{"id":401106,"date":"2026-01-10T19:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T19:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/401106\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T19:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T19:45:08","slug":"that-bonus-stranger-things-episode-is-nothing-but-a-rumor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/401106\/","title":{"rendered":"That bonus Stranger Things episode is nothing but a rumor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n            Last Updated on January 9, 2026        <\/p>\n<p>Despite the internet\u2019s best efforts, the mysterious ninth episode of Stranger Things Season 5, known as \u201cConformity Gate,\u201d ain\u2019t happening. Wasting no time after the Stranger Things series finale aired on New Year\u2019s Eve, fans obsessed with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/browse\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Netflix<\/a> coming-of-age epic started a viral conspiracy about an additional episode that would effectively \u201cfix\u201d aspects of the show\u2019s two-hour swan song. The episode, referred to as \u201cConformity Gate,\u201d was supposed to air tonight, January 7, at 8 p.m. However, those waiting for the bonus episode to drop will find themselves disappointed.<\/p>\n<p>What is the \u201cConformity Gate\u201d episode supposedly about?<\/p>\n<p>According to online speculation, \u201cConformity Gate\u201d would retcon \u201cundesirable\u201d plot points from the show\u2019s final episode, including a reveal that Vecna\/Henry (Jamie Campbell Bower) did not actually die and was controlling what viewers had seen as the ending in a fourth-wall-breaking experience. \u201cConformity Gate\u201d rumors continue to spread rapidly on social media, particularly on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@strangerthings\/video\/7592000743486295328?lang=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok<\/a>, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joblo.com\/tag\/stranger-things\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stranger Things<\/a> fans, influencers, and sensationalists insist the episode exists. Some even posted footage of them watching the episode early, claiming the bonus episode \u201cfixes\u201d what was \u201cwrong\u201d with the finale.<\/p>\n<p>How did the \u201cConformity Gate\u201d rumor get started?<\/p>\n<p>Rumors about the bonus episode began when a video was shared by the Stranger Things official TikTok page, featuring Hawkins science teacher Mr. Clarke (Randy Havens) standing in front of a clock set to 1:07. Groan. I shouldn\u2019t let this bother me, but is this where we\u2019re at with this sort of thing? I understand not wanting the show to be over (I\u2019m more than okay with letting it go), but going so far as to disrespect the ending that the Duffer Brothers and everyone involved worked so hard to create is wild to me. While the finale might not be everything you wanted, what happened to judging something for what it is rather than what you wanted it to be? I know we\u2019re all guilty of skirting that line from time to time, but in the case of Stranger Things, the show went above and beyond to entertain you for almost a decade. Let it rest.<\/p>\n<p>The final episode of Stranger Things is currently streaming on Netflix, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joblo.com\/one-last-adventure-trailer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new documentary<\/a>, titled One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things, arriving on January 12. Don\u2019t worry, the documentary is real. Huzzah!<\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joblo.com\/wp-content\/themes\/face3-joblo\/assets\/images\/joblo-logo-icon-2025.svg\" alt=\"JoBlo logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n        Subscribe to our weekly newsletter\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup-text\">\n            Get the latest movie and TV news, first looks, reviews, and interviews, straight from the JoBlo crew to your inbox.        <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>    <script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Updated on January 9, 2026 Despite the internet\u2019s best efforts, the mysterious ninth episode of Stranger Things&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,1316,5335,41882,348],"class_list":["post-401106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-netflix","tag-sci-fi","tag-stranger-things","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}