Jamie Campbell Bower Just Ended the Conformity Gate Debate With the Ending Stranger Things Deserves

Spoilers ahead for the Stranger Things Season 5 finale. If you rang in the New Year with Hawkins, you already know the ending lit up the internet like a string of Christmas lights. Since the finale dropped on December 31, 2025, a fan theory nicknamed 'Conformity Gate' has been everywhere, arguing that the episode we watched is not the real ending at all.

The short version: some viewers think Vecna engineered a fake reality to lull everyone into accepting a neat, tidy finale. In the most galaxy-brain version of the theory, there is a secret ninth episode waiting in the wings to reveal the 'true' chain of events. It is bold. It is cinematic. It is also very likely not a thing.

Jamie Campbell Bower weighs in

Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna, addressed the chatter on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He did not dodge the question.

"Yeah. It is the ending the show deserves... Even as the actor that plays Vecna, it feels right. You know, the show is so much about friendship and love and hope and joy. And of course, the person who is not that has to go... All he really needs is a hug, though."

Translation: he is firmly in the 'this is the ending' camp, and he thinks it fits what the show has always been about.

Why the theory took off

I get why people bit. Season 5 leans hard into perception and manipulation — Vecna and the Mind Flayer blur lines between what's real and what's constructed — so an illusion-based twist sounds possible on its face. And fandoms have been here before. The online reaction has echoes of the post-finale spirals around Sherlock and Supernatural, where corners of the audience insisted the aired ending was a decoy.

The problem with 'Conformity Gate'

Start with the obvious: a surprise episode would blow up months of Netflix marketing, a full round of reviews, and even Netflix's theatrical rollout plans tied to the finale. The Duffer Brothers have been clear that the story ends with the episode you already watched. There is not some mystery cache of footage waiting to drop.

Then there is the text of the finale. The big beats undercut the idea that the show forces everyone into a bland, cookie-cutter life. Those D&D-style flash-forwards tease ongoing adventures rather than boxed-up closure, and Eleven's arc is framed as a sacrifice on her own terms, not a surrender to some hive-mind ending.

• Joyce: Not domesticated into submission. She is engaged to Hopper and still very much her own person.
• Eleven: No puppet strings. Her sacrifice reads as independent and heroic, not the product of a controlled illusion.
• Nancy: She charts her own path, doubling down on journalism and personal independence.
• Mike: The flashes ahead suggest he is still chasing adventure, not settling for suburban autopilot.
• Will: He is living openly as a gay man — not boxed in by the town or the timeline.
• Steve: He sticks around Hawkins, while the others head out — including a move to Montauk — which tells you life continues beyond the small-town bubble.

The 'evidence' fans are pointing to

This is the part where the clues get extremely granular. People have cataloged everything from Hawkins High graduation staging to hand positions that resemble Vecna's victims. Orange graduation gowns, conveniently placed Dungeons & Dragons books, repeated exit signs, and little set quirks are all being treated like breadcrumbs. Some are even drawing comparisons to The Truman Show to argue the finale is deliberately artificial.

Then there is the numerology: dice motifs, lots of sevens, Christmas timing — which has led to predictions that January 7 would be the day a hidden ninth episode drops and reveals the 'real' ending. The issue is that this is mostly pattern-spotting, not backed by any credible leak. It makes for a fun scavenger hunt; it is not a production plan.

What this actually says about the show

Honestly, 'Conformity Gate' feels less like a secret-episode breadcrumb trail and more like a sign that some fans miss the darker, early-season edge and are resisting the warmer, hopeful tone of Season 5. That shift is intentional. Stranger Things has always balanced monsters with friendship, loss with optimism. Ending on a brighter note is not a betrayal; it is the point.

Will the theory ever fully die? Probably not. The internet loves a red-string board. But with Bower saying the finale is 'the ending the show deserves' and the Duffers closing the book, the safer bet is that what you watched is the real deal. If Netflix ever does pull a rabbit out of the hat, I will happily eat crow — but I would not clear your schedule for a phantom ninth episode.

Stranger Things Season 5 is streaming exclusively on Netflix.