Mama an Easter Egg(?) behind you.
Photo: Netflix
The Stranger Things finale was final, and that’s final. So sayeth Netflix’s social media team. As of Wednesday morning, the Stranger Things social media accounts all read “ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING.” What prompted this all caps statement on social? Fans thought maybe the Duffer Brothers wanted a do-over on their finale, and that the end wasn’t really the end. The theory, dubbed “conformity gate” online, is that the epilogue we saw in episode 8 of Stranger Things season 5 was Vecna still on his hallucination powers bullshit. And that the real finale would come out January 7, which would see the real defeat of Henry Creel.
Here’s the evidence fans pointed to: The Hawkins High graduation robes were orange instead of green or yellow (the school’s colors). Many extras were wearing glasses in the same style as Vecna. These are also the same style as Ted Wheeler’s glasses, but go off. A doorknob in the Wheeler basement is now on the wrong side. And a dial at the WSQK radio station is a different color. The Dungeons and Dragons binders the Party have are in different orders between the finale and the social media surrounding the finale. One person even asserted that a stack of cassettes were arranged to spell out “U DID NOT STOP ME” in Morse code, per Variety. Also just, like, vibes. The vibes were off, allegedly.
Where did conformity gate truthers get January 7 as the premiere date for the final finale? A promotional TikTok which saw science teacher/GOAT Mr. Clarke standing in front of a clock reading 1:07. From that, fans decided a ninth episode would drop at 8 p.m., just like all the eps in season 5 on their various release days.
This is all eerily similar to the time BBC Sherlock fans theorized there would be a secret second finale of that show — one that would finally make the subtextual queer relationship between Sherlock and Watson canon. The Johnlock Conspiracy believed that the purported premiere of Apple Tree Yard was actually the slashy finale everyone always wanted. Hopefully, all this finale disappointment will result in a fix fic boom. Then hockey AU, then an adaptation of the hockey AU that becomes a TV sensation for a new generation.
