Alert: The following contains spoilers for the Stranger Things finale.
Netflix has officially addressed the speculation surrounding an alleged secret episode of Stranger Things titled “Conformity Gate,” confirming that there is no such episode set for release tonight.
On Wednesday morning, the show’s social media accounts were updated to state that all episodes of Stranger Things are currently available for viewing. This update came in response to a conspiracy theory that emerged after the series’ finale on December 31, suggesting that the ending shown may not be genuine and that a hidden ninth episode would rectify it.
Fans analyzed clues from the show’s five seasons, proposing that the apparent conclusion where the antagonist Vecna is defeated and the characters return to reality was deceiving.
Despite requests for comment from CBC News remaining unanswered, the critical reception of the latest Stranger Things episode has been mixed. While not as universally criticized as the final episode of Game of Thrones, the conclusion of Stranger Things faced backlash for its unresolved plotlines and a conclusion that seemed more focused on setting up a spinoff than providing a satisfying ending.
Canadian actor Finn Wolfhard shares his emotional experience wrapping up filming for Stranger Things, a show he has been part of since he was 12.
“Did Stranger Things deliver a satisfying conclusion?” questioned Stuart Heritage of The Guardian. He criticized the episode for lacking emotional and thematic depth, echoing sentiments shared by critics like Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter, who felt it failed to provide definitive closures for the main characters.
NPR’s Linda Holmes commented on the dangers of expanding characters’ supernatural abilities to the point of blurring reality, highlighting the episode’s ambiguous nature as a potential drawback.
‘Secret episode’ theories
These concerns fueled theories of a hidden episode, with fans speculating that Vecna’s mind control abilities had manipulated the events of the original finale. The theories gained traction on platforms like TikTok and Reddit, with fans dissecting various details from the show as potential clues to a concealed narrative.
One theory gained momentum when a clock displayed 1:07 in the background of a promotional post, leading some to believe that a secret finale was scheduled for January 7 at 8 p.m. ET, aligning with the release times of previous volumes.
However, Netflix dispelled these rumors by updating the show’s social media accounts and releasing a trailer featuring Teyana Taylor promoting upcoming content. The creators, the Duffer brothers, confirmed that the main characters’ story in Stranger Things