“Stranger Things,” a Netflix phenomenon, came to an end on Dec. 31, 2025. Soon after, the Duffer Brothers released a documentary titled “One Last Adventure” on Jan. 12, 2026. Although Season 5 was cinematically beautiful, heart-wrenching and soul moving, there were many plot holes throughout the episodes that cannot be left unnoticed.
The term ‘Conformity Gate’ appeared on TikTok shortly after the last episode and quickly became a bandwagon on people’s For You Page.
The first plot hole the fans noticed was the dial changing colors from black in episode one, “The Crawl,” to red in episode five, “Shock Jock.” The main question the fans had was why the color of the dial would change if they’re using the same set and props? The Conformity Gate fans’ response to this hole was the fact that Vecna was in the mind of the characters, causing things to become distorted because of his control. This small detail had a chokehold on the fans because there was no explanation given by the Duffer Brothers.
The next plot hole that made me believe in Conformity Gate was when Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) was coming out to the group at the WSQK (The Squawk) in episode 7, “The Bridge.” He mentioned he liked to go get milkshakes at Melvalds and he liked to get lost in the woods. This small detail made us all take a step back and rethink what we’ve learned so far. For one, Will Byers wasn’t alive during the time Melvalds was a diner, he was only alive when Melvalds was a general store that Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) worked at. During Henry Creel’s (Jamie Campell Bower) childhood, he would go to Melvalds to get milkshakes, which made us think Vecna was in the picture. Will also mentioned that he liked to get lost in the woods, which is odd because the woods is where he would hide when he got scared and where he had most of his childhood trauma from during Season 1. The Conformity Gate fans concluded that Vecna was in Will’s mind during this time, making him say things he didn’t mean and that Henry has related to in the past, overall taking control. Why was this moment never touched on and why didn’t the gang correct Will on his errors?
Throughout Season 5, Conformity Gate found a reoccurring theme. There were many scenes where characters were crossing their hands over their lap like 001 (Jamie Campell Bower) used to in Season 4. 001 and Henry Creel both cross their hands the same way, because they are the same person with the same mannerisms. But Conformity Gate theorized that in multiple scenes people were posed exactly like Henry, making us think that viewers were either in Henry’s mind or he was in the characters’ minds. Will’s hands were seen like this on the WSQK tower first. Then, the graduation scene showed every student posing like him. I find it odd because we were never told if this theory was true or not.
Another theory that didn’t sit right with me was the fact that in episode eight, “The Rightside Up,” Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) was seen in the water tank in the Upside Down. This detail confused the fans, which furthered the bandwagon of Conformity Gate. Based on the knowledge that water cannot exist in the Upside Down, this scene of Eleven in the tank should not be possible. So, how was there water in the tank? People believed that again, we were in a trance of Vecna during this time, twisting up prominent details that he wouldn’t know but we would.
The last prominent hole talked about in episode eight that made Conformity Gate believable was character Lucas Sinclair (Caleb Mclaughlin) saying, “I don’t think anything’s a coincidence anymore.” What I don’t understand is how there were so many holes and “coincidences” that all clicked into place that made it seem like the Duffer Brothers had more to offer. Conformity Gate believers knew that the Duffer Brothers would be geniuses for giving us the psych-out of the century or be complete idiots and waste the opportunity of an ending that tied up all loose ends.
At this point, supporting Conformity Gate sounds far-fetched, but this list of crucial questions and factors make the theory seem beyond reasonable. Why were there no demodogs? Why did the epilogue say they graduated in 1989 but the Hawkins merch has the graduation year as 1987? Why was seven a significant number but nothing was released on Jan. 7? How did Kali Prasad (Linnea Birthelsen) help Eleven with the final illusion if she was dead? Why were there only two waterfalls instead of three if this were the real ending? How did Jim Hopper (David Harbour) retrieve Jonathan’s ring from the Upside Down to propose to Joyce Byers? How did Max graduate if she was in a coma for two years? What was the dust coming out of the kids’ mouth and what did that mean for them? How did they defeat the huge monster in episode eight so easily? What significance do the D+D books have on the shelves, spelling out ‘ACT II’ and ‘X-LIE’? Why did “Heroes” by David Bowie play at the end when previously it only played when there were fake deaths in “Stranger Things”…
This list could go on and on, but if this doesn’t influence you to join Conformity Gate, I’m not sure what else will. The Duffer Brothers had the chance of a lifetime to write in a way no writer ever has before, but the chance was lost.
After watching the documentary, I now understand why the plot holes were present. The Duffer Brothers, being as skilled writers as they are, did not finish the script until filming was almost over. They were not sure how they should end the series, which I believe takes into account all of the errors and plot holes. Because I still believe that this isn’t the end, Conformity Gate announced their last theory that the Duffer Brothers may release something in July, marking their 10th year anniversary for “Stranger Things,” but also being the seventh month of the year.
The Duffer Brothers may have screwed us over, but in the end, I do still believe.
