time.

The crux of this fan theory mainly boils down to the 18-month time jump after Eleven destroyed the Upside Down feeling very off. Stranger Things has always celebrated the outcasts and weirdos, which is why some fans were suspicious that most of the main characters’ endings involved turning away from their “strange”-ness to embrace quiet, norm...