The Stranger Things season five finale, released on New Year’s Eve, brought all sorts of emotions: sadness, nostalgia, but most of all confusion. Many fans were left wondering if this was the final ending — or if there was more to come.
Leading up to the release date of the final episode of this decade-long franchise, the stakes were high with fans conspiring with clues and leads from each episode. Many believed in the Conformity Gate theory — a theory suggesting that this seemingly “happy ending” was a facade of a reality created by none other than Vecna. This state would be used to trap the viewers and characters in a “forced conformity.” Many fans recognized in the last episode that there were too many coincidences. They claimed they all had to lead to a bigger, grander ending following Lucus Sinclair’s motto, “I don’t believe in coincidences. Not anymore.”
Will plays a ferocious role in this final season as he unlocked power in the hive mind, which became a key element to the theory. With Will having a connection to Vecna and already previously infiltrated by Vecna, it was no surprise to viewers when they started to see the same trends from previous seasons. In the sixth episode, Vecna says he will use Will as his spy one last time and goes on to infiltrate Will’s mind to discover Max’s location. Fast-forward to Will’s “coming out scene,” he starts acting strangely as he described memorable times with the group, one being when they used to go to Melvins for milkshakes, yet Melvalds is a general store. What is significant in this? When Henry was a child, Melvalds was an ice cream parlor; this would be a memory only Vecna would know, only further enforcing the Conformity Gate theory.
Many fans, after watching the episode, was convinced that another secret episode was to come to resolve the many loose ends. There were many subtle color changes, like the graduation gowns being orange instead of green and the radio tower lever changing color in the episodes, which align with being under Vecna’s trance. When Holly was under Vecna’s curse, there were subtle changes made to the memories too therefore displaying that the final episode might be a facade shown by Vecna which made many believe that there was another episode to come. Many believed that the ending was just too “perfect” to truly end the franchise, with many claiming that it models a “dream world,” the exact kind that Vecna created for the children.
To answer the burning question: Is there a secret finale episode? Although many fans believed through clues that January seventh would bring out the true finale, the Duffer brothers have not released any new episodes. Junior Emily Corona expressed her dissatisfaction with the franchise criticizing that “it was a rush story, they went with the easiest ending and made the whole season look sloppy.” All the “clues” shown throughout the final season showed just the amount of loose ends they left in the story, leaving many viewers disappointed . Senior Brianna Serna expressed “I wished the ending wasn’t so rushed, I waited ten years for disappointment…but I believe.” Despite the let down of the finale, many still are enveloped in the idea that there could still be another episode.
