Sam & Max 205: What's New, Beelzebub? - Reviews & Discussions w/ Spoilers

[raistlin75]

There is no way to give a good non-spoiler review, so this is just for people who have finished the game and wish to post reviews or discuss the new revelations in the game (and there are quite a few).



----Spoilers included, so play the game first-----








I just finished the game and Telltale has truly outdone themselves with this finale. It's the longest of any of the chapters which makes up for having one less episode this season. Many found the previous episode to be the best so far, but this one is the crowning achievement for the series. It's perfectly paced and with brilliant writing and acting. Of course they connect in the "future" from episode 201 where they save themselves from the lava. Some were worried that was going to be a big anticlimatic climax, but it was handled perfectly.

The big reveal of the Soda Poppers as the villians behind the whole season wasn't something that I saw coming, but it makes as much sense as anything, I suppose. When the chair swung around it could have been anyone, but they did have it planned from the beginning where the Soda Poppers were inexplicably standing outside Santa's Workshop. There's probably more clues if I went back and replayed the season.

The other semi-"big reveal" was that Bosco's mother was responsible for his paranoya over for 40 years because her store was vandalized and she hired Flint Paper to find the culprit. ...but doesn't she complain about the store being vandalized to Sam & Max in episode 204 when they time travel back to her store? Wouldn't that mean the incident happened before Bosco was born because they were collecting DNA for the baby-maker at the time? I don't want to nitpick, but maybe I missed something and someone can explain that.

One other slight nitpick, if female Stinky was just a "cake of the damned" and the real Stinky even said she didn't kill him, then she really didn't lie very much to get the coal. She may have cheated at trivia and for some reason the "Sal" she was yelling the orders to doesn't exist, but otherwise she wasn't that bad of a person/cake. So did she deserve a lot of coal in her stocking? or any at all considering she's not even human?

Satan's hints at their involvement in the future which will probably play a big part in season 3. Since the final scene (if you watch past the credits) kills off the annoying Soda Poppers for good, eyeballs floating in the lava and all, their souls are going to be in hell and future cameos are possible, but not outside of hell. I also think that Bosco now (audibly) snapped mind could turn him into a villian somewhere down the road.

Overall the puzzles were intuative, fun and somewhat challenging; not overly easy like the first season. Also the hints that Max tosses off seemed so conversational and vague. From "Let's get out of here" if you're wandering about in the wrong place to "I feel like fishing" followed up by "I can't believe the subway to hell was right under us all along" for solving the puzzle of how to get one of the game cartridges from the other side of the tracks. I really loved the indirectness of the clues because I'm not sure I would have thought of that.

I know the limit for involved puzzles is greatly hindered by the episodic format, so there's only so much that can go into them. They also write the games with no "dead-ends" so it's impossible to trap yourself in a no win situation. So whenever you get something to happen, you know it's right, while in full length games you're always wondering if you did it right or at the right time. It's very user friendly and welcoming to non-adventure game players, but I do miss the deaths and consequences that poorly thought out actions can bring.

My only suggestion would be for a full length game or even a reworking of a full season into one seamless game. Expanding the puzzles adding some scenes to flesh out the game so all the locations of the season are explorable and can be used to create more intricate stories and puzzles. You can tell that I'm missing the old long Sierra and Lucasarts adventure games, and would love to see these snack-size games merged into a giant reimagined feast of an adventure game like the original Sam & Max.

However, for this format the Sam & Max team have hit their stride in the second half of this season and have come a long way in crafting puzzles and stories. I especially like the cliffhanger endings of 203 & 204. Every episode should end with a bit of a cliffhanger leading us right into the next episode. I hope they will from now on.
I'm very happy with the quality of these works long after the adventure game was declared dead. They are only getting better and thank the gods (a.k.a. The Telltale Staff) that the adventure game is back! :)

[Maratanos]

Well, this is a spoiler thread, so here's my dump.

1. Gotta say, wasn't expecting evil Soda Poppers... They had been taking so much time building themselves up as incompetent idiots.

2. Full of awesome. Although I do wish that the bell-book-candle exorcism you did on them wasn't so... dull-feeling compared to the one they do on you.

3. Lots of niggling plot details. Stinky's a cake (WTF), the volcano eruption got moved to hell where it finished off the soda poppers, and for some reason "late last year" is "a long time ago" to sam. Also, it would appear that, in the spirit of time-traveling portals, the portal they went through on the Mariachi's spaceship sent them forward in time. No other way they could have experienced the timeline they did and still end up with the finale in September. Momma Bosco, as I expected, hired a PI to try to find her own son, and we team up with Satan to restore the natural order of things. Hell freezes over (in one of the more bizarre scenes). And of course, we finally get to see how the first several episodes tied in in a more-than-trivial fashion. Plot summary in retrospective of the season follows.


Soda Poppers send SCP to Santa (meant to go to Satan) to improve productivity
Events of Ice Station Santa, which include:
Sam and Max, via the Ghost of Christmas Future, save themselves from the pit.
Mr. Spatula is sent back from hell to arrange a volcanic eruption so that the Mariachis will be summoned and get their stone heads
Events of Moai Better Blues
Volcanic Eruption triggers abduction of Moai heads, goes through portal.
Jurgen is hired as a contractor to collect souls for Hell with his Soul-crusher
Events of Night of the Raving Dead
Bosco, Jurgen are abducted by Mariachis
Events of Chariots of the dogs include:
Momma Bosco's store is wrecked in the sixties by time traveling bosco, triggering Flint's investigation
Egg is received from future Sam & Max in exchange for Boxing Betty Remote
Sam and Max go back in time and prevent the Mariachis from playing for the Soda Poppers, get stuck in past and rewrite the latter section of Season 1 in ways unknown
Typewriter Ribbon is sent back to table in Jurgen's Castle
Featherly is removed from the beginning of time, where he was sent while filming Midtown Cowboys, the movie
Egg is placed in the beginning of the universe, causing life to form when the spaceship self-destructs and causes the big bang
Sam and Max go through portal, wind up in Hell's subway station
Events of What's New, Beelzebub, which include:
Sam gives egg laid by featherly back to the Sam/Max from Chariots, receives boxing betty remote
Sam and Max disrupt equilibrium in Hell, triggering Soda Poppers takeover, which is foiled.
Sam and Max are dropped into the pit and rescued by their past selves from Ice Station Santa
Volcanic eruption from Moai Better Blues destroys the Soda Poppers once and for all.

[ShaggE]

I should note that the "edited" version of "More Than Jerks" is absolutely hilarious. I was NOT expecting that. :D

[Jake]

Muaha I'm glad that Jared and Randy had time to get that in.

[jonathanbloom]

Wow, 205 cleared up everything. I'm both happy and sad about The Soda Poppers being killed off. I never expected them to be behind Season 2!

The above posts contain my sentiments on 205! Now, please rethink Season 3 in '09---make it Fall again!

[zterrans]

Great game, great way to end the season. Loved the reveal of the true evil in season 2, and thought it was a great idea to have Max finally answer the phone only after Hell had frozen over.

And the wedding scenes at the end were funny too, especially Max's interception of the bouquet.

[InvaderJim42]

Great game, great way to end the season. Loved the reveal of the true evil in season 2, and thought it was a great idea to have Max finally answer the phone only after Hell had frozen over.

