Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. The five stages of grief. The five stages that me and other Stranger Things fans went through in the past few weeks.
For me, “Stranger Things” has been a show I have watched throughout different phases of my life. When I realized Season 5 was rapidly approaching, I did what a normal fan would do: rewatch the entire series. I frequently asked my friends, “Are you watching tonight?” “Excited for the new season?” “We have to talk about it after break!” I guarantee my classmates were sick of me, but most of them knew exactly how I was feeling too.
On Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. I was sitting in front of my TV, ready to open Netflix and not get out of my comfy bed for the next five hours. The first four episodes already had me in an emotional state, ready to watch the next part immediately. Afterwards, my sister and I held a midnight debrief about how confused we were, and any theories we had. As I waited for the finale to air a week later, I began to unlock the world of Stranger Things conspiracy theories for the first time since 2022.
Finally, it was time. The last ever episode of “Stranger Things” would be coming out by the end of the day. In every moment of the finale, I felt something a little different: anxiety, fear, sadness,= but I have to say I never felt the one emotion I was looking forward to the most: contentment. I have to say the ending felt rather safe.
I couldn’t help but wonder as the ending marinated in my brain longer, “They should’ve looked online for a better ending!” All those theories I saw on TikTok made me desperate to find out better ways that every single detail from the 10-year long masterpiece would magnetically come together. But I was let down and left with so many questions in the end. Which is why the moment I heard the “ConformityGate” theory, I immediately believed it.
#ConformityGate took over my entire page on TikTok, the theory of a secret episode being released after the series official finale. Every point proposed made more sense than the last. For instance, some characters break the fourth wall throughout the finale, making eye contact with the viewers while saying a distinct line. The most common theory was the idea of it all being an illusion: the villain doing what he does best — playing mind games. Once Vecna, the ultimate villain of the show, was revealed posing a certain way, which is the exact posture and hand gesture that Vecna uses.
The cherry on top of it all has to be the significance of the number seven. Throughout the entire show, things point to that number; lighting lasting SEVEN seconds in the new season’s second episode, black screen for SEVEN seconds, the dice lands on SEVEN, characters married for SEVEN years, villain being struck SEVEN times, date night at SEVEN o’clock, and a missing SEVENTH grade boy. With all this information thus only confirming the theory, all fans anxiously awaited Jan. SEVENTH for another episode. The real finale. But that day came and left with no new episode.
I had no clue my doom scrolling would make me feel insane, but I don’t regret it. I don’t regret letting myself get excited over the idea of a new episode when it seemed like the only way to fill in missing plot holes. And, I most certainly don’t regret watching the show for as long as I did because it truly is amazing despite having a mediocre ending.
