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As human beings, we crave resolution in both our lives and in the stories we consume. Because our lives are so chaotic, which the COVID-19 pandemic was a visceral reminder of, so many of us want satisfying endings to the stories we care about because it gives us a sense of control. That instead of us all being a collection of cells mashed together, hurtling through a manmade world of 'taxes,' 'vehicle warranties,' and Skibidi Toilet, there is some greater order to the universe guiding it all in a semi-coherent manner.

But, for better or for worse, there is no guaranteed order for any of us, nor any of our stories. Things - people, life - disappoint and horrify us. Why else would Nine Inch Nails write a song about this for Johnny Cash to later cover? 

We can observe this impulse to restore a sense of order, or at least an illusion of it, in pop culture with incidents like the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement, which culminated in the theatrical release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League movie. After Snyder had to suddenly exit the Justice League film as director because of a family tragedy, writer/director Joss Whedon was brought on to reshape the film and finish it so it could hit theaters in 2017. Both critics and DC fans were left underwhelmed, and a vocal cohort of fans online was determined to see a cut of the film that reflected Zack Snyder’s original vision. To everyone’s surprise, Warner Brothers gave the fans what they wanted, providing Snyder with $70 million to complete 'his version' of the film, which was released into theaters in 2021. And it was good. 

But now, in a post-SnyderCut world, all bets are off. Now, no shade to the Snyder Cut, which I think was a pretty good movie, but we’re in a place today in pop culture where the chaos of life can no longer be accepted by fans. That is, as we see with the ConformityGate movement within the Stranger Things fandom, fans now struggle with accepting that there is often no better “version” of your beloved piece of media that disappointed you. Sometimes, your favorite thing has a shit ending, and that’s all there is to it.

Stranger Things' ConformityGate fan theory signals a shift in fandom behavior

But what do I mean by ConformityGate? So, when the Stranger Things finale aired on New Year’s Eve a week ago, practically everyone from diehard Hawkins fans to old skeptics like me was left underwhelmed. The final season of the show felt like a feeble death rattle. Stranger Things fans online, however, took it a step further with a theory called ConformityGate, where they theorized that the ending of the finale wasn’t the true ending of the series, but rather an illusion created by the season’s big bad, Vecna. Instead, they purported that Netflix had a secret ninth episode shot, edited, and ready to go that it was going to unveil on January 7, 2026. And this episode would give fans the “satisfying” conclusion that they felt the show deserved.

As the universe would have it, there was no ninth episode of Stranger Things 5. January 7 came and went without a peep, but that didn’t stop Stranger Things fans from storming onto Netflix and crashing its servers in expectation of a sign, any sign, that gave credence to their belief that it wasn’t over. Stranger Things, really, was done. 

ConformityGate has traces of SnyderCut fanaticism, reflecting the tensions that exist between streamers and studios like Netflix and Warner Bros., with the intense psychology of fans. What the SnyderCut showed the world was that there really could be times when a creative visionary has a “correct” version of the story they wanted to tell, and that by appealing to the corporate powers that be, fans could help realize their beloved auteur’s vision. In other words, ordinary fans could “correct” a perceived slight, restoring a sense of order. 

The lackluster Stranger Things finale couldn't be accepted by ConformityGate believers

The fuel of ConformityGate came from an ending that was unacceptable for Stranger Things fans, prompting them to comb through the finale episode repeatedly, collecting pieces of “evidence” that they believed proved that the finale in front of them couldn’t be the true series conclusion. These pieces of evidence were things like Steve Harrington becoming the coach of a little league team when he was known as a basketball and swim team star while a student at Hawkins High. However, anyone who has ever played sports can tell you that basketball is a winter sport and baseball is a spring sport, and that coaching little league baseball in suburban Indiana is neither rocket science nor as esoteric as coaching cricket in America, for instance. The “evidence” of ConformityGate became a collection of details that fans felt were inconsistent with what previous seasons of Stranger Things had shown them, amounting to a statement of “my favorite show wouldn’t let me down this way if it didn’t have some grander vision.” 

But as an HBO Game of Thrones fan can tell you, sometimes people shit the bed. Because that’s what we’re really talking about when we talk about the disappointment of Stranger Things 5. There is no cosmic, unseen conspiracy behind the finale of Stranger Things falling short, no Kate Bush god placing us all in the wrong timeline. We cannot extract meaning from something that, honestly, didn't have that much meaning to begin with. The people who worked on the show, whether it’s the Duffer Brothers, the executives at Netflix, the set carpenter who put the knob on the wrong side of the Wheelers' basement door (?), they all produced something that fell short of your expectations. We are not in the Book of Job, we are talking about a Netflix show. 

Listen, as a nerd myself, I can empathize with these fans because I’ve lived through my fair share of bummers. The stinker that was the 2019 Hellboy movie with David Harbour genuinely devastated me for a couple of days. But then I moved on, read some Hellboy comics, rewatched the Guillermo del Toro movies, became obsessed with the Spider-Man villain Mysterio, and began my new life (at least until the New Mutants movie featuring the Demon Bear and Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik came out and hurt me all over again). The relationship that artists have with their patrons and fans has always been a fraught one, because you can’t satisfy everyone. Life is just too chaotic for anything not directed by James Cameron to be perfect. If anything, ConformityGate is a lesson in resilience and our shared humanity. When the thing you love doesn’t stick the landing, what will you choose to do next? I suggest you get up. 

As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:

• How to watch Stranger Things in chronological or release order
• Getting to know the Stranger Things season 5 cast
• There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
• The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
• "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"