Great job, Internet!: Stranger Things fans want the Duffer brothers to release the real series finale

Stranger Things has come to an end, and as the Upside Down industrial complex prepares to churn out more strange things, the show’s biggest fans have a simple question: Where is the real series finale, Netflix? The show’s core fanbase has been in a tailspin ever since Stranger Things wrapped last week. While reactions to the final season have been mixed, a common occurrence in the world of long-running, big-budget fantasy television shows, a large swath of fans apparently think they’ve been duped into watching the fake finale. Some refuse to believe that’s how it ended and have begun spinning up different conspiracy theories to explain their disappointment. For instance, a Change.org petition signed by 389,000 people argues that there is “unseen footage” of the show that will supposedly fill in its numerous plot holes. Winnii J, the petition’s starter writes [sic throughout], “I believe the fans should have a say in how the series should go. This is why so many of us are disappointed because it didn’t live up to the expectations that was held upon. Everyone is clearly dissatisfied with this season volume. And also the amount of clues and information we got from the cast members and interviews are not matching up with the episodes provided. We want stranger things to have a legacy not be seen as some show that couldn’t pull though due to it bad writing.”

On TikTok and X, the Duffer brothers’ faithful have launched a fan theory called “Conformity Gate,” which poses that the series finale was an elaborate illusion created by Vecna, explaining why all the characters conformed to adulthood in the epilogue, a strange decision for a show that’s, more or less, about growing up. Why do they think that? Because the long-running “Byler” romance between Mike Wheeler and Will Byers did not come to pass. So now the fandom is poring over plot holes, production goofs, The Truman Show for some reason, Netflix’s episode ID system, the legal definition of television season, and the seating positions of characters to prove that a secret episode will drop later this week.

@meechski Conformity Gate Theory Explained: A secret episode of Stranger Things coming out on January 7th??? 😭 #StrangerThings #StrangerThings5 #conformitygate #Netflix ♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box – takaya

This sort of thing isn’t new. When Game Of Thrones disappointed fans with its final season, a million fans signed a petition for a do-over. However, back in the halcyon days of 2018, when a TV show was bad, it was because the creators screwed up. Now? They’re masters of manipulation, pulling the strings, and playing 4-D chess with their audience to release a secret episode after most of the people who watch the show have already moved on to Heated Rivalry. We imagine the fandom will be overjoyed to hear that the last piece of the Stranger Things puzzle is an extensive behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of season five that Netflix announced today.

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