Netflix crashes as Stranger Things fans overload system trying to watch episode 9

Well, Stranger Things fans have officially made history. On January 7, the Stranger Things fandom managed to crash the Netflix servers, overloading the streaming service at 8 p.m. ET all to watch an episode of TV that didn’t actually exist. 

This marks the fourth time Stranger Things fans have caused Netflix to crash, but the first time the crash comes without there actually being any new episodes to watch. Fans were so convinced by the Conformity Gate theory that they crashed Netflix on January 7 hoping to be able to watch a ninth episode that never existed.

Widespread outage reports began flooding in at the top of the hour at 8 p.m. when fans believed this ninth episode would arrive based on Netflix releasing the previous episodes of Stranger Things season 5 at 8 p.m. ET. The crash prevented users from accessing their Netflix accounts, with some users even reported being kicked out of their programs while watching due to the crash.

It didn't take long for fans to take to X to react to the crash, with many fans pointing out how insane it is that fans hated the series finale so much, they crashed Netflix in hopes of getting an alternate ending. Fans couldn't help from roasting the Duffer Brothers and just how wild it was that fans crashed Netflix in hopes of watching an episode that was never even real.

Some fans couldn't help but to simply laugh at the absurdity of the situation, and understandably so. After all, there was no official announcement from Netflix that ever suggested a bonus episode was coming. This was all the result of speculation from fans convinced that the series finale was just a fake out and that the real ending was coming on January 7.

It honestly is unbelievable that the fandom was so convinced that there was a bonus episode being added to Netflix that they caused the platform to crash.

While it was clear the Conformity Gate theory had gained a lot of traction, I don't think anyone could have predicted that the theory would take off the way it did. The fact that the theory became so viral that millions of users tried to log onto Netflix at 8 p.m. on January 7 to watch the bonus episode they though was coming is wild.

Regardless of how you felt about the series finale, it's clear that the Duffer Brothers succeeded in creating a season that will never be forgotten. For some, this is because they enjoyed the journey the show took them on and how the season ended. For others, the season will go down as a disappointing close to Netflix's biggest show. No matter which camp you fall into, you have to admit that the Duffers succeeded in giving us a lot to discuss.