Stranger Things Theory Claims Hidden Final Episode Is Still Coming, Freddy Krueger Inspired

Stranger Things fans aren’t letting go of the ‘Conformity Gate’ theory, as some now believe that a ‘true’ final episode of the series is coming next week.

The final season of Stranger Things aired on Netflix in three separate volumes over the course of the last couple of months, and reception to the finale on New Year's Day has been rather mixed.

There are some people who loved it, some who hated it, and an even smaller selection of people who hated it so much, they’re convinced it’s not even the real final episode.

Conformity Gate is the theory that the final season of Stranger Things actually has a secret final episode that will be aired in the future.

It explains that the show will pull some weird strings to explain that actually, our heroes didn’t save the day and are instead trapped in Vecna’s mind similar to how Max and the children were throughout Season 5.

Fans point to some ‘evidence’ which may suggest this, but this all feels like they’re grasping at straws. They also believe that this alleged secret final episode will air on Netflix today, 7 January.

Netflix

Stranger Things Fans Now Think The Actual Final Episode Is Coming On 12 January

However, a new addition to this theory now suggests that the recently-announced Season 5 making-of documentary will take the place of the final episode.

As shared by Instagram user greggfriedrice, fans now believe that Netflix’s new documentary film, titled One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, is actually going to be a metatextual finale to the series by having Vecna come back to haunt the cast and crew of the series in the documentary.

Their evidence? It already happened in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, and I guess that means Stranger Things is going to do the same.

This was basically the plot of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, the seventh film of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise released in 1994.

The film leaps out of the fourth wall by featuring actors like Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, and Wes Craven himself as they are haunted by Freddy Krueger, who has come into the real world to attack the cast and crew that make films about him.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare was received quite well by fans, breathing fresh life into a franchise that was starting to feel a little stale. And so, fans believe that this is also the strategy being employed by Netflix and series creators Matt and Ross Duffer.

Call Conformity Gate a theory if you want, but it sounds more like denial to me. Aside from it being a marketing nightmare, I can’t see something like this being received well by fans, nor do I think the Duffer Brothers are interested in risking their reputation on this.

I can't wait to hear about what Stranger Things fans will change the Conformity Gate theory to once the documentary releases and it's nothing more than a behind-the-scenes look at the show's final season.