And the wedding scenes at the end were funny too, especially Max's interception of the bouquet.

I also liked that earlier Max had made a comment expressing his opinion that Jurgen might be a girl, and then at the wedding we see him amongst the ladies trying to catch the bouquet... I love how paying close attention reveals even more jokes and humor that gets worked in subtly.

Oh, and I hope we see Grandpa Stinky a lot more from now on! He's my new favorite character (besides Sam and Max of course). His face also looks like it's been modeled after that old lady from the Bone series (haven't played it, just seen her face in screenshots.)

[smuchmuch]

The other semi-"big reveal" was that Bosco's mother was responsible for his paranoya over for 40 years because her store was vandalized and she hired Flint Paper to find the culprit. ...but doesn't she complain about the store being vandalized to Sam & Max in episode 204 when they time travel back to her store? Wouldn't that mean the incident happened before Bosco was born because they were collecting DNA for the baby-maker at the time? I don't want to nitpick, but maybe I missed something and someone can explain that.


at the start of episode 204, when you enter the spaceship, Bosco explain how he tested the T.H.E.M destector device o n himself. the card time printed led him, in the store in the 60ies, beforehe was born (the card was printed because, later this day, the baby maker would be used by moma Bosco, making it in fact the first bosco birthday) . When he got out of the elvator, he saw his mother,he paniked and in his panicked run shoved trashed somme shelves and splied milk in the father sample tube, ruining the father saliva sample and leading to the whole Boscow thing...
Sam ans Max first arrived in the past store five minute after bosco's got in here (despite the fact he wasn't even borned at the time: ahh the marvelous language of time travel !).


One other slight nitpick, if female Stinky was just a "cake of the damned" and the real Stinky even said she didn't kill him, then she really didn't lie very much to get the coal. She may have cheated at trivia and for some reason the "Sal" she was yelling the orders to doesn't exist, but otherwise she wasn't that bad of a person/cake. So did she deserve a lot of coal in her stocking? or any at all considering she's not even human?
The coal was due to the fact she kept lying about how she obtained element of the the decor, and about all the "celebtrities" that she "met", i think.

Satan's hints at their involvement in the future which will probably play a big part in season 3. Since the final scene (if you watch past the credits) kills off the annoying Soda Poppers for good, eyeballs floating in the lava and all, their souls are going to be in hell and future cameos are possible, but not outside of hell. I also think that Bosco now (audibly) snapped mind could turn him into a villian somewhere down the road.
Wich does lead to the interesting question:
If you die in hell were do you go for punishement ? (The answer would be most interesting to know given the fact that the only place worse than hell, i can think of is ... the S&M neibourghood.)

Well, this is a spoiler thread, so here's my dump.
Mr. Spatula is sent back from hell to arrange a volcanic eruption so that the Mariachis will be summoned and get their stone heads


oh, so that's why ! I though he escaped or something .

All in one, congratulation to telltale game for a devilishly good season finale.

[raistlin75]

Wich does lead to the interesting question:
If you die in hell were do you go for punishement ? (The answer would be most interesting to know given the fact that the only place worse than hell, i can think of is ... the S&M neibourghood.)

I do think that the Soda Poppers will be added to the Sam & Max Wing of Hell. They did die and certainly proved themselves evil enough to go to hell and they were killed during one of Sam & Max's cases, which qualifies them their own cubicle in the special wing.

[SloppyJimbo]

I should note that the "edited" version of "More Than Jerks" is absolutely hilarious. I was NOT expecting that. :D

Where was this?

[jmm]

After switching the censored list, you can listen the song at Stinky's

[flipperthepriest]

I dont think bosco will become a villain because he has been around way too long, and you see him so much. After snapping he seems to go back to normal. Without clothes. Any way only be worried if he opens a motel, or a dress wearing psycho is on the loose. Those references actually made me burst out laughing. This episode actually had me laughing more than any previous episode. well done telltale! And timmy two-teeth said flipping. made my day. I feel special. And i didnt even think putting the new list up would change anything BUT the song when i put it up :)

[smuchmuch]

I dont think bosco will become a villain because he has been around way too long, and you see him so much.
on the other hand, the sodda poppersz were here since the first episode. but i do agree that it's unlikely to see Bosco as a villain for next season, tough. he is way to paranoid to actualy move enough out of his store to becomme dangerous.
Now, the new stinky duo , brrrr , those two are scary.

I liked the episode a lot exept, for abe bachelor party. Honestly having Flint (even considering he may have been stoned drunk) cheering before the dancing monster just seemed out of character. (I mean, flint kisses lady, real ones, dammit !)

Ps: Is it revealed, who superball worked for in 204 ? (i guess it may have been the sodda popers or simply hell but i don't remeber being precisely sais somewhere )

[V_Ben]

ah, where one loose end is tied up, another one opens, to great delight!

[Raz]

Just finished playing it, very happy with the way it worked out! ... Brilliant story writing with intricacies I could've NEVER thought of myself, still fairly easy to play, but that's OK, I had no idea how to get rid of specs till Max randomly started mentioning fishing! :D

Absolutely terrific, worth my very very hard earned 8.95 indeed!

Thanks guys, you make me proud! :D

[wisp]

205 is a lot nastier than than every game before, some parts even more than the comics. everything is darker, the humor and the scenery. the whole plot with bosco and his mother turned out to be quite tragic and he's not one of the bad guys so you don't get this "serves-him-right"-feeling. also, the first time shooting the monster made me a bit :eek:. of course it was the first thing i tried, but i didn't expect to get such a blunt reaction. it was funny, but also mildly disturbing.
the whole plotline that even reached back to 101 was awesome and a lot of loose ends got tied..well, expect for superball and the fact that it has to be the 6th of september in 205..
i wonder how much was already planned during season 1. for example: was brady culture absent after 101 because he was already supposed to be dead? and where the poppers in 201 because they were intended to be the villains. would be interesting to know..

[Maratanos]

There was one plot flaw, though. We'd already established that the Soda poppers birthday was on December 21st. But since the time elevator was in our office, that means it's September 6, Superball's birthday.

That wouldn't be a problem, except that it's apparently the Poppers' birthday in the closing scene with the cake and the candle.

[Raz]

I'm pretty sure time as we know it doesn't work in hell... it's 4:59pm there forever you know...

The calendar on the wall ...

[NHJ BV]

i wonder how much was already planned during season 1. for example: was brady culture absent after 101 because he was already supposed to be dead? and where the poppers in 201 because they were intended to be the villains. would be interesting to know..

My guess would be no and yes. After 101 Culture simply became irrelevant, and I think that at most Telltale kept him in the freezer for possible later use. When they got around to planning the rough storyline of season 2 they probably did have the ^@^& Poppers in mind as villains. Keep in mind the production schedule of the seasons.

[Hero1]

Well it was a great season.. That episode was pretty long, I think it took me about 7 hours over a few sessions.. My favorite episodes this season were 202 and 204, 201 behind that then 205 and 203.. There was some really hilarious moments in this game.. Loved the bachelor party :D:D:D Characters who should have been finished after 1 episode becoming the evil masterminds behind 2 seasons of games? Can't say I was happy about that.. The final scene was pretty sweet though, I enjoyed that.

