Why I believe in Conformity Gate

Hawkins 1989 graduation

Stranger Things has never been a show that does things accidentally. Repeated imagery, epic character arcs, and clues left throughout seasons have proven that the Duffer Brothers are intentional with their storytelling. This is why I choose (even after it’s been disproven) to believe in the Conformity Gate theory. When you look closely, the evidence, hints, and unanswered questions across the seasons make Conformity Gate feel not only possible, but likely.

The idea behind Conformity Gate is that the eighth and final episode of the fifth season of Stranger Things was fake. The kids did not defeat Vecna, and Hawkins hasn’t returned to normal. Rather, it’s an illusion. We’ve seen throughout the show that Vecna can make characters see things: Chrissy, her mother; Fred, the little boy that he hurt in the car accident; Max, Billy. Fans began to notice that the ending included many plot holes. Why did they never resolve the future of Murray, Erica, or Vicky? Why is Steve coaching baseball when there’s never been any mention of him playing the sport (suspicious, considering Vecna traditionally sees Steve with his baseball bat as his weapon)? How come all their graduation gowns are orange when traditionally in Hawkins they’ve been green? Why do both Nancy and Mike start to look more and more like their parents, when we know that’s their greatest fear? Why does everyone (yes, literally everyone in the audience) sit at the graduation with their hands crossed in their laps in the patented Vecna-manipulation way? These questions led fans to believe that this future wasn’t really THE future, but rather an illusion created to distract the protagonist as darker things brewed underneath. Anyone could spend hours going down the conformity gate rabbit hole and looking for clues, but what interests me is how much conformity gate makes sense in a larger context of what we know about Hawkins, dimension X, and the upside down. 

The idea that Hawkins, specifically the systems and social pressures within it, plays an active role in sustaining or enabling the Upside Down is evident. Hawkins is a town obsessed with normalcy. Anything that remotely deviates from the norm is ignored, ridiculed, or actively suppressed. From the beginning, characters who don’t conform are punished for it. The town’s instinct is always denial. This matters because the Upside Down thrives, not on conformity, but on change. The wormhole breakthrough revealed to all of us that the upside-down was nothing more than a gateway between worlds. However, the world at the other end, Dimension X, is still a mystery to us. Conformity Gate suggests that the pressure to blend in, stay quiet, and follow the rules creates the perfect conditions for something darker to exist beneath the surface. 

Several character arcs subtly support this theory. Will’s connection to the Upside Down is tied to his emotional suppression and fear of being different. Eleven’s powers weaken when she is forced into “normal” life, stripped of identity, or told to behave like everyone else. Vecna’s victims are often people who feel isolated, ashamed, or trapped by expectations (Chrissy, Fred, Max). This pattern suggests that emotional repression isn’t just a theme; it’s a mechanism. Conformity isn’t neutral in Stranger Things; it’s dangerous.

The show repeatedly uses imagery of mirrors, basements, tunnels, and locked doors, spaces where things are hidden rather than confronted. Hawkins High, the mall, and suburban homes all represent structured normalcy, while danger festers underneath. The Upside Down itself is a distorted mirror of Hawkins, implying that what the town refuses to acknowledge manifests in another form. These visual cues feel like hints that conformity doesn’t erase problems; it rather displaces them.

One of the biggest unanswered questions in Stranger Things is why Hawkins is so uniquely vulnerable. Why this town? Conformity Gate explains: Hawkins isn’t just unlucky; it’s emotionally and socially primed. The adults’ refusal to listen, institutions’ obsession with control, and the town’s hostility toward difference create cracks that allow the Upside Down to persist. Without this lens, the repeated disasters start to feel coincidental. With it, they feel systemic. If Conformity Gate is real, then defeating the Upside Down isn’t just about closing portals, but about breaking cycles. That could mean truth being exposed, secrets coming out, or characters fully embracing who they are without fear. It would explain why personal growth and emotional honesty are often what save characters, not just weapons or powers. The final conflict may not be about destroying the Upside Down, but about refusing to let Hawkins keep pretending nothing is wrong.

What makes Conformity Gate compelling isn’t just that it fits the plot; it fits the message. Stranger Things has always been about outsiders, found family, and the danger of silence. The idea that conformity itself is a gateway feels intentional, especially in a story centered on kids who survive by being unapologetically themselves. In the end, Conformity Gate isn’t just a fan theory. It’s a lens that makes the story sharper, darker, and more meaningful. And if Stranger Things has taught us anything, it’s that the real monsters aren’t always from another world, but sometimes they’re built by the one we refuse to question.