Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | February 12, 2026
When Game of Thrones ended, it left my brain immediately. I enjoyed the show quite a bit, had been watching it for the better part of a decade, and I even enjoyed the final season (mainly because I had been saying Daenerys was due for a villainous turn since the second season). I even rewatched the entire thing leading up to the finale! I was and, I guess, still am a fan. But I don’t think I’ll ever watch it again, lest my kids decide to dig into it when they’re old enough in 14 years, and by then they may be too preoccupied trying to trade me for gasoline.
But that hasn’t been the case with Stranger Things, which is the most recent show of such magnitude that I watched along with everyone else, despite the aforementioned children. I really enjoyed that show, and I had a good time with the finale. There’s no pretending that it’s perfect on my part (few things are), but my wife and I had a good time ringing in the new year by going on a final adventure with this team of 20-year-old teenagers. There are maybe some things I would have wanted to see handled differently, but not once did I assume there was some secret, “better” conclusion on the way. Some fans did just that.
One such theory, which I am only today learning had a name, was “Conformity Gate.” Some fans were convinced that the epilogue of the show, which saw many of the characters move on with their lives post a final battle with Vecna, was actually a creation by the monster, trapping the heroes in a For The Man Who Has Everything scenario where they are trapped in a mental projection that they find soothing enough not to resist. Then, these fans theorized that a proper episode would premiere the following week. That didn’t happen.
I’m not one to indulge in theories or criticisms that are essentially, “I wanted something different to happen, and if that thing happened, this would be better.” I get it, but it’s just not my bag. If you wanted something different, fine, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it would have been better (and, at the end of the day, wouldn’t be the artists’ vision most of the time). Caleb McLaughlin, who played Lucas on Stranger Things, was also not very forgiving when discussing the fan theory with The Hollywood Reporter.
“At first, I thought the Conformity Gate theory was dumb. I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, ‘Oh, we want more Stranger Things,’ but I was like, ‘Guys, it’s over. It’s been ten years,’” McLaughlin explained to the outlet. “I think people missed the concept of what the show is when they were like, ‘Oh, there’s going to be more.’ No, that’s just Mike’s imagination. That’s who he’s always been, even in season one. It’s all just storytelling.” When it came to whether or not Eleven was still alive, he was even more blunt, saying, “Yeah, she’s gone. I’m so sorry. I think she evaporated.”
The Stranger Things train is still rolling, fan theories and all. Hell, the Broadway play is even being filmed for Netflix (way too late, I might add). There’s also a spinoff cartoon coming that I could not be less interested in, much in the same way that I haven’t watched any of the Game of Thrones spinoffs. But, despite liking finales for both shows, Stranger Things will likely get a rewatch a lot sooner (if it happens at all).
