Ross Duffer, who cocreated the hit Netflix series with his brother Matt, revealed via Instagram last week that the three episodes of Season 5, Volume 2 are ready to go. The next three episodes will be released on Christmas Day, followed by the grand finale on New Year's Eve.

Conformity Gate comes as " Stranger Things " released its final episode on Dec. 31. The finale left some fans disappointed and wanting more. And Conformity Gate believers think that an additional episode will show the current finale was just a fake-out and that the beloved main characters didn't defeat Vecna after all.

Netflix has confirmed ‘Stranger Things’ season five ended with episode eight, debunking the viral episode 9 theory

Another fan theory about "Stranger Things" Season 5 has emerged, this time speculating there is a bonus episode coming. It has quickly been debunked.

Netflix juggernaut Stranger Things ended its nine-year run on New Year’s Eve 2025, but the internet has other plans. A viral theory dubbed "Conformity Gate" has convinced thousands of fans that Netflix is hiding a secret ninth episode, and that today, January 7, 2026, is the day it drops.

On that note: what is Conformity Gate? Fans have found clues throughout the finale of Stranger Things that "prove" another episode is coming, which will allegedly reveal the finale was actually a super meta vision being cast by Vecna (who actually WON). The evidence is abundant, and this TikTok lays it out very clearly:

"Stranger Things" ended with a ratings splash, with its finale catapulting Season 5 to become Netflix's 9th most English-language series ever.

Stranger Things' Season 5 has joined Netflix's list of its most popular English-language TV titles of all time in ninth place.

Dallas is the second Netflix House, and each location is different. The flagship space in Philadelphia has a theater, but Netflix House Dallas doesn’t. Instead, guests watch events, like a livestream of the Cowboys game on Christmas Day, on tv screens hanging in the restaurant Netflix Bites.