Overall season 2 was a very nice improvement on season 1. Kudos to telltale :)

[Murray the Chao]

One other flaw: When asked about his 'fro, Brady says that he used elf tears. But elf tears ONLY work on plants.

[mastergeorge]

One other flaw: When asked about his 'fro, Brady says that he used elf tears. But elf tears ONLY work on plants.

Have you not seen the plant in S&M's office? Maybe Brady has some culture of his own?

[smuchmuch]

i wonder how much was already planned during season 1. for example: was brady culture absent after 101 because he was already supposed to be dead? and where the poppers in 201 because they were intended to be the villains. would be interesting to know..
to the second we can probably say yes. For what i understand, the plot for the whole season is created before they actually strart to make the episode (kinda make sense since, after th'eyll be working one two, even three episode at a time, so they wouldn't have time to create plot as they go.)

[Marty]

just finished it. overal season 2 was very good.
I was kind of hoping this episode would be more based in hell, or perhaps even having more rooms to base the puzzles in. I'd hate to say it but I'd be willing to sacrifice game length if it meant more valuable time in hell :)
One thing that particularly bugged me was the usage of the giant robot. I was expecting for sure that Sam would control the giant robot in the end in an epic battle with Satan.... but all he did was retrieve a coin...
anyway, the credits were awesome and I cant wait til more awesomeness in 09

[mothra]

I had a hell of a good time and this episode floored me. so many great things coming together and the satisfaction of the end credits and last triangle portal !!!!!
This really made me wanna play more and I can't wait for season3. take all the time you need to get back to us with another good seaon. I will be paying much more attention now during each episode ;)

[Emily]

for example: was brady culture absent after 101 because he was already supposed to be dead?

No. Actually several of us were hoping to get him into the 106 closing credits, bald, but there wasn't enough time to remove the hair from his model. :p

and where the poppers in 201 because they were intended to be the villains.

Yes, that was planned from the beginning of Season Two.

[DanH]

One thing that particularly bugged me was the usage of the giant robot. I was expecting for sure that Sam would control the giant robot in the end in an epic battle with Satan.... but all he did was retrieve a coin...

...and kill a multitude of rats, and spout hilarious song lyrics, and provide a friend for Tiny Timmy, and encourage people to dance the hokey pokey....

[Teeth]

Could somebody please put Sybil and Abe's wedding up on Youtube? :D I thought it was a really nice and heartwarming end to the season, and it lagged and spluttered on my PC.

[InvaderJim42]

Could somebody please put Sybil and Abe's wedding up on Youtube? :D I thought it was a really nice and heartwarming end to the season, and it lagged and spluttered on my PC.

My computer had the most trouble with the Bachelor party, probably because it had 6 NPCs PLUS Sam and Max in the room at once, all being rendered in a small area. Either that or the Garbage Collector was freeing up memory during the entire scene (programming reference, don't worry if you don't get it.)

[wisp]

No. Actually several of us were hoping to get him into the 106 closing credits, bald, but there wasn't enough time to remove the hair from his model. :p
right, i remember that being mentioned back in the day..


Yes, that was planned from the beginning of Season Two.
must've been hard for you to explain why the poppers were in 201 in those interviews when it was released...:D

[Sammy]

I bet Superball will be the main villain next season.

[SloppyJimbo]

I bet Superball will be the main villain next season.

I doubt it. He's always been no more than a tool.

... Although I guess he was acting in his own self-interest when trying to win Sybil's affection in 203.

Still, I couldn't imagine him as someone in charge.

[Sammy]

Who knows? I don't even think that those Soda poppers will be this season's main villain.

[Sir Lemming]

What can I say? Simply fantastic. Quality-wise it picked up right where 204 left off, but it was longer and more difficult. In fact, I felt like it was a good hour-and-a-half before I got to the first big set of puzzles (the dioramas). But it was cool, because there was so much story to cover. And really, there was TONS of dialogue; kudos to the voice acting staff for managing to get it all done in such a relatively short amount of time. (Even though I'm sure they didn't do it all in a month.)

My one criticism is something that I was surprised to see in the Destructoid Review (http://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-sam-and-max-205-what-s-new-beelzebub--80007.phtml) because it was exactly what I was thinking: Peepers shouldn't have been in Sam's hell. As funny as that was (and it was very funny), it definitely blunted the impact of their big reveal as the season's villains. Since both plot aspects are so funny, I'm not sure how to resolve that. But I think the big reveal would've ultimately been stronger.

Still, it's hard to complain about an episode that feels like a worthy finale to BOTH seasons. I just wonder what's left for season 3.

[ezzetabi]

Wel... Satan asks Sam to think something really terrible for him and probably models the personal hell in the shape of the Sam thoughts.
Sam selected Peepers as partner, he could not select something who never saw... and honestly restricting the choice to the game character I can't imagine anyone worse.

[Sir Lemming]

Wel... Satan asks Sam to think something really terrible for him and probably models the personal hell in the shape of the Sam thoughts.
Sam selected Peepers as partner, he could not select something who never saw... and honestly restricting the choice to the game character I can't imagine anyone worse.

It's not that I don't understand it... it's just that as perfect as it is, it does make it less shocking when the three soda poppers appear as the surprise villain. It's hard for them to surprise you twice in a row, even though technically it made sense and technically it was actually a demon version of Peepers.

[ezzetabi]

What about girl Stinky then?
Sam:- We are back to the office. It does not seems so bad, right little pal?
Demon Stinky:- Yes, dear.
Sam:- What the hell? Since when I have a female partner?
Demon Stinky:- I am not sure what you mean, I am a guy. You know. We take bath together.
Sam:- ARGH...
Demon Stinky:- Stop slacking, let's work in the case.
Sam:- What is the case again?
Demon Stinky:- The commissioner wants us check the <boring paperwork>.
Sam:- I miss the old days, when the cases were more shooting and less writing.
Demon Stinky:- We never used the guns in a case, what are you saying...

ect ect

[Randulf]

Everyone is raving about the stag party, am I the only one who feels sorry for the monster? Reanimated soulless beings have feelings too.

[ThatNickGuy]

That bachelor party and everything about it is going to be ingrained in my head for the rest of my life. It was simultaneously the most hilarious and disturbing thing I've ever seen. The fact that the monster even teased taking his hand off just made it worse.

That said? By the gods, this was the best game of the series. Which is saying something when I thought Chariot of the Dogs previously had that title! So, some quickie notes:

-That was the longest period before the opening credits yet! I loved it.
-Maimtron 9000 returns! And I'm surprised that when controlling Maimtron and clicking on Satan, Telltale didn't go with the obvious "Please allow me to introduce myself" joke. Did anyone else click on as much as they could while controlling Maimtron?
-I clicked the "Laugh" option on Brady Culture far too many times, hoping for another punchline. Telltale, you spoiled me with the "Them" joke in 201! Between this and "Superball" from 203, I'm getting disappointed. I was also disappointed there was no punchline for asking Bosco who's watch him, either.
-When I "fixed" the swear list, I couldn't wait to hear little Timmy swear. And loved the results.
-There were two times that I inhaled in horror, mouth gaping, eyes wide open and pointing at the screen. And BOTH of them involved the &%*$ Poppers! The alternate intro credits was hilarious. Plus, GIANT MAX!!
-Awesome design work on everything, especially the big red guy. For some reason, I even thought the design on the carpet in the lobby where Juergen (sp?) worked was quite good. One of those little things that made me realize just how much hard work the team put into the game.
-I had to use Max's hints a few times (like the game cartridge puzzle). Had a hard time trying to figure out where to get a rib bone, too.
-The places where you couldn't touch the evil entity in the sexual harassment poster was hilarious.
-The wedding/reception at the end had me in tears of laughter for some of the parts of it.

