Grass Roots - Michael

Player notes

• ◆In reality, marijuana does not have hallucinogenic effects unless a very large amount is taken in a short amount of time. It is possible that Barry's marijuana is laced with a hallucinogen such as DMT, though Franklin does not experience hallucinations. Ironically, given that Barry is an advocate for legalization, concerns about illegal cannabis being spiked with other chemicals and drugs is one of the arguments often given for legalization. Also, paranoia is a common side effect noted of smoking weed; Barry exhibits some of this, but it is primarily shown in exaggerated form by Trevor who, a few times during the mission, states outright that the cannabis had pushed him over the edge.
• ◆The music playing during Michael's hallucination sequence is a remix of the song titled " " by the progressive rock band, Visitors.
• ◆The music playing during Trevor's hallucination sequence is titled " ". It is composed by Danny Elfman, and is part of the soundtrack to the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
• ◆The aliens, purple color, and overall over-the-top situation of Michael's hallucination might be a nod to .
• ◆In Liberty City, there is a business called Grass Roots.
• ◆The vivid and horrible psychological trips Michael and Trevor experience reflect their personalities and past history.
• ◆Michael sees aliens (which he hallucinates about on another occasion) and screams that he is "going to die"; the aliens are a staple in both GTA cinematography and real life cinematography, which Michael is very fond of, and Michael's extreme fear of death has its own roots in him having "too much to lose".
• ◆Trevor, on the other hand, experiences clowns; during the mission, Trevor implies that he has both a fear of clowns and psychosis. Trevor's fear of clown is referenced when having Trevor hang out with Franklin and Lamar. It's almost certain that Trevor has some form of psychosis, and/or a bad experience with clowns as a child.
• ◆Franklin does not appear to hallucinate, but also experiences one of his most commonly-expressed fears: putting in a lot of effort only to be stiffed on his reward.
• ◆Since Michael's hallucination symbolizes his fear of his future and Trevor's hallucination symbolizes his fear of his past, the fact that Franklin experiences no hallucinogenic trip probably symbolizes his fear of his present.
• ◆Both Michael and Trevor will be seen to have lost health because of getting shot by aliens and clowns respectively even after the hallucination is over, proving their physical health can get depleted because of the trauma from the hallucination.
• ◆If the player equipped either Michael or Trevor with full body armor before their respective missions and manages only to lose part of their body armor without harming their health, not only either Michael's or Trevor's health will be intact, but also once the missions are done, their body armor can be regained (or found intact) exactly the way it was beforehand, proving the trauma of the hallucination impacts only their health, unless they are protected by body armor.
• ◆Michael and Trevor cannot use their special abilities during the shootouts.
• ◆Jimmy references Michael's part of Grass Roots when he mentions on Michael's Lifeinvader page that he saw him "stumbling around Legion Square shouting something about aliens".
• ◆Trevor's hallucination sequence is the only mission in which the Clown Van can be seen. It can be obtained through a complicated process on the enhanced versions of the game, as it can be seen .
• ◆Trevor's hallucination sequence is also very similar to the Grand Theft Auto III mission Kingdom Come where both protagonists (Trevor/Claude) have to destroy several vans to stop enemies from spawning to pass the missions. Unlike GTA V, in GTA III the pursuing enemies do not shoot the player instead they run towards Claude whilst wearing bomb vests that automatically detonate when they approach him.
• ◆Both Grass Roots - The Pickup and Grass Roots - The Drag are not listed on the GTA V checklist found on the Rockstar Games website.

Barry — the full chain

1. 1Grass Roots - Michael
2. 2Grass Roots - Trevor
3. 3Grass Roots - Franklin
4. 4Grass Roots - The PickupGate
5. 5Grass Roots - The DragGate
6. 6Grass Roots - The Smoke-In