This week, a false rumor about a hidden “Conformity Gate” episode of Stranger Things caused a lot of trouble online. The theory, which claimed there was a ninth episode to Season 5, became so popular that it overloaded Netflix’s servers and caused the platform to temporarily go down on January 7th.
Netflix just crashed as users logged in for Stranger Things 5’s secret episode
On January 7, 2026, around 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Netflix went down just as fans were eagerly waiting for a surprise ninth episode of Stranger Things 5, titled “Conformity Gate.”
A false theory spread on TikTok and Reddit claimed that the finale of ‘Stranger Things,’ released December 31st, wasn’t the real ending and a surprise episode would follow. Culture Crave reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Netflix experienced outages as fans believed a secret final episode was coming. Pop Base confirmed that Netflix crashed due to anticipation for a ninth episode of the final season, but no new episode was released.
Netflix didn’t publicly address the service disruption, but they did appear to update the official Instagram page for ‘Stranger Things’ on January 7th, stating that all episodes were now available. The creators, the Duffer brothers, had already told The Hollywood Reporter that the current season concludes the story for the main characters.
A popular fan theory proposed that the ending of Season 5 wasn’t real, but an illusion crafted by the villain, Vecna. This idea gained traction due to clues like the repeated use of clocks and hidden Morse code messages. For example, a promotional image featuring a clock showing 1:07 fueled speculation that a new episode would be released on January 7th at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Even though nothing happened, fans kept sharing a theory online using the hashtag #ConformityGate. DiscussingFilm reported that Netflix experienced a crash as many viewers anticipated a surprise final episode of ‘Stranger Things’.
According to a user on X: “Nexflix crashed over ‘stranger things episode 9.’”
Instead of a new season, Netflix revealed a documentary called ‘One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5,’ which will be available on January 12th.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on ComingSoon.
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2026-01-08 08:06