I take advantage of the documentary to finally give my opinion on conformitygate (English isn’t my first language and I’m coming off a 12-hour shift, with another one starting in a few hours, so please be kind).
First of all: do I believe in conformitygate? Absolutely yes (I predicted it on December 27 when no one was talking about it yet and episode 8 hadn’t even aired, so you can imagine).
Do I believe it could/could have happened? Naturally yes. The theories developed are detailed for a reason, they weren’t made randomly. And not only the ones made so far; the documentary itself shows blatant evidence.
Do I think it will happen? I would have said yes 100% until yesterday, today I don’t know. Maybe more no than yes, but I think you can help me get a clearer idea (I mean those who believed in it, analyzed it, or still believe. The post is long but please follow along, interact, and tell me what you think, cause I’m terrible with dates, I never remember them.)
As much as I’ve always been in favor of conformitygate, I’ve NEVER understood why everyone was so convinced that this ep9 (and why only one episode?) would come out on January 7.
To me, it was madness. Stranger Things is Netflix’s golden goose (the only ones approaching it could be Bridgerton, which however takes a smaller part of the audience than ST; and Wednesday and OnePiece, which still doesn’t reach those levels), they’d never allow a “genius move” like that to be revealed without profiting from it (here my friend @tvheartbreak explains it better). That’s why I didn’t believe in the 7th, nor in any other date in January, like the 10th, 11th, or today. Or rather, I never believed an alternate finale would come out on those dates.
Full disclosure: I thought (and maybe still do?) that there are many other dates. The two I was focusing on were: March 22, but especially November 6.
This made sense to me. Netflix already has its “peaks” to profit from (mostly subscriptions, but generally) this month: ST episode 8 + Bridgerton Vol. 1. Same for February, when Vol. 2 will come out. In March comes One Piece (+ I think Peaky Blinders movie). And then? Maybe The Witcher at the end of the year? But even then, after Henry Cavill’s departure, it’s more loss than gain. So, again, if there were an alternate finale, I was convinced it’d have been November 6.
And what does this have to do with the documentary? Simple. Because you have to strike while the iron is hot, but do it smartly. so instead of releasing it outright, you drop a hint. I thought they’d ride the wave, and the documentary would kick off the promotion. Imagine seeing exactly what we saw today, but in the last 30 seconds one of the actors (I think Finn, Noah, Jamie, or Millie) asks: “So this is it, the finale of our stories?” and the Duffers give a vague answer.
Or confirming that recent interpretations were right, someone asks: “So Vecna won?” and the Duffers reply: “So it was thought, my friends. So it was thought…”
Or again: a shot of Finn, a flash to Mike walking up the stairs, the door closes, black screen, and a whispered: “Wake up, Mike, wake up…”
Anyway, I’m not great at writing, but you get the idea. I expected them to send a short, clear 30sec hint to show there was more. Because for us who analyze, everything we’ve talked about so far is concrete, but do you really think the GA will do or read our theories? Like analyzing the silver cat’s message; when blue meets yellow in the West? Or noticing Steve became a baseball coach just because Vecna always saw him with a bat? No offense, because we all have loved ones who belong to the general audience, but 90% of them are just fools who wanted to see some special effects. Sadly, they make up the majority of viewers, so they have to be involved too.
So, do I believe in conformitygate? Absolutely and unfortunately yes. But I don’t see how it could be promoted now. The documentary was the only way to engage the GA. And I can’t find other dates for dropping the bomb. January 14 because it’s Orthodox New Year? January 20 because of the dice? January 17 because WSQK has something going on? GA doesn’t even have the slightest idea what WSQK is💀
Meanwhile, the documentary is something everyone was guaranteed to watch. Sure, we’re still talking about Stranger Things; even if they announced it on a random day it would still be news, but it doesn’t make much sense, especially with Bridgerton’s release approaching.
I don’t know, sorry for the super long post; maybe I’m just clinging to hope, or maybe I’m just sad and angry, or maybe it simply drives me crazy, the total lack of logical sense.
Edit: Finn on SNL on January 17th. I see this date as completely impossible too, he’ll probably just crack a couple of jokes (which will almost certainly nuke both M11 and Byler, LOL).
