Not long after the Stranger Things 5 finale was released on Netflix, some fans took to TikTok and other social media apps to spread rumors of a ninth episode of Stranger Things 5.
Dubbed Conformity Gate, the theory suggested that the Duffer brothers had a super secret episode of the series to be released after the finale and certain inconsistencies were proof.
While it's honestly a big joke to most fans, some fans were convinced that it was real and a new episode's release was imminent. For me, I don't, and never have, believed a new, secret episode is on the way, but I do think Stranger Things 5 episode 9 should have happened for other reasons.
Stranger Things 5 could have used more downtime to spend with these characters
Overall, I loved Stranger Things 5. When you look at the whole body of work together as a cohesive story, it makes so much sense that the Duffer brothers and the writers made the choices they did. It's a big, fun, and thrilling conclusion to an epic series that started as a small show that grew into the biggest show in the world over the course of a decade.
Some parts of the series, and the finale, don't exactly work that well. There are some questions that were answered off-screen, and there were other things that could have been included, but these criticisms are overblown.
Stranger Things 5 begins 18 months after the fourth season's events, and we jump right into the action when things go wrong on Hopper's latest Crawl. We see Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) taken by the Demogorgon, and then it's a race against Vecna's clock, literally, to stop him from destroying the world.
Ultimately, one of the things that I love about Stranger Things is those moments between all the action. I wanted to spend more time with these characters. With such a big ensemble cast, it would have made perfect sense to me to stretch the story into another episode and allow fans to spend as much time as possible with all these great characters.
We could have learned more about their plans after all this is over. We could have learned more about what happened in those 18 months with Hawkins. Most importantly, we could have just watched these characters enjoy each other's company.
We barely saw Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) with any other characters outside of Hopper this season. I think we can all agree that Eleven, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp) and Max (Sadie Sink) should have been together a lot more.
And, no offense, but we barely saw Winona Ryder this season! I know she had some iconic moments, but they were so few and far between.
The Stranger Things finale felt a little bit rushed at the end
So, an extra episode helps solve that problem with timing, pacing, and getting to spend more time in this world. It also would have given the Duffer brothers and the writers more time to let fans sit with that conclusion in the finale.
We got an epic battle that wrapped up pretty quickly, Eleven making a huge decision, and then another time jump to graduation day.
I loved the graduation scenes, the "adults" catching up at the Squawk, Joyce and Hopper's engagement, and the ending in the Wheeler's basement. All of those scenes were perfect, but I could have used more. I love The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ending because you get like five different endings. We could have seen that with Stranger Things if some of the events of the finale are spread out a little bit better.
Stranger Things season 2 and season 4 also have nine episodes
Look, I love every season of Stranger Things. The first and third seasons work perfectly with eight episodes. The second and fourth seasons were both nine episodes. There's been a lot of debate about that nine-episode second season, but I think it works. The fourth season is absolutely better with nine episodes. They would have cut so much if they brought it home with only eight episodes.
Stranger Things 5 makes sense as an eight-episode season because things pick up so quickly after that huge battle at the MAC-Z in "Chapter Four: Sorcerer." It feels like we start to get started on the descent during those episodes, you know? We start to find out what Vecna is really up to, and they put the plan together to save him. We see them rescue Max, finally, and Jonathan and Nancy have an incredible moment together when they think they're going to die. It's just a really great stretch of episodes, but I think we could have had more of a pause in there to really enjoy this journey.
We probably needed to learn more of Henry Creel's past
Speaking standalone episodes, I thought we were going to learn a lot more about Henry Creel's past, including the events of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the play. It was really interesting that Stranger Things 5 referenced that lore without fully diving in and letting viewers see Henry in high school. We know from that play that there is one key event that happens that sets Henry on an unredeemable path.
We obviously learn what happens in the cave, but I was really hoping that we'd learn more about Henry. Then through Max living in Henry's memories, she could have been the key that unlocks how to beat him.
In the end, I'm fine with how it all played out, but I think we were all expecting a reference to Patty or something like that to give more context. That could have brought the story full circle with a cleaner ending.
So, those are the reasons I think we needed another episode of Stranger Things 5, but after all of that, I'm just glad that Conformity Gate isn't real. Now, fans can close the door on this story... until the spinoff.