History Fridge / SamAndMaxFreelancePolice

* In Situation: Comedy, Bosco says thirty shillings equals one million American dollars when that amount is only less than 3 usd at the time. CriticalResearchFailure on the writers' part... or Bosco subtly exploiting Sam and Max's ignorance to gouge them even more. He explicitly admits to making up higher prices after the duo ''keep paying them'' without complaint.

* In the very first episode, we learn Max is naturally immune to hypnosis and brainwashing. The following episode, after Sam gets hypnotized himself (see HypnoticHead), he gets himself some kind of hypnosis-proof hat. [[spoiler: The former would explain perfectly well why in "They Stole Max's Brain!", after Sammun-Mak rewrites history and makes himself ruler of all creation, Max is able to recall what actually happened and recognize that history was rewritten. Why not Sam? The first thing Sam does upon discovering Max's brain was stolen and going on his noirish RoaringRampageOfRevenge is ditch his trenchcoat and hat. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job screwing yourself there, Sam.]] ]]
** The same trick is pulled in "Beyond the Alley of the Dolls." One of the Samulacra/Dogglegangers steals Sam's hat early on, leaving him without it for the majority of the episode and leaving him vulnerable to [[spoiler: Charlie Ho-Tep's mind control.]]

* During the text adventure in "Reality 2.0," you go down to discover the Shambling Corporate Presence. Since they went down, they would presumably be entering the underground sewers. [[spoiler: It's not until the next season that you learn that the Shambling Corporate Presence is a demon, and the gateway to hell is directly under their building, in... wait for it... the sewers. So it's not actually that improbable that an entity like the SCP would be there. Not that they'd know that; since the graphics weren't working, they wouldn't be able to tell where they were at the time, which is why they didn't notice the gateway-to-hell thing earlier.]]
* The Devil doesn't factor in to "The Devil's Playhouse" at all, [[spoiler: except as an extra in the finale.]] The title is later explained to have come from the saying "Idle hands are the devil's playthings." If this is true, then an idle mind would be [[TitleDrop the devil's playhouse.]] The name of the toychest itself, The Devil's Toybox, most likely refers to the fact that the Toys of Power are being used for meaningless purposes by the aforementioned idle minds. [[spoiler: As Max's neglected Superego, The Narrator explains that this is why he referred to it as ''his'' playhouse in the beginning - he's an entity of Max's mind, but Max [[MundaneUtility only uses his incredible powers for the most pointless things.]]]]
* In "The Tomb of Sammun-Mak," the player has to try and get Charlie Ho-Tep from Nefertiti; but she's unwilling to give him up, because InUniverse she claims to [[CargoShip be in love with him.]] [[spoiler: Then, two episodes later, we learn that Charlie's actually sentient, making the concept of a romance between them a hell of a lot less creepy and pathetic, though still kind of improbable.]]
* In the finale of 305, we learn that [[spoiler: the Max that appears in the time elevator is alone because Sam turned into a giant monster after developing electromagnetic powers in an alternate timeline and he left to presumably find Sam at some other point in time]]. How did this occur? Remember the [[spoiler: Time-Traveling Mariachis from 204]]? On-board their ship, you meet a past version of Sam & Max from 102, where you get their [[spoiler: recording contract]], which they need to get on Myra's show, instead giving them the [[spoiler: screwdriver]]. Thus, you presumably forced them to use THAT instead of what they originally needed, causing a time paradox that altered their timeline, thus causing the events that lead to [[spoiler: Max being the one to survive, rather than Sam]].
* Unintentional, but [[spoiler:Max's super-ego]] is tired of being unused and neglected. He is voiced by Andrew Chaikin, who voiced Max back in 101. Seems they both went "unused" for a while.
* Given everything we learn during the events of Season Three, it makes an oddly large amount of sense that back in 103, [[spoiler:a moleman became the leader of the Toy Mafia]].
* "Please poke the eyes to see an ancient and brutal civilization spring to life."[[spoiler:Wait, you mean the one that occurs after Sammun-Mak gets close to the Toybox after Papierwaite breaks it off with Skun'ka'pe? You know, because his minion assaulted Sal after Sal]]''[[spoiler: poked him in the eye?]]''
* This may not be intentional, but at the very ending of 305, there are two possible explanations for [[spoiler: Max's head catching on fire, even though the Narrator stayed behind to fix it. Either his efforts failed, or what he said to Sam was just a lie, his grudge against Max was intact and he sabotaged the situation. The latter seems a bit more likely, considering two lines. When Sam asks what the Narrator is doing in Max's brain, the Narrator replies that he is Max's brain. And right before Max's head catches fire, one of the spores complains that "''my head is killing me''".]]
* How did Papierwaite stay alive for so long? Generic dark magic, right? Not quite. He says to Max in 303 that the secret of his apparent immortality is too bizarre for the mortal mind to comprehend. Sure, dark magic can probably [[GoMadFromTheRevelation cause insanity]]. But in 305, [[spoiler: he and Yog-Soggoth are exposed to radiation, and Yog-Soggoth comments that they'll have to wait out the half-life, making it necessary for them to stick together another hundred years. As long as Yog-Soggoth and Papierwaite are stuck together, he cannot die. And elder beasts are infamous for making mortal minds go mad...]]