All in all, a great ending to a fantastic season. Telltale's really hitting their stride, in my opinion. Season 1 was good, but if you compare the first episode with this one, you can tell that they've improved in leaps and bounds.

Can't wait for the Strong Bad games! I'll be ordering that season soon!

[Jake]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

[BancoLavadero]

There was one plot flaw, though. We'd already established that the Soda poppers birthday was on December 21st. But since the time elevator was in our office, that means it's September 6, Superball's birthday.
One other flaw: When asked about his 'fro, Brady says that he used elf tears. But elf tears ONLY work on plants.

One more from 203-204. It was never really explained how Max got back from being a zombie. He didn't catch his soul in 203 (after chasing it in the cliffhanger) , and then is shown on a presidential speaker's booth AS a zombie in the end credits.

One thing that really suprised me was how useless the Flint Paper character turned out to be. From the beginning of 201 when we see him "questioning" a suspect in his room, I thought this character would be somewhat essential to the plot. He was not.

[Teoball]

One more from 203-204. It was never really explained how Max got back from being a zombie. He didn't catch his soul in 203 (after chasing it in the cliffhanger) , and then is shown on a presidential speaker's booth AS a zombie in the end credits.



If you talk to max at the beginning of 204 they mention that.

[tabacco]

If you read the comics, Flint is rarely useful. He's not meant ot be a major character, just one who pops up from time to time and does something violent.

[Jake]

How essential has Flint ever been to a Sam & Max story? He's there to add some hard boiled P.I. flavor.

[prefect47]

Just curious, are the end credits supposed to be without music? They were on my computer, and made the credits feel kinda empty. Except for the excellent "outtakes" of the wedding of course. :)

[Linque]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

No. It was fairly obvious that you need another cartridge for a better tune. I didn't realize the game cartridges were Mimesweeper cartridges until I picked one up.

[nhaingen]

Just curious, are the end credits supposed to be without music? They were on my computer, and made the credits feel kinda empty. Except for the excellent "outtakes" of the wedding of course.

Not for me, but plenty of other people had that happen. There is some music that goes with it, which obviously adds a lot... try replaying the last scene if you want.

When I finished Season 1, the same thing happened and Max ran around punching people with no musical accompaniment D: It gave the whole thing a very eerie feeling.

[Linque]

I actually would probably enjoy Flint being even less involved in the episodes. I enjoy him more just like you described it Jake, to add some hard-boiled P.I. Flavor, doing something violent. For example dropping down from the rooftop, running away from a helicopter pursuing him, firing a couple of rounds with a semi-automatic, then running off-screen. Not to be explained why. Just like in Hit the Road - all involvement with Flin Paper is the one pointless scene where he shoots through the wall. A classic. :)

Seems really out of place for him to take part in a bachelor party or a wedding. That's not the Flint I don't know. :P

[Linque]

I didn't have any music in the wedding outtakes either.

[Jake]

Seems really out of place for him to take part in a bachelor party or a wedding. That's not the Flint I don't know. :P

Other than the examples in 205 (a moment in which he's corrupted and out of character, and the season epilogue), he's seen punching a guy in the face, sitting in a diner with a pile of cigarettes spying on someone, breaking through windows and shooting people, and busting into a shuttered convenience store for a stakeout. I think those qualify!

[Manpaint Twopforest]

This season was really so full of awesomeness that I can't set my mind on a favorite episode. I know that 202 wasn't my favorite tho, being the one that bored me the most.
And as for the 205, it was truly epic. The longest episode imho. I only had to use the hint system for the fiddle challenge (I wasn't thinking bout those cartridges in the subway anymore, so I just tried the paperclips in the crack after Sam said something, and it worked). Oh, and just a minor detail: The cursor of the minigame wasn't really flashy. I had a hard time spotting it when the game starts, and I admit it frustrated me a little.
Apart from that, the episode was brilliant, as was every episode of this season - minus one :D . From a french player, thanks Telltale for bringing the best adventure game since the LucasArts era, and I'll be there for Season 3.

[Linque]

Fair enough. :)
Though the stakeout one is pushing it. It would've been cooler had he been in a car on the street.

I think I need to play 203 through. I want to see the Flint action sequence. I've only played 201 204 and 205 from this season...

[TrogLlama]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

Actually, yeah.

T
-Maimtron 9000 returns! And I'm surprised that when controlling Maimtron and clicking on Satan, Telltale didn't go with the obvious "Please allow me to introduce myself" joke.

They kind of did ("He's a man of wealth and taste").

[ThatNickGuy]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

I had kind of forgotten about the pile of cartridges by that point in the game. I never had to revisit that half of the screen once soul train came in, so I think that was why it didn't occur to me. But once I got the cartridge and the fiddle duo commenced, I immediately recognized the music.

[ThatNickGuy]

They kind of did ("He's a man of wealth and taste").

Ah, they just went with a less obvious line. :) I don't recall all the lyrics to the song.

[ShaggE]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

Kind of. I mistook it for a remix of the Pac Man theme, but I saw a Minesweeper style game on SCP's screen, so I ended up putting two and two together.

[boo]

First off, big round of applause for a much improved season altogether.

I thought 205 was a laugh riot. Hell freezing over and then Max (finally) getting to pick up the commissioner's call was probably my high point but so much of it was hilarious and out there that it's hard to pick favorite moments. That being said, it was also truly inspired that S&M had their own deidcated wing in hell and that their reaction was somewhere between flattered and non-plussed.

The devil as middle management and the Soda Poppers as the evil genius types, worked for me. Especially Sam's personal hell.

Can I just say though that even with the game's wacky anthing goes worldview, the Monster strip tease was too much. Not because it was in poor taste, but because it stetched credulity beyond what even S&M can sustain. It especially hurt to have Flint in there, who should be S&M's role model of violent, gumshoe behavior. I get that they were hitting the "juice" pretty hard, and that "girls are scarce in the neighborhood" but it to me was a huge miss. A misread of tone, even?

But even as I complain I'm laughing about sending Timmy to hell, and Stinky turning out to be a golem made from a demonic cake recipe.

You wanna talk plot holes though, since when is a spare rib an appetizer? Main course, buddy.

[Randulf]

Indeed, a stellar way to conclude the season.

What is especially enjoyable is to see how character animation has improved: action is more fluid and both Sam & Max are endowed with a richer body language. I'm also impressed how the plot fits everything to a tee: all the conundrums in the season are resolved (with the exception of Superball; I presume Telltale is saving him for season 3), and the final puzzle -- Bell, Book and Candle (an Ultima reference?) caps this season's running gag: birthdays. Speaking of which, however, I cannot help wondering about the Poppers Birthday Paradox. (The #@$@ Poppers' birthday is 12.21, yet Timmy says Specs was born on a leap day. The episode happens on the same night the duo return to their office via the time elevator, i.e. 6 Sept, yet the Poppers claim it is also their birthday)

Unlike what has been claimed, this episode is not long: likely on par with 203 and 204; the large download is due to the sheer number of quality cut scenes. The puzzles are on the easy side; nothing as involved as the "fixing Bosco" quest in 204. As most puzzles can be solved without much thought, this give the impression that the game is fairly short.

