As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance
- The mission where you rob the Caligula's Palace Casino is the reason behind Salvatore Leone's paranoia regarding his subordinates.
- Big Smoke's initials are B.S. Given The Reveal, it makes a lot of sense.
- Although it's easy to miss on a first playthrough, you might be wondering why Big Smoke's house is in Ballas territory...
- Or for that matter, why C.R.A.S.H. keep "bothering" him...
- On the same note, in that same cutscene note , the C.R.A.S.H. theme plays through the whole scene, even after Tenpenny and Pulaski leave. While this may be unintentional, it's still a Musical Spoiler, given what cahoots Smoke is really up to.
- And then, in that same mission: "Ahhh, Smoke, you full of shit!"
- Or why he doesn't shoot back in the mission "Drive-Thru". At the time, it seems like he's just being the Big Eater, but later on...
- ...Though he does fire at them in the later mission "Drive-By".
- In the first mission with the bikes, it seems unfair that the Ballas only seem to follow you, and not the other Grove Street OGs. It‘s logical to think that the game is doing that because you’re the player, but it makes sense in the next cut scene when the group splits up. A Ballas car follows Sweet. Another one “chases” CJ, Big Smoke, and Ryder, but only shoots at CJ. That’s because the latter two are in cahoots with the Ballas.
- Big Smokes order seems very large at first, that is until you remember what CJ, Ryder, and Sweet ordered compared to what Big Smoke says. CJ asks for a number 9, Big Smoke orders 2 number 9s (The justification for this doubling of an order is a comment earlier where Big Smoke says CJ has to keep his strength up). Ryder orders a number 9, Big Smoke orders a number 9 (large, but then again Big Smoke probably knows what Ryder likes). Sweet orders a number 6 with extra dip, Big Smoke orders a number 6 with extra dip. Big Smoke was ordering for everyone in the vehicle, plus himself because he was closest to the microphone. The rest of the order is intended for Big Smoke (which is still a lot of food as we see how the gang reacts).
- Except CJ reacts with a facepalm right after Big Smoke says "A number 9 large", meaning that if Big Smoke was ordering for the whole crew, he so far hasn't said anything too ridiculous yet. He was ordering for just himself. However, I think a better explanation for his order being so large (aside from Big Smoke being just a big eater) is that he ordered so much food to give the Ballas enough time to make it to the Cluckin' Bell.
- You know why Michelle Cannes is a mechanic and owns a garage that repairs cars? Her "special date" exclusive to her has her crashing Carl's car everywhere, and running into pedestrians. She constantly has to fix the cars that she crashes. That would also explain why she owns a Monster Truck (to drive on top of cars), and why you first find her in the driving school (she is learning how to drive).
- The name of the final mission, "The End of the Line," has a double meaning. The obvious meaning is the deaths of Big Smoke and Tenpenny, but it's also a cocaine pun.
- Big Smoke and Ryder are eventually revealed as being in cahoots with C.R.A.S.H. and the Ballas. So why, even long after Grove Street falls, are they still wearing their Grove Street green? Because they never left actually the gang, Big Smoke simply took over the gang when C.J. was exiled and Sweet incarcerated. Big Smoke and Ryder were still loyal to the Families, but not to the Johnson Family. It's the difference between being loyal to a single monarch and being loyal to a country.
- This might be looking in too deep in things, but Big Smoke might have predicted his own death. The quotes he had given CJ throughout the beginning of the storyline (ex: "We are blessed and cursed.", "Same things make us laugh, make us cry.", "Remember me when you get to the top.") shows that he was actually expecting CJ to find out eventually about his betrayal, many of the missions where he subtly attempted to kill CJ and Sweet could have gotten him killed along with them, and when CJ finally confronted him in the game's end, Smoke doesn't seem the slightest bit surprised. Not to mention right after he goes down with bullets in his body, he even outright says, "I don't give a shit!" So when you look at it a second time, Big Smoke may have been expecting to die sooner, thus predicting his own demise.
- Emmet's guns are constantly derided as crappy and terrible, since he's limited himself to 'Nines and AKs.' Considering the position the Families start in, though - poor, fragmented, and weak - it's actually a smart move for him to focus on guns that are cheap and widely-available, with ammunition that's both abundant and nearly free. It's the only way the average member of the Families can afford what he has until the gang gets built back up. Additionally guns that common would be difficult to trace, which makes sense for a gang that's had more than its share of police attention.
Fridge Logic
- C.J./the player blows up cars all the time and all of Grove Street knows he's a nutjob behind the wheel, so why are they always making him drive?
