The finale of Stranger Things received mixed reactions from fans, and sparked the spread of the so-called Conformity Gate theory — which posited that the show’s story still wasn’t over, and that Netflix had a secret final-final episode waiting in the wings. (It does not.)
“At first, I thought the ‘Conformity Gate’ theory was dumb,” McLaughlin, who played Lucas Sinclair, told The Hollywood Reporter. “I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, ‘Oh, we want more Stranger Things,’ but the show is done, guys. I was like, ‘Guys, it’s over. It’s been 10 years. We were full-on kids, and now we’re full-on adults, and we don’t need any more of us.'”
Instead, Sinclair continued, Stranger Things ended exactly as he believed it should have ended — with a “level of optimism” for nearly every character and with the series’ main group of friends, now adults, finishing a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. It’s a final scene that Stranger Things’ creators the Duffer brothers have also said they had planned since the series’ inception.
“We started off season one playing Dungeons & Dragons, and we ended just like that,” Sinclair said. “And Mike [Wheeler]’s storytelling and writing ability is how the show should have ended.
“I think people missed the concept of what the show is when they were like ‘Oh, there’s going to be more,'” he continued. “No, that’s just Mike’s imagination. That’s who he’s always been, even in season 1. It’s all just storytelling.'”
Not everyone on the show’s cast is in agreement. Matthew Modine, who played the character of Dr. Martin “Papa” Brenner, said only last week that he disliked the series’ finale and hoped “for the fans” that the Conformity Gate conspiracy was actually true. And while Stranger Things itself may have ended, the franchise will continue in several forms — both with a live-action TV spin-off with fresh characters, but also the animated Stranger Things ’85, which features Sinclair’s character and his friends having further adventures while younger.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Netflix was also filming Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the franchise’s live stage show which includes important backstory for the young Vecna himself, Henry Creel. While not a new episode of the main series, the play’s canon story does fill in a few blanks not answered in its finale.
Lastly, Sinclair touched on the one character who did not receive a warm and fuzzy ending at the end of Stranger Things. The fate of Millie Bobby Brown’s character Eleven was left open to interpretation — though fans and other actors from the series have suggested it’s likely that she died.
“She’s gone,” Sinclair concluded. “I’m so sorry. I think she evaporated.”
Image credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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