The humor, for the most part, is very erudite: drawn from mythologies and literature (Jurgen: "Oh, you're so divinely comical!"). Largely gone are the celeb references (which may not register with players outside the US), and the potty jokes that (for me) mar 204 are toned down. The low point in this episode has to be the stag party (although evidently it is many peoples' favorite scene). I think it is just cruel.

Music is a bit humdrum: 203 is a masterpiece and 204 is classy, but nothing sticks to mind in this episode.

Again, thanks Telltale for the wonderful ride. Looking forward to more seasons.

[Tyraa Rane]

Ah, they just went with a less obvious line. :) I don't recall all the lyrics to the song.

They did the same thing when Sam & Max first talk to Satan (some variation of the "hope you guess my name" line). AKA one of the many moments during this episode when I clapped my hands and giggled with audible glee.

So much brilliance in this episode--I played it all in one sitting, which is actually a first for me with these episodes. Definitely my favorite of both seasons...and here I thought nothing could top the plot twists from 2x04. Very dark episode, too. Loved most of that, though I have to admit, I felt a little guilty for killing off (however temporarily) Tiny Timmy.

I did have trouble with the Minesweeper/golden violin puzzle (had to go consult the walkthrough), but I think that may have something to do with me not being ooooold enough to know that I'd have to use a game cartridge with Chippy. :D Or geeky enough. Whichever.

Oh, and one more thing...I think the bondage gear, naked!Bosco, and the Leisure Suit Larry-esque Peepers were all the most hilarious and yet most incredibly disturbing moments of the season. ...My retinas, however, may never be the same. Thanks, Telltale. :p

[chrisff1989]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

None whatsoever, from my part, at least. I had to turn on the hints for that.

[Randulf]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

The main difficulty in this puzzle is that the Soul Train is blocking the view on the other side of the platform, so people may not remember/realise there is a dump of cartridges there.

[Dangerzone]

for me... it was the fact that the soul train is *NOT* blocking the cartage pile.. i found it odd, and wondered why the train was pushed over so far and not taking up the entire platform, then i noticed the cartages... (then i remembered the minesweeper music) then i thought... how do i get a cartage... then i saw the smoke... then i grabbed a wet towel and put out the flaming ashtray on my desk... then i noticed the smoke on the monitor and made the connection to the crack in the sidewalk above... immediately knew to use the paperclip chain to pick up a cartage... then i listened to the censored soda poppers song again... then i finally shoved the cartage into chippy's gaping maw... does that help jake? (in fact, this was the easiest of the 3 puzzles in the second act for me... probably because of the music i heard earlier in the episode, yeh)

[Quuux]

and the final puzzle -- Bell, Book and Candle (an Ultima reference?)

Traditional method of excommunication (also popularised as a method of exorcism). I lol'd.

I did have trouble with the Minesweeper/golden violin puzzle (had to go consult the walkthrough), but I think that may have something to do with me not being ooooold enough to know that I'd have to use a game cartridge with Chippy. :D Or geeky enough. Whichever.

The game camera kinda zoomed in on Chippy at one point (when he lost?) and the Pong cartridge was quite evident, that's what gave me the hint. I'm quite musically deaf, so even though i noticed the mimesweeper theme in hell, i took no notice.

[Mr_Stealth]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?

Not really. I found the tune kind of annoying (especially because it kept going off during conversations), so I didn't think of it when starting to look for better music. However, looking at Chippy immediately made me think of trying a different cartridge. The real problem for me was figuring out how to get to the Mimesweeper pile. I was beginning to think it might be a red herring, before I finally realized how to do it.

[Randulf]

for me... it was the fact that the soul train is *NOT* blocking the cartage pile.. i found it odd, and wondered why the train was pushed over so far and not taking up the entire platform, then i noticed the cartages...

Oh yeah that's right. I just never walked far enough along the platform.

[Soultaker]

However, looking at Chippy immediately made me think of trying a different cartridge.The real problem for me was figuring out how to get to the Mimesweeper pile. I was beginning to think it might be a red herring, before I finally realized how to do it.
I had trouble with this as well. I think it went something like this:
- Early in the game I noticed the pile and all the other junk in the subway
- But none of the junk seemed to be pick-up-able (the recorder, the baby carrier, the posters, etc.)
- I noticed that the hole in the ceiling above it matched the hole in the main street;
- So I tried using the Maimtron to reach down there, but that didn't work;
- Although there was a single, shining cartridge on top of the pile, that one wasn't look-at-able (clickable), so I assumed I would not be able to interact with it.
- At that point I didn't have the string of paperclips yet.
So after trying and failing to get the cartridge, I concluded it was not something I could take, and I dismissed it for the rest of the game. Silly, I know. I think it would have helped if you could at least have looked at the cartridge on top of the pile, to give you a hint that you might be able to do something with it (in general, objects that are not clickable cannot be used in the game).

On a similar issue: is the bonesaw not pick-up-able when you first encounter it? Because I'm absolutely sure I saw it and tried to pick it up when Sam is first in the diaroma with Max, but it wouldn't let me. (In retrospect, I think I might have clicked on the desk instead of the saw.)

[wisp]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?
it did help solving the puzzle, but also drove me insane beyond repair...

[billyboy12]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?
It actually confused me. Apparently, I was under the mistaken impression that a fiddle contest was performed with fiddles, not a fiddle and electronic music :rolleyes:

[KensterFox]

Wonderful, wonderful season, eagerly awaiting SBCG4AP and Season 3.

Am I the only person who had the Soda Poppers pegged as the evil masterminds from 201? The Shambling Corporate Presence being from "Lower Manitoba" (Manitoba, a Canadian province, is bordered by North Dakota on the south) was a great big neon-lighted sign to me when combined with the Poppers' presence in the episode (not to mention the fact that they were the ones who figured out what happened).

Funniest moment in episode 205, perhaps in the whole series: "Hello, friend! Stay awhile, and listen!" All Hail Telltale, Supreme Monarchs of the Obscure Gaming Reference.

[BancoLavadero]

Ah, they just went with a less obvious line. :) I don't recall all the lyrics to the song.

You know what I would really have wanted the Maimtron say to Satan, now that I think of it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N505JczoEGI

But then that would've implied that Satan was the final showdown villain, which he wasn't.

Great song though.

[nhaingen]

Funniest moment in episode 205, perhaps in the whole series: "Hello, friend! Stay awhile, and listen!" All Hail Telltale, Supreme Monarchs of the Obscure Gaming Reference.

Anyone care to enlighten me on this quote? Don't bite my head off for my hideous lack of gaming knowledge, I know I'm an ignoramus. :D

[wisp]

"Hello, friend! Stay awhile, and listen!" All Hail Telltale, Supreme Monarchs of the Obscure Gaming Reference.
i was wondering the whole time where i heard that before...i think i remember now, it's...*drum roll*...diablo. right?

