They were forced to take psychotropic medication (which they sneakily spit out) and were eventually discharged with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia in remission.
Sidekicks are one of the most common and direct ways to do this: they can supply sneakily perceptive commentary on the main action, often while simultaneously serving as blundering, hapless punchlines.
The other day I was sneakily eating a piece of chocolate in the kitchen and Dan, my husband, walked into the kitchen and said, " Did you eat the last piece of chocolate? "