Netflix
A huge portion of Stranger Things fans were left so dissatisfied by the series finale that they have created a conspiracy theory about a mysterious 9th episode. The conspiracy theory, called “Conformity Gate,” has been going viral on social media this week.
The fan theory became so popular, in fact, that Netflix were forced to address it on social media by updating its Twitter bio to say “ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING.”
The popularity of #ConformityGate led to both Stranger Things fans and its creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, getting mocked on social media.
#ConformityGate: some Stranger Things fans have deluded themselves into believing a 9th episode of the final season will be release
— autist (@litteralyme0) January 6, 2026
image the ending of ur show is so nothing burger that fans start thinking its fake https://t.co/1TGaHRBuzh
— ⭐️ Ozzy ⭐️ (@Ozzyishere3) January 6, 2026
“Imagine spending a decade making a TV show and then the fans hate your ending so much that they spend the next week picking apart every minor production mistake you’ve ever made to try to justify their conspiracy theory about a secret alternate ending,” a tweet with over 5.5 million views read.
“Stranger Things fans gaslighting themselves into believing in a secret 9th episode is kind-of an amazing demonstration of how something like QAnon occurs on an inoffensive micro-level. once you’re infected with the conspiracy brain, you see it everywhere,” another viral post added.
“Want to know how the Duffer Brothers feel right now. How they messed up their show so badly, people don’t believe that it’s actually real and that the true conclusion was gonna happen because of how terribly made and written their actual work was. Game of Thrones S8 wasn’t this insane,” a third concurred.
i love that stranger things fans are doing what The Shining fans have been doing for years: destroying their sanity over basic continuity errors. https://t.co/2wPPuQ2xj7
— Man Carrying Thing (@ManCarrying) January 7, 2026
I don’t know who needs to hear this but there is absolutely not an extra episode of Stranger Things coming tomorrow or any day. The series is over. That was the finale. If you didn’t enjoy it, you are free to move on. But you’re not getting a do-over. Sorry! Watch something else! https://t.co/YGTn3Zogk9
— John Squires 🎃 (@FreddyInSpace) January 6, 2026
As far as the rating on IMDB are concerned, the fifth and finale season of Stranger Things included the worst rated episode of the series (S5E7), and four of the seven lowest rated episodes in the entirety of the series.