[KensterFox]

i was wondering the whole time where i heard that before...i think i remember now, it's...*drum roll*...diablo. right?

Yep. Cain (the guy standing in the middle of town who, like Grandpa Stinky, sounds an awful lot like Sean Connery) says it every time you talk to him.

[Badwolf]

re: The Specs/Chippy fiddle contest.

Somehow, I got the Mimesweeper thing straight away as soon as I got the paperclip chain. I didn't actually think using it on the crack would work (I thought it'd be a matter of having one of the molemen throw one across for you or something), so it was still a surprise when it did.
I think it helped more seeing a cartridge already in Chippy than the music in the Hell offices.


The only puzzle I had to consult the walkthrough for was getting the rib. Even with the hints, Max was pretty useless ("I feel homesick Sam") and I never realised you could pick up the cider.

On a tangent, anyone else notice the spike collar on Hugh Bliss in Hell? He doesn't seem to have it on when he appears in the cooking show though. Just wondering what that was all about.

[nhaingen]

When I first saw the collar and that Hugh wasn't talking, I didn't realize he was being haughty - I thought he was turned into a cyborg or something, and the collar was the hinge on his neck. Yeah..

I felt pretty dazed when it was time to ruin the 3 Poppers' plans. I just let Max's hints bring me where they did, and at "I feel like fishing" I used the chain on the crack without the foggiest idea what it would bring me. Later when I put two and two together - that I picked up a Mimesweeper disc and the crack was above a Mimesweeper disc pile - I felt mad at myself for being so stupid. Sleep is really necessary for good puzzle-solving...

[Sir Lemming]

I tried several times to figure out something to do with that crack, but I wasn't sure why. Later on, when the puzzle was happening, I did turn on the hint system and I heard Sam say a line about the street being directly over Hell. That was enough for me to go over and use all my inventory on the crack, and that did the trick. Once I saw that I got the Mimesweeper cartridge it all started making sense, although I had never noticed the cartridge slot before.

The other puzzle I used the hint system for was the toy factory thing. I probably would've gotten it if I had only spent more time in Santa's workshop; I completely forgot that the babies go through the chute. I only really tried that once. For the longest time I was trying to make a toy that wouldn't be recalled (I kept hoping for the "RECALLED" buzzer to say "CLEARED" or something instead), which as you can imagine was an exercise in frustration.

[Badwolf]

(I kept hoping for the "RECALLED" buzzer to say "CLEARED" or something instead)

Ditto. I could have slapped myself when I realised that wasn't it.

[Kefky]

I also knew I had to do SOMETHING with that damn crack since I first noticed it was cliquable, but I never connected it to picking up the cartridges, for some reason. I just figured they were there for the ET Atari game reference. When Max gave me the thing hint about fishing, I finally figured out what I had to do there... But I STILL had no idea I was supposed to get the catridge until it was in my hands! Funny how these things work. Hindsight 20/20 'n all that.


I know it's stupid, but did anybody actually try warming up the coffee with the steam coming out of the crack? 'Cause that was the first thing I tried to do when I got out of hell with it!

[octochan]

I'm really impressed by this episode, you guys wrapped the whole season up as tight as as episode of Doctor Who from the new series! I'm also kind of ashamed that I NEVER NOTICED that the esperanto bookstore had gone missing. seriously, it totally did not register that Bosco's hadn't always been right next to Sam & Max's office.

Also, Hell has no horror compared to Abe's bachelor party, and Peepers trying to be Barry White. *shudder* and I thought Max's jive-talking persona in the last game made me want to run screaming from the room.

I noted that one of the Poppers quoted LucasArt's explaination for cancelling their S&M game verbatim, and ROFLed.

watching the @#$% Poppers being destroyed by lava at the same time as finding out where that portal at the end of 202 went to was wonderfully cathartic!

All in all, a truly worthy sequel to the previous game and addition to the Sam & Max canon! Congratulations!


They kind of did ("He's a man of wealth and taste").

Is it me, or did that song get quoted twice? I recall that Satan himself said "Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name."

And about the puzzles that I guess everyone had trouble with - I had to turn up the hints till I got a comment about target practice and fishing to figure out what to do in those two situations, and even then I wasn't sure what I would accomplish by doing it. and no, the minesweeper music playing on SCP's computer didn't clue me in at all.

One nitpick - if they saved themselves from the pit in 201, shouldn't it have been Christmas at the time, being as it was shown by the Ghost of Christmas Future?


One thing that particularly bugged me was the usage of the giant robot. I was expecting for sure that Sam would control the giant robot in the end in an epic battle with Satan.... but all he did was retrieve a coin...


huh, so I wasn't the only person who thought that!

one last thing, I think the humour in these games is becoming contagious. Just before I clicked on Jurgen's Monster for his surgery, I literally said, out loud, "Buddy, can you spare a rib?" before I realized what I'd done @___@

[Jake]

Throughout the season, I harbored a secret hope that Lincoln's head would somehow end up attached to the Maimtron's body for some kind of final showdown.

[ThatNickGuy]

Throughout the season, I harbored a secret hope that Lincoln's head would somehow end up attached to the Maimtron's body for some kind of final showdown.

There's always next season!

[Corvin25]

The episode was great. :)

However, it is a bit of a tease to put Hugh Bliss there and give him so few lines. I mean, he was the main villain of Season 1, I would like to see more of him. Jurgen was at the wedding trying to catch the Boquet. Is it possible that Hugh Bliss may return as well, as an occasionally recurring character?

Of course, it was delightfully creepy when he wouldn't respond to the two, just staring with that backwards head. o_o;;

[ShaggE]

Of course, it was delightfully creepy when he wouldn't respond to the two, just staring with that backwards head. o_o;;

Heh, that was actually a bit creepy. I thought he was going to tear into them with the mother of all death threats after awhile. :p

[Kefky]

Throughout the season, I harbored a secret hope that Lincoln's head would somehow end up attached to the Maimtron's body for some kind of final showdown.

You should kill one of the game writers, cut off their skin with a knife, and wear it as a suit.

[Arthur9]

In Sams personal hell, where Peepers keeps his gun?

[meelWORM]

Great episode, really tied up the whole season nicely. Well done Telltale, I can hardly wait for Season 3!

[Molokov]

Well finally finished it tonight, and finally reached the end of this thread (quite a few more still to read :) )

Loved 205, I was totally not expecting the Soda Poppers as villains.

Puzzles I turned on hints to solve:
- Toy Factory - I'd already worked out I could shoot the toy, but didn't make the "Alien" reference that Max hints about straight away.
- Peepers seducing Sybil - there doesn't seem to be any clue in the dialogue that his real name would break the spell, and the first hints seemed to indicate to me that we needed to get Timmy /into/ Sybils to confront Peepers. Max's second hint about going back to hell twigged that I needed to switch the swearing list. Love that Timmy says "melon-farming" LOL.
- With the Fiddle Contest puzzle - I saw Chippy's cartridge and immediately thought to get the Mimesweeper cartridges (yes, the music at SCP's cubicle was helpful) but the moleman wasn't helping me. So I thought maybe if I could pull Timmy away from Maimtron, the Maimtron could provide lyrics to Chippy's music... and then I thought... crack in pavement, and got the cartridge that way. So no hints used, but I did go in the wrong direction for a while.

