What makes a jQuery object show up as an array in Chrome's Developer Tools?
From http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.makeArray/:
Many methods, both in jQuery and in JavaScript in general, return objects that are array-like. For example, the jQuery factory function $() returns a jQuery object that has many of the properties of an array (a length, the [] array access operator, etc.), but is not exactly the same as an array and lacks some of an array's built-in methods (such as .pop() and .reverse()).
Basically, The object has to have length and splice properties to be array-like. Here is a relevant SO question: Array Like Objects in Javascript
You probably know this, but console.log is not displaying passed content "as is", it is trying to be "smart" and does some post processing. If you want to see original object "as is", there is console.dir method.