*** Given that Sammun-Mak refers to Papierwaite as "a lowly scribe" if you examine his books, and Sammun-Mak has a general tendency for viewing everyone as beneath him, this statement seems like just another joke. [[spoiler: But it also serves as foreshadowing that there's another presence waiting in the wings.]]
* After meeting with Specs making graffiti of Brady Culture, Max says he needs to paint him next. [[spoiler: Guess what Specs is seen doing in the ending?]]
* Sam's line after [[spoiler: the banana peel fakeout]] in 301 didn't make sense to me at first beyond misleading us in the future vision... but then I realized that by "oldest trick in the book", he could've been referring to the [[spoiler: BaitAndSwitch]]!
* In Situation: Comedy, Bosco says thirty shillings equals one million American dollars when that amount is only less than 3 usd at the time. CriticalResearchFailure on the writers part or Bosco subtling exploiting Sam and Max's ignorance to gouge them.

** Certain specific hallucinated images are actually pretty disturbing when you think about their implication. In ''Episode 4'', Max 'sees' [[RealityWarper Sammun-Mak]] in Papierwaite's office, surrounded by hovering Lugers pointing at his head. This implies there is another world where Max failed to conquer Sammun-Mak, and the false reality he created still existed - and in that reality, the world was under an oppressive rule where the Moles were ghettoised, and Max was a ''disembodied brain''.
** If you think about it, the events of the third season very likely could have been avoided had Skun'kape not used the Eyes of Yog Soggoth to make accommodations and prevent himself from being trapped in the Penal Zone again, the fact that in the first part of the game, it shows how the events were ''supposed'' to be played out, it shows a scenario where they saved the world again, with Sam & Max getting the key to the city, meaning that the entire conflict with the Devils Toybox could have been avoided if [[ScrewDestiny one ape didn't use future vision to stop the whole thing]].
** The Narrator is [[GhostInTheMachine a representation of Max's superego]]. The Narrator is trying to destroy both himself and Max in a horrible psychic explosion by goading Max into pushing his powers too far and killing himself. Bottom line - part of Max's mind was DrivenToSuicide, suggesting Max is probably even more ''genuinely'' [[DefectiveDetective messed up]] than [[HeroicComedicSociopath we previously assumed]].
** [[spoiler: The Narrator is the manifestation of Max's superego, meaning that he's simply the personification of a part of his subconscious. After the reveal that he was season three's BigBad, Sam demands to know what his goals are, and he explains that all he wants to do is to "let it all end." This implies that Max has suicidal tendencies.]] When you realize this, it makes you wonder what, exactly, ''happened'' to Max to make him like this. He's obviously unstable, it's been implied several times that his childhood was a traumatic one, he suffers from night terrors, he's been to therapy in the past...maybe he's more messed up then we thought at first.

* Max was president during Season 3, meaning [[spoiler: the country is left without a president after he dies. And even if the Past Max takes over the role, the president still became a gigantic monster that nearly destroyed New York, meaning [[HeroWithBadPublicity he's probably in for a difficult reelection campaign.]]]]
** Partially avoided thanks to [[spoiler:agent Superball becoming the temporary president during episode 305.]] Then a conversation in [[VideoGame/PokerNight2 Poker Night 2]] about voting has Sam mention that he [[spoiler:voted to re-elect Superball]].

* Related to the above, the process for undoing hypnosis and brainwashing involves "destroying the inturder (the brainwasher) in their mind". Given how incredibly violently psychotic Max is at the best of times, it's unlikely ANY being in his mind doesn't get killed constantly, not to mention a foreign one, so of course he's immune.

* In "The Tomb of Sammun-Mak," the player has to try and get Charlie Ho-Tep from Nefertiti; but she's unwilling to give him up, because [[{{In-Universe}} she claims to]] [[CargoShip be in love with him.]] [[spoiler: Then, two episodes later, we learn that Charlie's actually sentient, making the concept of a romance between them a hell of a lot less creepy and pathetic, though still kind of improbable.]]

** If you think about it, the events of the third season very likely could have been avoided had Skun'kape not [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy used the Eyes of Yog Soggoth to make accommodations and prevent himself from being trapped in the Penal Zone again]], the fact that in the first part of the game, it shows how the events were ''supposed'' to be played out, it shows a scenario where they saved the world again, with Sam & Max getting the key to the city, meaning that the entire conflict with the Devils Toybox could have been avoided if [[ScrewDestiny one ape didn't use future vision to stop the whole thing]].

* After meeting with Specs making graffiti of Brady Vulture, Max says he needs to paint him next. [[spoiler: Guess what Specs is seen doing in the ending?]]