With the final showdown puzzle, bell & book were easy, and I couldn't work out how to do the candle bit.... and ended up just doing lots of random things with random items, which eventually led me to the right conclusion. I just thought Sam was being cruel throwing things into Mr Spatula's tank... I didn't make the cake connection until it appeared! And then I thought if I could find a rib, I could turn it into another Stinky.... the birthday cake aspect only made sense after a little more thinking :)

Loved the whole thing, I was actually laughing out loud so many times and this was even before the opening credits. And all the great things that happened when hell froze over...

I'd list a favourite quote but I'd probably have to play the episode again and write /all/ of them down.

But here's a taste:
"Who would have thought the Lincoln Memorial's bachelor party would be such a disaster?"
"At least it wasn't as bad as the Washington monument's bris"

[Zeek]

- Peepers seducing Sybil - there doesn't seem to be any clue in the dialogue that his real name would break the spell, and the first hints seemed to indicate to me that we needed to get Timmy /into/ Sybils to confront Peepers. Max's second hint about going back to hell twigged that I needed to switch the swearing list. Love that Timmy says "melon-farming" LOL.

The hint was from Stinky's puzzle. The order I did them was Spec's first then Wizzer. When I got to Peepers, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what to do until I realized that Peepers was changing forms with nearly ever edit to him (which I still want to know how you guys did that, TTG!). When I made that connection, I figured it was something along the same lines.

It took me a while to figure out I needed to switch the lists. My hint came from Hugh Bliss himself after Max said to go back to hell. I kind of freaked out when I saw his head turn around by itself as he said "OH! I just love my job!"

[Mirko]

Hey out of curiosity, did hearing the Mimesweeper music playing on the Corporate Presence's computer in the Hell main office help you guys figure out the "violin duel with Specs" puzzle?


It helped a bit, because I would not have thought that Mimesweeper had music. But seeing the other game in Chippy was a greater help. Then i tried asking the moleman for help, saw the one game above the pile, and fished it out with the paperclips.

I really liked this episode! Some of the puzzles were really evil! That Poor Monster ;-) First getting killed (well it asked for it) and then having to donate a rib. I also liked how Hugh Bliss did not say "Hi i'm Hugh Bliss" or anything at all at for a while, when Sam talked to him. The big Car Uprage (for getting all uprgades and decals this season) was also a nice idea.

The only Problem I had was freeing Santa and the elf, simply because I did not think you could shoot the gift at Santa's workshop. But after i did that once, it was easy.

[Sir Lemming]

With the Peepers puzzle I think the biggest clue was that Sybil kept saying "I see him for what he truly is" or something like that; and of course we all know she was being tricked into NOT seeing his true from. When the whole Stinky thing went down -- and when I could still ask Grandpa Stinky afterward to remind me how we saw her true form -- it clicked. Also, when you ask Timmy for Peepers' real name and it's bleeped, you naturally just HAVE to find out! It's human instinct.

[mre]

Is it just me, or did the golden fiddle puzzle just have at ton of red herrings attached to it? Since Max says something like "His music doesn't have enough soul" after hearing Chippy, I was certain that I'd have to use Harry Moleman's karaoke machine in some way. Other than that, I also spent a lot of time trying to make the Maimtron help Chippy out.

Needless to say, I had wasted a good amount of time before actually giving in and shamefully turning the hints up one notch. I feel dirty. :o One of the best puzzles this season though, and I'm glad Telltale has increased the difficulty since adding the hint system.

One minor complaint I have about that puzzle though, is that I actually wasn't aware that the cartridges were copies of Mimesweeper. I think S&M only mention that the first time you click the pile, and that was all the way back before the opening credits.

All in all, I'd say this episode is the best one this season in terms of jokes and writing. Unfortunately, with all the excess travel time I can't really say the same gameplaywise. (That is, the rooms in this episode is mostly just a long, linear passage from one end to the other - I mean, to get from your street into one of the dioramas you will have to walk through no less than five rooms before getting there. Of which two, the sewers and the reception area, are really mostly pointless.)

[Zeek]

I just realized that TTGs missed a golden replay moment with the Maintron. They could have changed it a bit so that after the Maimtron says a line from a song, Timmy would immediately say the artist that originally sung it similar to when you find out they are having a trivia contest.

I mean, hell, that little bit got me to look up Patty Smyth.

[Mirko]

I am replaying the whole season right now... and I just found a nice bit of foreshadowing of 205 in 202, when you click on the North Pole in the office.


Sam: We are just borrowing this from Santa until he gets back.
Max: When will he come back from hell?
Sam: Right after it freezes over.

Or something like that. It is not exactly what happened (because hell froze over after he was released), but still a nice connection to the rest of the season.

[Randulf]

Also, the very first scene in 201 has Max referring to his gun as "The Peacemaker"

[mre]

Also, the very first scene in 201 has Max referring to his gun as "The Peacemaker"

Would that be a 205 reference? :confused:

[wefeelgroove]

- With the Fiddle Contest puzzle - I saw Chippy's cartridge and immediately thought to get the Mimesweeper cartridges (yes, the music at SCP's cubicle was helpful) but the moleman wasn't helping me. So I thought maybe if I could pull Timmy away from Maimtron, the Maimtron could provide lyrics to Chippy's music... and then I thought... crack in pavement, and got the cartridge that way. So no hints used, but I did go in the wrong direction for a while.

This is how I managed to figure that one out, too, though I completely missed hearing the Mimesweeper music. I just figured that since Chippy could use cartridges, I would try to get a hold of one just to see what would happen.

With the final showdown puzzle, bell & book were easy, and I couldn't work out how to do the candle bit.... and ended up just doing lots of random things with random items, which eventually led me to the right conclusion. I just thought Sam was being cruel throwing things into Mr Spatula's tank... I didn't make the cake connection until it appeared! And then I thought if I could find a rib, I could turn it into another Stinky.... the birthday cake aspect only made sense after a little more thinking :)

Yeah, I didn't realize I was making a cake of the damned either until it turned into one, I just saw that you could toss stuff into Mr. Spatula's tank and ran with it. I looked around for a spare rib, too- I even tried to tear up the skeleton poster!

[JeJe]

Hello, first post here (please excuse my learnt-in-Quebec english). I thoroughly enjoyed 205. Am I the only one who got the reference to the LucasArts' cancellation of Sam and Max: Freelance Police? Maybe I misunderstood, but the Popper's Corporate Presence 101 speech right after they reveal their true colors clearly includes something along the lines of: "After careful evaluation of current market place realities and underlying economic considerations" which I've taken from this sad letter (http://pc.ign.com/articles/496/496351p1.html).

[jmm]

I believe "someone" posted about that earlier (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=61932&postcount=22)...

[MaxFan]

How did I miss this one the first time?

When you click on the efficiency meter after you've broken all the dioramas:
Sam (jumping up & down, taunting like a little kid): Hee Hee, we broke hell!
Max: This is why we can't have nice afterlifes

Brilliant

[Ciremi]

Great work, you guys at Telltale.

My laptop sucks, so whenever I play I get about 4-5 minutes of actual play then about 8-10 minutes of lag...eh...it's a Dell...what can you do?

But well-worth the wait, and definitely bizarre and fitting with the Sam and Max universe. Can't wait to see what you guys cook up next, but give yourselves a bit of a breather for right now. You done good.

