Stranger Things star shuts down secret episode theory after finale backlash

Stranger Things fans are locking horns over a theory that a secret final episode will be released a week after the finale – and now Jamie Campbell Bower has subtly had his say.

The Netflix show drew to a close after five seasons on New Year’s Day, but a contingent of the fandom believes the epilogue featured in the episode wasn’t the real ending.

Discussion about the theory – nicknamed Conformity Gate – has intensified on TikTok throughout the week among disappointed viewers. According to the theory, the lengthy final sequence, showing the show’s young leads moving on with their lives after the supernatural occurrences in Hawkins, was actually an illusion created by the villainous Vecna (Campbell Bower).

Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Campbell Bower said the last episode was “the ending the show deserves”, seemingly bringing the debate to an end.

“Even as the actor that plays Vecna, like, it just – it feels right,” he said, referring to his character’s grisly defeat in the finale. “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?”

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To support the Conformity Gate theory, eagle-eyed fans have pored over every detail of the epilogue for evidence – despite the Duffer brothers, who created the show, maintaining that multiple endings were not filmed.

These details range from the placement of extras in the high school graduation scenes to the positioning of background characters’ hands, with many noticing they’re placed in a similar way to Vecna’s alias, Henry Creel. Others are also citing continuity issues around the placement of on-set props as evidence supporting the theory.

It’s been suspected by viewers that the secret episode will drop on Wednesday (7 January), due to Netflix releasing a cryptic post referencing this date alongside the caption: “Your future is on the way.” At the time of writing, no new episode has appeared.

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However, for every person supporting Conformity Gate, there are others urging fans to move on.

“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,” one person wrote on X (Twitter).

Another added: “It’s hilarious how the Duffers inability to write a satisfying conclusion and reliance on the ‘we left it to the viewer’s interpretation’ crutch has now led to a fanbase somehow rabidly believing there is a secret final episode that just clearly does not exist.”

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The biggest controversy surrounding the finale centred on the fate of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who seemingly dies after destroying the Upside Down to save mankind. But in the final moments of the show, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) says he chooses to believe that Eleven is still alive – and the camera cuts to Eleven in the future, showing her alive and well.

It’s unclear whether Eleven really survived or not, with series co-creator Ross Duffer stating that “she lives on in their hearts, whether that’s real or not”. But many fans of the show, including Max actor Sadie Sink, have stated that they think the character is dead.