Stranger Things responds to fan theory that secret episode is coming today

Warning: spoilers for Stranger Things season 5 ahead

Prepare to have your worlds turned 'upside down' because those rabid Stranger Things fans are back with their conspiracy theories. Sounding madder than Brett Gelman's Murray Bauman, the ever-wary fandom has cooked up a doozy of a theory that a secret ninth episode is on the way.

Netflix has faced a baptism of fire when it comes to Stranger Things season 5, dealing with behind-the-scenes drama involving allegations about David Harbour, grubby comments about some of its young cast, the show's 'worst' episode yet, and general complaints about the finale.

There have also been swirling rumors that there's enough cut material to make up a 'missing' episode, while this has bubbled over into the wild 'Conformity Gate' theory.

What is Stranger Things' Conformity Gate theory?

With grumbles that Stranger Things season 5 didn't live up to the hype, fans have been latching onto the Conformity Gate theory. It all boils down to episode 8's epilogue, which catches up with the various residents of Hawkins some 18 months after they've bested Vecna and Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven has 'died'. Seeing our fan-favorites graduate, things ended with a poignant last game of Dungeons & Dragons where Finn Wolfhard's Mike Wheeler revealed how Eleven might've survived her brush with death – although things are left purposefully open-ended with only Brown apparently knowing her character's true fate.

While it would be easy to leave things here, an increasing number of viewers are championing #conformitygate on social media. Some have picked up characters sitting in a Vecna-inspired pose during the idyllic graduation, suggesting that it could be one last trick of the mind from the story’s big bad. Others have pointed to changing color handles, missing characters, and the arrangement of the D&D at the end, potentially spelling out, "X A LIE," as a possible nod to Dimension X.

As one final piece of evidence, a seemingly hidden Morse code lurking behind Maya Hawke's Robin appears to spell out: "U DID NOT STOP ME."

While we'll admit there's mounting proof, most think it's just batsh*t conspiracy theories.

One critic wrote: "The entire Stranger Things fandom currently in a collective psychosis coming up with a theory called Conformity Gate as a coping mechanism because the Duffers writing was genuinely THAT bad."

Stranger Things shuts down Confirmity Gate episode

The streaming service has doubled down on the idea that December 31's "The Rightside Up" really was the end of the road. The official Stranger Things TikTok and Instagram bios currently read, "ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING," which seems to formally shut down the idea that there's more to come.

Added to this, Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower told Jimmy Fallon how the final credits really have rolled. Saying that season 5 episode 8 was the ending that Stranger Things 'deserves', he added: "Even as the actor that plays Vecna, like, it just – it feels right. You know, the show is so much about friendship and love and hope and joy. And of course, like, the person who is not that has to go, you know?”

Still, some are glued to their screens today (January 7), as Conformity Gate purists remain confident that a secret episode 9 will be dropping. Coming full circle, Netflix celebrated Christmas with a cryptic December 25 tweet that tagged Jan 7 and wrote: "Your future is on the way."

Indulging the theories for a moment, it's also true that January 7 is Orthodox Christmas, aligning with season 5’s previous pattern of airing episodes on major holidays.

Even if you aren't on board with the whole Conformity Gate movement, you've got to admit the Duffer Brothers might've missed a trick with this one.