[Amaterasu]

loooool BEST CHAPTER EVER! XDXD
the stuff just kept going on and on and on...
when the #$%* poppers came up first I was like "nooooo!!!!!!!!" XDXDXD
this game was just awesome in every way possible!
long, lots of items, tons of jokes, godly plot twists...
even jurgen was there! XD

and the best of all... stinky and the dark food!
lol, the part when he explained the stuff about the dark food and humans who tried to find better food for selfish purposes... god that was the best part in all S&M games together.! XDXDXD
loooooool dark food... XDXDXD I can just watch this scene over and over again... XD
"the cake of the damned!"
and it all got connected together at the end.
wow, telltale, you have passed lucasarts if you ask me.

...now just buy monkey island and DoTT. XD

...it bruns when I pee!! XDXD
ohoh, and the best joke; "only watching this bell makes me salivate..."
loooool but I like this one only because I learn psychology. XD

[CaptainXax]

My girlfriend really appreciates Satan's voice. I think she might leave me for his voice actor.

[mre]

Great work, you guys at Telltale.

My laptop sucks, so whenever I play I get about 4-5 minutes of actual play then about 8-10 minutes of lag...eh...it's a Dell...what can you do?

But well-worth the wait, and definitely bizarre and fitting with the Sam and Max universe. Can't wait to see what you guys cook up next, but give yourselves a bit of a breather for right now. You done good.

I agree with everything in this post. Will you be my friend?

[Astro Gnocci]

okay, here's my objective and condensed review :

Masterpiece.

To expand just a little, i agree with some of the flaws that have already been pointed out (the one about demon peepers in sam's personal hell mostly), but well, it really couldn't spoil the overall awesomeness of this episodes. The quality has really built up all along the two seasons, you guys kept doin them better and better, to the point that now i think season one sucks hard poo compared to that one (don't get me wrong, season one was great, it's just great to see how telltale have managed to top themselves in that way). Hopefully you'll make those twats at lucasart's regrett some of their decisions !

One other minor flaw would be that this episodes looks kind of like a gift to the fans who followed up since the begining... The way you reused almost everything from every other episode was just great, but it means you HAVE to have played them all before that one, which not bad in itself, tho... Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, i was a little skeptical about that whole episodic thing at the begining of season one, but you guys not only managed to prove me wrong, you also made me LOVE it with that one final gem.

Also, the writing was your best ever... There's been some complains about maybe not matching the "true" whackyness and "personality" of sam & max, which i agreed with, but it's been solved along the way and now i think you really nailed it EXACTLY right. Not only that, but the jokes were gold... At one point I couldn't laugh anymore, i was just staring at the screen my mouth wide open, lookin silly but happy and waiting for the next jewel to come, thinkin "my god, i'm dead and in heaven right now" everytime.

Ok, i guess that's all i have to say... I love you telltales, keep up the good work and you shall see more of my money !

[Jake]

One thing that I forgot to mention that is kind of awesome, re Soda Poppers - did you guys notice that the Demon music from Ice Station Santa (the stuff that plays whenever the Corporate Presence is around, or when Santa is posessed, or when Sam & Max are in the lava pit), is an apocalyptic version of the music that's always played whenever the Soda Poppers are around? I was hoping it would get pretty drilled into people during the Poppers reveal scene in 205, but I haven't seen it mentioned.

[Zeek]

Jared did a good job then, because I didn't notice it. Of course, I'm used to the "Screwing with the Soda Poppers" theme, so the connection between the two given their vastly opposite styles was a major leap in logic that I never made until you said something, Jake.

[bai_ganyo]

1. in the backflash pic of them beating Brady to death he has an afro, which should have been shaven off by then, S&M can't even have shaved the dead body, because in 102 one of them states, that Brady cried, while shaving it off

2. in 102 you can read in the Worst News newspaper, that Brady got arrested and is now in jail, is therefore not killed by the Poppers

[Zeek]

1. in the backflash pic of them beating Brady to death he has an afro, which should have been shaven off by then, S&M can't even have shaved the dead body, because in 102 one of them states, that Brady cried, while shaving it off

2. in 102 you can read in the Worst News newspaper, that Brady got arrested and is now in jail, is therefore not killed by the PoppersChances are between the two episodes, they jumpped him and the news papers are late to report it (as usual).

[wisp]

that still wouldn't explain, why he has still hair when he died...expect that he simply might be wearing an artificial 'fro...can't really call such a thing a wig..

[tabacco]

1. in the backflash pic of them beating Brady to death he has an afro, which should have been shaven off by then, S&M can't even have shaved the dead body, because in 102 one of them states, that Brady cried, while shaving it off

2. in 102 you can read in the Worst News newspaper, that Brady got arrested and is now in jail, is therefore not killed by the Poppers

Didn't you see Weekend at Bernie's?

[Zeek]

that still wouldn't explain, why he has still hair when he died...expect that he simply might be wearing an artificial 'fro...can't really call such a thing a wig..

He answers the fro question if you talk to him. :)

[Murray the Chao]

True, but I thought elf tears only worked on plants!

[wisp]

He answers the fro question if you talk to him. :)
..but that would mean he had access to that stuff while he was still alive. if it would be so easy for "normal" people to get elf tears...why don't i have some?

[Jake]

If you want to get semantic about it, there's an elf in hell, and he's not happy.

[bai_ganyo]

Wasn't there an appearing of the Mariachis in 102? I replayed it, but couldn't make them appear!

[Will]

Definitely not 102. In 201, assuming a dyslexic typo, you have to talk to the bug twice before going to Christmas Present.

[Murray the Chao]

BTW, whatever became of the Four Horsemen figurines? I don't recall seeing them again.

[Jake]

They summoned the spirits of Christmas! The High Priest medallions didn't show up again either :P or the bolt cutters, or something.

[LuigiHann]

I think this episode is interesting, because it's the first Sam & Max episode to be long enough that I actually forgot things that'd be useful for later puzzles. Granted, I can only blame my own dumbness, but for some reason I feel like the cake ingredients weren't emphasized enough... even when I started pouring stuff into the fish tank, it didn't dawn on me what I was making until it was finished. Once it clicked, though, it felt like it should have been obvious, and I'm not sure why I didn't think to look at the cook book (which would have made everything clear).

That puzzle is pretty reminiscent of Monkey Island's end-game puzzles, although Monkey Island probably would have had you make a cake using more obvious versions of the ingredients earlier in the game...

[Dangerzone]

yeah... same here for the cake puzzle, i just kept using the coffee cup on everything cause i was itching to know what it was for, but some of the lines you get for using it on different things are downright hilarious


speaking of which, when can we expect a play it again list for 205, will we get it in a week or so... (or will you guys make us wait all summer again and force me to make another one in your absence :D)

[Amaterasu]

I just listened to the censored "more than jerks" song (after you switch the lists, try the music machine in stinky's). it's the most &#* funny thing in the world!! XD
the whole idea of censoring satan's shopping list is just amazing! at first you think it's just for the quest part, but it did censor the whole food words in the game!
at the end, when max yelled "ya you #$*& poppers!!" I was like "LOOOL XDXDXDXDXD"!
awesome job telltale! one of the greatest ideas in games history.