Saw | Saw II | Saw III | Saw IV | Saw V | Saw VI | Saw 3D | Jigsaw | Spiral | Saw X
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Crime scene cleanup
- Why is the Razor Wire Maze still standing when Strahm visits the location in this movie? The body is removed, and as best as I can tell the blood has been cleaned off, but the trap itself is still there. Isn't "removing the razor wire" part of "cleaning the crime scene" in the Saw universe?
- On a similar note, why are the police not constantly monitoring that one house from the first film that Jigsaw keeps reusing?
- The police didn't know where it was until Hoffman led Erickson there at the end of Saw V. By that point, the only "non-psychos" who know about the place are Erickson, Brit, and Mallick. It's safe to assume other cops showed up shortly afterwards to assist with the investigation (between V and Saw VI).
- The "five become one" game was in a completely different location from the house. Nobody besides Hoffman and Lawrence know where it is.
- Hmm... in that case I guess it is possible that the house was never found, but only if Lawrence converted really fast so he wouldn't tell anyone. And Jigsaw has to have covered his tracks even better than we already knew; for example, didn't Eric Matthews drive his squad car to the house? Even if they moved or destroyed it, those cars are surely tracked from the station by GPS or something. (Also, I don't remember off the top of my head if any victims or traps from that house were mentioned by the police later, but the whole thing falls apart if so.)
- Lawrence did convert pretty quickly, as shown in Saw 3D. Since John nursed him back to health instead of taking him to a hospital, he had little contact with the outside world until he was able to actually move on his own again. By that point, he was firmly in John's corner.
- Replying to OP, the structure (i.e. the fencing and the door) are still there, and the wire was cleared out. It's not shown very well, but there's a shot that's clearly from behind one of the fences, and another with the fencing visible over Strahm's shoulder, and there isn't any wire there.
- On a similar note, why are the police not constantly monitoring that one house from the first film that Jigsaw keeps reusing?
The Nerve Gas House
- If the house at the end of Saw V is the nerve gas house from Saw II and Erickson has alerted the authorities of its location, then why has the bathroom not been discovered and cleaned up by the time of Saw 3D?
- The "five become one" test takes place at a totally different location. The house shown in Saw II, V, & 3D is never discovered by the authorities.
- During Seth Baxter's game, the "Jigsaw" recording says that Seth would have served a life sentence if he hadn't been released five years after his imprisonment due to a technicality. However, when Hoffman later talks with Fisk, he tells him that Seth was sentenced to 25 years in prison before the technicality allowed him to be released sooner. Then why does the recording say that Seth's sentence would have been life in prison? 25 years isn't a life sentence and Seth was young, so he would have been alive still if he had served his original sentence.
- The recording didn't say "would," it said "should" have been a life sentence. Given Hoffman's bias, he's probably pissed he "only" got 25 years in the first place.
Hoffman's scheme
- If Strahm had heard Hoffman's instructions and locked himself into the Glass Coffin, what would have Hoffman done? Would he have allowed Strahm to escape with his life? Strahm still had proof that Hoffman was Jigsaw's accomplice.
- Doubtful. Hoffman never really wanted to be an apprentice in the first place, and it seems like from Saw V-3D he spends as much time trying to frame people/eliminate anyone who knows of his involvement so he can get away clean as he does constructing Jigsaw traps. After Hoffman went through all the other steps to make Strahm look like the hidden apprentice, it stands to reason Strahm was a goner once he entered that room either way.
- Why would Strahm be suspected to be an apprentice in the first place? Perez states upon their introduction in Saw IV that Kerry was their liaison in the police department and was feeding them information on the case. It's also implied that the reason she was doing so was because of a lack of faith in the department, and Strahm and Perez don't show up and get involved in the case directly until after Kerry's death. Strahm even stated that he and Perez are there to find Jigsaw's second accomplice, which would be a ridiculously stupid move to involve yourself in the case directly to investigate yourself. Also, Erickson seems to completely forget that Strahm was placed in a trap that nearly killed him, and was one that he realistically couldn't have put himself in if he was trying to create an alibi. Of the two people who survived the meatpacking plant, Hoffman is far more likely to be suspected, as Strahm's trap could have killed him, while Hoffman claimed his just happened to "fail," allowing him to survive.
- Saw VI shows that the FBI were able to pull at the threads and inconsistencies of Hoffman's framejob against Strahm, so the work that Hoffman did to set him up wasn't airtight and able to stand up through an investigative lens. Also, Strahm didn't help matters by going to retrieve evidence despite being ordered to take medical leave (the evidence was obviously so Strahm could do a Rogue Agent investigation, but just as much appeared to FBI leadership to be him withholding that evidence from their archives, perhaps for malign reasons) and later going to confront Hoffman without any backup. As to some of your points specifically, "(it) would be a ridiculously stupid move to involve yourself in the case directly to investigate yourself"... well that's exactly what Hoffman himself did, so perhaps he was projecting that irrationality onto the motive profile he wanted to tag Strahm with. Also, it's possible that a Jigsaw accomplice (who, like Amanda, may have already endured a trap and might even have a taste for more self-torture) would be crazy and determined enough to frame exonerating evidence for themselves to the point of putting themselves in a deadly trap (and having to perform a self-tracheotomy to survive it), perhaps with the assistance of another accomplice or coerced stooge, so Erickson may be considering this angle for Strahm during Saw V. Hoffman may also have compelling evidence (via testimony and also if he frames the scene correctly) that his own trap would very likely have killed him, but as we know in reality it was never in any danger of doing so.
- Another thing that IMDB notes for this movie is that Erickson jumps to the conclusion that it must be Strahm calling from his own phone (and so he can be traced via GPS on the device). But that phone was confiscated in evidence lockup, so Erickson may have realised in between V and VI that it could just as easily have been someone else using it to frame Strahm and should not be considered compelling evidence one way or another regarding the possibility of him being with Jigsaw.
- I was wondering how Strahm even got rescued from the Water Box trap at all considering he appeared to go to the Gideon Meatpacking Plant without backup (anyone noticing this as a recurring theme with him?) when it hit me that Hoffman probably called the cops after he left everyone around him dead and with him and Corbett as the sole survivors. But wait. Hoffman obviously drugged Strahm and left him in the trap, before calling the cops. Why then didn't he observe Strahm drowning (from a camera if he didn't want to risk Strahm discovering his identity) so as to tie up any loose ends? If he had done so he would have seen the self-tracheotomy and thus that Strahm was still (barely) breathing, and wouldn't want to leave this living witness who would likely go on to become a big thorn in his side. Hoffman does appear to suffer from Bond Villain Stupidity (among other things he didn't think to check Strahm's pockets where he would have found the pen), but why in this example? The implication at the end of the movie seems to be that Jigsaw imparted upon him the lesson that if you can predict human psychology, you can mastermind any crimes you wish. It doesn't seem to be the case when you pick away at it. He lost the best opportunity to frame himself as a hero and sole survivor (that is if not for the fact that Amanda had warned Corbett about him). And what, just for the opportunity to attempt to frame Strahm (which as we see in the next movie didn't pan out for him) when Strahm could easily have either brought backup had he been so inclined (or even sent new evidence back to the FBI as a contingency) or just either killed Hoffman or physically beat him so that he could arrest him without tossing him into the Glass Coffin first?
