Netflix has a definitive statement on the matter, as seen on the show’s official Instagram.

Stranger Things bonus episode theory debunked: Netflix confirms ‘all episodes’ are streaming

Netflix has a definitive statement on the matter, as seen on the show's official Instagram.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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January 7, 2026 3:41 p.m. ET

Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Noah Schnapp, and Gaten Matarazzo in 'Stranger Things' series finale. Credit:

Courtesy of Netflix

We all should've seen this coming, but just to put a pin on a theory that went too viral for its own good, there is no secret *Stranger Things* bonus episode coming to Netflix, ** has learned.

The "Conformity Gate" theory, as it came to be known online, suggested there could be a ninth episode to the fifth and final season that would drop on the streaming platform this week — based on supposed clues in the 2-hour-plus finale. At the risk of putting too fine a point on the matter, the bio of Netflix's official *Stranger Things* Instagram account now reads in all caps, "ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING."

And no additional episode beyond the finale, titled "The Rightside Up," is currently available to stream.

Millie Bobby Brown's last scene as Eleven on 'Stranger Things'.

Fans have long scrutinized the minute details of every episode in the hopes of discovering some hidden message or meaning. Despite the fact that the evidence for this particular theory was suspect at best, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have always been adamant that the story of these characters on *Stranger Things* came to a definitive end with the finale that dropped on New Year's Eve — including during various interviews with EW.

"The final episode is, in fact, the end of this story for these characters," Matt Duffer told EW back in November. "So it's highly emotional — and much more emotional than Volume 1."

The final scene shot for the mothership series is the last piece of the finale episode with the *Dungeons & Dragons* game and the shot of the closed door behind Finn Wolfhard's Mike Wheeler, which the Duffers explained symbolized the closure of this coming-of-age story. "It was always gonna end in a *D&D* campaign and then leaving and shutting the door on their childhood," Ross said separately. "That's been planned for eight years."

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) versus Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) on 'Stranger Things'.

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For anyone now disappointed after getting swept up in the hype of the theory, this isn't the end of *Stranger Things* as a franchise. Next week will see the release of a making-of documentary about season 5, called *One Last Adventure*. It arrives on Monday, Jan. 12.

This year will also see the release of the animated *Stranger Things: Tales From '85*, which takes place in between the events of seasons 2 and 3 in the year 1985. Showrunner Eric Robles previously teased to EW that the mystery plot will entail "Hawkins Lab science meets Upside Down matter."

The Duffers are also planning a live-action spinoff series. Season 5's cave scene involving a young Henry Creel and the substance he finds in a scientist's briefcase hints to that project. "It's its own mythology. So it's very, very different," Matt said. "It's not a spinoff about the Mind Flayer. I don't want to set up false expectations, but for people who are frustrated that they don't know exactly where that scientist came from, how he's in the cave, what the glowing rock is, at some point, that will be answered for you."

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Source: “EW Sci-Fi”