- A big part of the plot (and why C.J. gets mixed up in all of the CRASH business) is that Tenpenny has threatened to frame him for the murder of a police officer should he refuse to do their dirty work. Even discounting Gameplay and Story Segregation, why did it never occur to C.J. that after fighting his way through literally hundreds of people without dying or being even arrested, two or three police officers were nothing?
- Because later on, Sweet Johnson is arrested by C.R.A.S.H., and Tenpenny is quick to remind C.J. that should he disobey or inconvenience CRASH in any way, Sweet will find himself in a Ballas cellblock. If he ends up there, Sweet will most likely be raped or murdered by the inmates.
- That only makes sense AFTER Sweet's arrest. Tenpenny and Pulaski were harassing him literally from the beginning of the game, and it's likely that he's got at least several weapons on him most of the times that he meets the pair. He has no problems committing hits in broad daylight or even robbing a National Guard depot, so the idea that he's too scared to just shoot two crooked cops or risk getting pinned for the murder of a single officer just doesn't jive with what he's seen doing.
- It's likely that this officer was well liked, and a possible community figurehead, so his punishment would have been much harsher than the norm, Also, Tenpenny may be covering up C.J.'s other crimes.
- Also possible that in the crapsack world GTA games are set in, regular patrolmen are treated as disposable mooks, but officers like Tenpenny, who is head of CRASH, or anyone higher up the chain of command, is treated much more seriously.
- Because later on, Sweet Johnson is arrested by C.R.A.S.H., and Tenpenny is quick to remind C.J. that should he disobey or inconvenience CRASH in any way, Sweet will find himself in a Ballas cellblock. If he ends up there, Sweet will most likely be raped or murdered by the inmates.
- In the mission "Mike Toreno", C.J. has to track down Mike, who had recently been kidnapped, based on things he had heard. After hearing a remark about traffic and freight, their first thought was the docks until Mike mentioned hearing the captors gun down heavy security. C.J. replies that the Docks didn't have heavy security, but that the airport does. C.J. has NOT been in SAN Fierro, the town where the mission takes place, long at all at this point, and you weren't required to go to either of these places for a mission yet. So how does C.J., a newcomer to the city, know that the docks in San Fierro don't have heavy security, or, for that matter, the pre-9/11 airport in San Fierro does?
- CJ just entered the state via airplane. Its very likely that he remembered seeing lots of security in Los Santos International. Its also possible CJ had to stop in the San Fierro airport before reaching Los Santos and remembered seeing a lot of security. Another possibility is that CJ left San Andreas for Liberty City via the San Fierro Airport and remembered the large amount of security.
- CJ's affiliation with Grove Street may have required him to travel to San Fierro for business before he left for Liberty City.
- That can't be true because in "Are You Going to San Fierro?", C.J. says "Man, I can't believe I ain't never been here before.".
- In the mission "Cut Throat Business", CJ and Madd Dogg chase down OG Loc to retrieve Madd Dog's rhymebook, which was stolen by CJ at OG Loc's behest. With that information in mind, why didn't Loc reveal that to sever the partnership between CJ and Madd Dog? Because Madd Dogg has no reason to believe the words of a has-been who stole his rhymebook compared to the word of his new manager, who literally saved his life, as Madd Dog would most likely perceive that as a last desperate ploy by Loc to get back at Madd Dogg by getting rid of his new manager. Even if some of the information is true (such as CJ and Loc previously being a part of the same gang), it is negated by the fact that Madd Dog was most likely informed of that by CJ, as he would also be aware of the Civil War between members of the GSF such as CJ and Sweet against the likes of Big Smoke and Ryder, as well as CJ's personal vendetta against Big Smoke, who coincidentally just happens to be OG Loc's manager. This is further enforced as OG Loc and Big Smoke went to do an interview together so the connection betwen them would be well documented. With all of that in mind, OG Loc's attempts would fall on deaf ears and possibly even provoke Madd Dog even further into anger.
Fridge Horror
- The mission "Don Peyote" has C.J. saving a British band from the desert where they have ended up after a long night out. He'll find Maccer and Kent Paul, but the rest of the band is missing, with Kent Paul saying "we'll just have to pray they made it to civilization." However, the other members are never mentioned again, so what exactly happened to them is anyone's guess.
- Mike Toreno Mentions suggests that "Hitler didn't kill himself" and "the U.S. didn't nuke Japan"... one must wonder what exactly DID happen, and what that means for the overall 'verse of GTA.
- There's the wheelchair in Fisher's Lagoon, sitting in a place where you wouldn't expect it to be. What if it's there because the person it belonged to went for one last swim?
- According to Cesar, Ryder attempted to rape Kendl at some point. If it really did happen, then it must have been so horrible for her that she never told anyone, apart from Cesar.
