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The Mausoleum Trap
- The Mausoleum Trap involves two men (Trevor and Art) bound to a winch. Trevor has his eyes sewn shut, and Art his mouth, theoretically to "prevent communication". Did nobody consider that Trevor could still ask yes/no questions and get meaningful responses from Art? Are they really that shortsighted?
- Why would Trevor ask yes or no questions? He doesn't know Art's mouth is sewn shut. He also has no idea what's going on around him - so no reason to ask or talk to begin with.
- Me again. Does he have to have an idea what's going on? He should feel right away that he's being restrained, for one. Odds are that he'd be able to hear the other guy breathing, which in most people would cue "Who's there?" or the like. Any response from Art would tip Trevor off that Art can't talk for some reason — why doesn't matter.
- That also bugged me. I was confused as to how Trevor couldn't just say (once he had the general idea that B couldn't talk) "do some action that produces sound so many times for yes, so many times for no, and so many times for I dunno." Then they could work together to get out of there.
- Well, look at it like this. If you were chained to something in a room with your eyes sewn shut, wouldn't you immediately think the other person is a threat, somehow, if not completely responsible?
- Possibly, but exactly how else are you going to escape? Your only chance is assuming the other guy doesn't want to kill you.
- Well they didn't even make any effort to communicate, and even if Art wasn't responding, you'd think if the response to your call was "mmf, mmf" coming from the other guy, you would suspect something is up.
- So why didn't the other guy try going "mmf, mmf" in an S-O-S pattern, or otherwise signaling that he was just as much in need of help as the blinded one?
- Well, don't know about you guys, but if I suddenly woke up unable to open my eyes, chained to something and with a complete stranger near me, I wouldn't be able to think much aside from "what is going on?". Some might have the nerve to calm down in extreme situations and think of something, others simply don't.
- It actually bugged me that Art didn't force his mouth open to speak and try to find a way out together. Yes, it would hurt like hell, but it would be a lot easier than Trevor forcing his eyelids open, it'd probably save them and he actually did it after he killed Trevor anyway!
- Why would Trevor ask yes or no questions? He doesn't know Art's mouth is sewn shut. He also has no idea what's going on around him - so no reason to ask or talk to begin with.
The scene transitions
- What was up with all the Mind Screw transfers between scenes? A guy breaks a window and suddenly it shatters into a door and suddenly we're in another area? My friends were getting frustrated by it and eventually screaming at the TV "Stop it!" They never did that in the first three movies. Why try something annoying and awkward like that now?
- I don't have a good answer for that, but in the earlier three movies they also tried to put plot above gore and Technology Porn. All of that went out the window in the fourth movie, and it only went downhill from there, so it's quite likely that they were just trying to be flashy and stylistic instead of producing anything of quality.
- Actually they used screwy scene transitions like that in the first couple of movies. In Saw II Detective Matthews appeared to walk from his hotel room onto the first crime scene.
- There's solid logic to the film's fragmented narrative. Like Saw II, it splits the plot into two separate chronologies, though it was less obvious in this case. When Rigg's test begins, the viewer watches him try to solve Jigsaw's puzzles. After each test, which results in the death of whoever Rigg tried to save, the narrative shifts to Strahm and Perez investigating those murders, and then back to Rigg again. Again, like the second film, near the movie's end, it begins to explain the chronology of the narrative shifts. Rigg's test starts around the same time as Jeff's final test (from the third movie) after he killed Jigsaw. Not too confused yet, right? Okay, now when Strahm/Perez closed in on the same warehouse, some time had to pass before the investigation started (between several hours or even an entire day, though it's tough to guess with the movie's screwy chronology). Then, once viewers see Rigg fail the final test (which kills Eric with two ice blocks), we find out Hoffman was behind Rigg's test. After that, the movie flashes back to the opening scene with the autopsy done on Jigsaw's body, and Hoffman grabbing the tape from Jigsaw's stomach. Chronologically, that scene happened last, not first as viewers originally assumed.
- On the one hand, this was a very brave, atypical approach to making more Saw sequels without severely damaging the mythology. On the other hand, this approach confused many viewers (especially non-fans), largely because of how subtle and non-distinctive these details are. It also doesn't help if you, like several others, couldn't tell Strahm and Hoffman apart
. Even if you figured out everything above without help (Rotten Tomatoes forums helped me out greatly), it's impossible not to think the overall plan was extremely convoluted. Think too hard about everything, and it makes your head hurt.
- On the one hand, this was a very brave, atypical approach to making more Saw sequels without severely damaging the mythology. On the other hand, this approach confused many viewers (especially non-fans), largely because of how subtle and non-distinctive these details are. It also doesn't help if you, like several others, couldn't tell Strahm and Hoffman apart
- These transitions are known on the wiki as Seamless Scenery. Perhaps they weren't yet a listed trope when the question was asked.
The Scalping Seat
- Why does the Scalping Seat have a timer? Was it really necessary?
- Yes, because it limited how much time Rigg had to search the room. This ensured he wouldn't find Brenda's tape and circumvent her test.
The bullet casing
- So the cops pull a bullet casing from Kerry's crime scene with fingerprints that turn out to be Rigg's. Given what Kerry's trap looks like, how is that supposed to be incriminating evidence? From the situation, it has to have gotten lodged in there after Kerry's trap got put in place yet there's very obviously no gunfire involved in it, which is the only way it could've gotten there naturally. So unless the FBI thinks Rigg is stupid enough to plant evidence implicating himself, how is this scheme supposed to work?
Knowledge of Amanda
- Why do the police know that Amanda was a Jigsaw accomplice when discovering Kerry’s body? Chronologically, Jeff’s test hasn’t taken place yet, and I was under the impression only Eric knew about this. And he was a prisoner the whole time he knew. The last time Kerry and Rigg saw him, he was forcing Jigsaw to take him to the Nerve Gas House. Even in the previous movie, with Troy’s trap, all Kerry brings up is how odd it is that the trap was basically unwinnable. She doesn’t mention Amanda (as far as I remember).
- Think about it. Which cop states that Amanda is an accomplice? Of course, it's Hoffman. He's a fellow accomplice but the two share a bitter rivalry. Whether or not he thinks she'll make it out of the test involving the Denlons, he sure as hell doesn't mind fucking her over if John is going to be dead soon anyway. As a lead detective investigating the crimes, and a co-conspirator, he's well placed to influence the overall investigation over towards Amanda as a suspect, using a convenient trail of breadcrumbs, at whichever opportune moment he wanted to before this scene indicates to the audience (even if only on a rewatch) that he's stabbing her in the back.