* Max was president during Season 3, meaning [[spoiler: the country is left without a president after he dies. And even if the Past Max takes over the role, the president still became a gigantic monster that nearly destroyed New York, meaning [[HeroWithBadPublicity he's probably in for a difficult reelection campaign.]]

* Max was president during Season 3, meaning [[spoiler: the country is left without a president after he dies. And even if the Past Max takes over the role, the president still became a gigantic monster that nearly destroyed New York, meaning he's probably in for a difficult reelection campaign.]]

* Likely unintentional example - In ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse]]'', Max sees strange images when looking through FirstPersonCamera that initially start off psychedelic and cheerful in ''Episode 1'' (floating wrenches, Sam's tie being replaced with a fish, a beach ball bouncing along the stools at Stinky's Diner), but become less common and more 'solid', thus more difficult to distinguish from reality, as the story progresses. WordOfGod is that these images are echoes of Maxes from other universes going on adventures, since they share a sort of HiveMind. The more you think about it, the worse it gets:

** If you think about it, the events of the third season very likely could have been avoided had Skun'kape not [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy used the Eyes of Yog Soggoth to make accommodations and prevent himself from being trapped in the Penal Zone again]], the fact that in the first part of the game, it shows how the events were ''supposed'' to be played out, it shows a scenario where they saved the world again, with SamAndMax getting the key to the city, meaning that the entire conflict with the Devils Toybox could have been avoided if [[ScrewDestiny one ape didn't use future vision to stop the whole thing]].

* How did Papierwaite stay alive for so long? Generic dark magic, right? Not quite. He says to Max in 303 that the secret of his apparent immortality is too bizarre for the mortal mind to comprehend. Sure, dark magic can probably [[GoMadFromTheRevelation cause insanity]]. But in 305, [[spoiler: he and Yog-Soggoth are exposed to radiation, and Yog-Soggoth comments that they'll have to wait out the half-life, making it necessary for them to stick together another hundred years. As long as Yog-Soggoth and Papierwaite are stuck together, he cannot die. And elder beasts are infamous for making mortal minds go mad...]]

* "Please poke the eyes to see an ancient and brutal civilization spring to life."[[spoiler:Wait, you mean the one that occurs after Sammun-Mak gets close to the Toybox after Papierwaite breaks it off with Skun'ka'pe? You know, because his minion assaulted Sal after Sal]]''[[spoiler: poked him in the eye?]]''
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* "Please poke the eyes to see an ancient and brutal civilization spring to life."[[spoiler:Wait, you mean the one thaqt occurs after Sammun-Mak gets close to the Toybox after Papierwaite breaks it off with Skun'ka'pe? You know, because his minion assaulted Sal after Sal]]''[[spoiler: poked him in the eye?]]''

* "Please poke the eyes to see an ancient and brutal civilization spring to life."[[spoiler:Wait, you mean the one thaqt occurs after Sammun-Mak gets close to the Toybox after Papierwaite breaks it off with Skun'ka'pe? You know, because his minion assaulted Sal after Sal]]''[[spoiler:poked him in the eye?]]''

** The Narrator is [[GhostInTheMachine a representation of Max's superego]]. The Narrator is trying to destroy both himself and Max in a horrible psychic explosion by goading Max into pushing his powers too far and killing himself. Bottom line - part of Max's mind was DrivenToSuicide, suggesting Max is probably even more ''genuinely'' [[DefectiveDetective messed up]] than [[ComedicHeroicSociopath we previously assumed]].

** The Narrator is [[GhostInTheMachine a representation of Max's superego]]. The Narrator is trying to destroy both himself and Max in a horrible psychic explosion by goading Max into pushing his powers too far and killing himself. Bottom line - part of Max's mind was DrivenToSuicide, suggesting Max is probably even more ''genuinely'' [[DefectiveDetective messed up]] than [[HeroicSociopath we previously assumed]].

[[spoiler: The Narrator is the manifestation of Max's superego, meaning that he's simply the personification of a part of his subconscious. After the reveal that he was season three's BigBad, Sam demands to know what his goals are, and he explains that all he wants to do is to "let it all end." This implies that Max has suicidal tendencies.]] When you realize this, it makes you wonder what, exactly, ''happened'' to Max to make him like this. He's obviously unstable, it's been implied several times that his childhood was a traumatic one, he suffers from night terrors, he's been to therapy in the past...maybe he's more messed up then we thought at first.

[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
* Unintentional, but Max's super-ego is tired of being unused and neglected. He is voiced by Andrew Chaikin, who voiced Max back in 101. Seems they both went "unused" for a while.

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* Likely unintentional example - In ''[[Game/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse]]'', Max sees strange images when looking through FirstPersonCamera that initially start off psychedelic and cheerful in ''Episode 1'' (floating wrenches, Sam's tie being replaced with a fish, a beach ball bouncing along the stools at Stinky's Diner), but become less common and more 'solid', thus more difficult to distinguish from reality, as the story progresses. WordOfGod is that these images are echoes of Maxes from other universes going on adventures, since they share a sort of HiveMind. The more you think about it, the worse it gets: