Whether you liked the finale or not, Stranger Things is over. Some people were unable to accept that, though, and a small idea that there might be a secret episode quickly became a full-blown viral conspiracy theory. A theory that so many disgruntled Stranger Things fans locked into, that when they all tuned in for the unannounced episode, there were so many people firing up Netflix at the same time that it briefly crashed.
Spoilers ahead for the final of Stranger Things, although I’d assume anyone reading this has either seen the only real ending of the show, or doesn’t care about having the events of it spoiled. The Hawkins we’re shown right at the end of the episode is a happy one as, finally, Vecna is dead. However, unsatisfied with how things were wrapped up, a small group of fans said no to that and decided the cheery vision of Hawkins we closed on was an illusion created by a still very alive Vecna.
Believing A Show Ends With Its Finale Is Conforming, Apparently
If you want to believe that, great. The problem is, some fans wanted to do more than just believe it. They wanted it to be confirmed, and for there to be a secret ninth episode of season five that shows the true ending. That small group was loud enough that others started to join in and believe the hype.
The movement quickly became known as Conformity Gate, presumably coined because those who leaned into the secret episode theory were poking fun at those of us who accepted the show actually ended on New Year’s Eve for “conforming”. Well, turns out we were right to do so. There was no secret episode, and Hawkins really did get the happily ever after it deserves after all it’s been through for the past nine years.
Stranger Things Creators Won’t Reveal If Mike Was Right About Eleven’s Ending
The Duffer brothers open up about the Stranger Things series finale.
Netflix Crashed Under The Pressure Of Stranger Things Fans Tuning In For A Secret Episode
Even though it seemed less and less likely that a secret episode of Stranger Things was going to miraculously appear on Netflix on January 7, that didn’t stop people from holding out hope that the non-conformers might be right. So many people were on Netflix looking for an episode that didn’t exist that it crashed. That might be the first example of a streaming service crashing under the pressure of too many users logging in at once without any actual content to pin the blame on.
Stranger Things is far from the first blockbuster show to end in a way that a large chunk of its fanbase wasn’t happy with. There was Game of Thrones before this, and then Lost before that, and almost certainly quite a few other examples during the gaps in between that I’m forgetting. Hate to break it to you, Stranger Things fans, but your only course of action is to do what fans of those other two shows continue to do years later, and that’s complain about it for the rest of time with no satisfying conclusion.
- Release Date
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2016 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
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Millie Bobby Brown
Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper
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Finn Wolfhard
Mike Wheeler
