Saw (2004) - 16 questions

Question: When Lawrence is going crazy, he tries to reach the ringing phone using the box he found it in. When this fails, it motivates him to saw through his foot. Since the box was just out of reach, why didn't he pull the phone towards him using the saw (just like Adam tried at the beginning of the movie, with the cassette player)? This couldn't possibly have failed, though. If he had, he could have answered the phone and probably gotten help that way. It would have saved him a lot of trouble and pain. Someone please enlighten me.

Answer: First, it's because he was very distraught. Simply reaching the phone wasn't going to help him help his wife. Second, because it was the major plot point the entire movie has been building up to.

Question: This is a question regarding the scene where Ali tells Dr. Gordon over the phone to not believe Adam's lies. How does Ali know about Adam in the first place? From what you gather, it is only Detective Tapp that knows Adam since he was the one who paid Adam in secret to follow and take pictures of Dr. Gordon. So, was it Zep that told Ali about Adam? If so, how did Zep know about Adam? From Jigsaw? Any further details would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer: Yes. You pretty much guessed correctly. We can assume that Jigsaw told Zep to tell Ali to tell Dr Gordon, "do not believe Adam's lies..." Don't forget that Jigsaw spends hours planning his tests so it would be safe to say that he had planned it all in the beginning.

Question: When Lawrence is going crazy, he tries to reach the ringing phone with the box he found it in. When he fails, this prompts him to saw his own foot off to freedom. Why didn't he use the hacksaw? Since the phone's box was just out of reach of the phone, he could have used the saw to get the phone, answer it and maybe even tell his wife where he is. It sure would have saved him a LOT of trouble and pain.

Answer: Like you said, he was going crazy. And his captor's intention to force him into sawing his own foot off was seeming more and more inevitable throughout Lawrence's imprisonment. He finally just snapped.

Question: Rules for Zep was to kidnap Gordon's family and watch over Adam and Gordon, if Gordon did not kill Adam by 6, he would kill the family. So why did Zep end up driving to the bathroom in which the whole movie took place at the end and try to kill Gordon?

Answer: I believe Jigsaw's rules were if Zep failed to kill Dr. Gordon's family, then Zep would have to drive to the bathroom and kill Dr. Gordon himself in order to get the antidote.

Question: What is the point of John/Jigsaw being in the room with Adam and Dr. Gordon? If some one can fill me in that would be great.

Answer: He was able to observe the 2 and make sure that the followed the rules. Example would be when Dr. Gordon pretended to kill Adam. Zep couldn't tell if it was real or not, but Jigsaw was right there and knew. Plus, there's a clue in the movie, when the dective says "Looks like out killer likes to book himself front row seats." Jigsaw wanted to see how people reacted when their lives were on the line.

Question: What exactly happened to Dr. Lawrence in the end? He's crawled out of the room, sans foot and increasing amounts of blood, and Jigsaw makes his way out the same door less than a minute afterward.

Answer: We can assume he died from blood loss. In Saw 2, we find out that Adam is still in the room (although abviously dead) so it's safe to assume Dr. Gordon died before he could get back to help Adam.

Question: At the end when Dr. Gordon cuts his foot off, he tells Adam he'll go and get help when he escapes. So wouldn't Adam be able to escape as well once Dr. Gordon gets help? Or would Jigsaw catch up with Dr. Gordon and kill him?

Answer: It's assumed that Dr Gordon dies from loss of blood - he's not in the sequel and isn't really mentioned. The fact that Adam did die (his body is shown in Saw 2) suggests that Dr.Gordon died before he could get help.

Question: At the very beginning of the film, Adam was seen waking up in a bath full of water. How did he breathe when he was unconscious? If Adam hadn't woken up he would have drowned, but there would have been no way for Jigsaw to know exactly when Adam was going to wake up so that he could put him in the bath at the right time. Dr. Gordon's lack of hysteria suggests that he has been awake for some time, so wouldn't he have heard Jigsaw putting Adam in the bath and guessed where he was?

Answer: Jigsaw put Adam in there when everything else was set up, to revive him and get the game started. It is logical to assume that Jigsaw knew approximately how long Adam would be unconscious, and that the shock of cold water and drowning revived him quickly. True, Lawrence was probably awake at the time, but he would not hear much,other than the sounds of a body moving around, which he would later conclude had been Adam waking up and trying to move about.

Question: How exactly was Adam supposed to win the game? We know the Doctor had to kill Adam before 6 to live, but how was Adam meant to get out? Was he there solely for the Doctor to kill or was there a way out for him that I've missed?

Answer: Adam's key was in the water at the start, when he pulled the plug to use it to get the tape recorder, he drained the water and subsequently the key went down the drain. Since Adam did not know this, it pretty much was there for the kill.

Question: What exactly was the purpose of the cigarettes? It seems like in order to kill Adam, Lawrence would have to give Adam a "blood soaked" cigarette. If this was how Lawrence was going to kill Adam, then what was the point of the saws and bullets? Also, wouldn't Lawrence be skeptical as a Doctor that something like a blood soaked cigarette would kill Adam while a normal unsoaked one wouldn't kill him? The whole part with the cigarette's leaves many unanswered questions.

Answer: The killer knows that, in this early stage, Lawrence is unlikely to really try to kill Adam, and also that he is likely to try and pretend to do so to get out (hence the electrical shock administered to Adam). Thus, the saws and gun are for use later in the game, when things really heat up; the cigarette is there specifically for the ruse Lawrence attempts. Also, the deadly effect of the cigarette is not just the blood, but the fact that the blood is poisoned (or so they are led to believe); hence, if Adam put the poisoned blood in his system, it could very well have killed him if it really were poisoned. Smoking an unsoaked one might kill him with cancer, but that would have taken far too long to do Lawrence any good.

Question: After Zep is killed and before Lawrence leaves the room to get help, why don't he take Zep's gun to shoot Adam's chains? They probably didn't know how many bullets were left on the gun, so it's possible that there would have been at least one bullet left?

Answer: Shooting at anything solid like chains or a wall with a gun is never a very good idea. First, it is very unlikely to work, and secondly, the bullet is bound to ricochet seriously injuring one or both of them while leaving the chains untouched.

Question: Why could possibly be the purpose of the photograph that was placed on the box in the wall? If it was there, then Lawrence was supposed to take it with the box together - but he fails to notice it. Was that their only chance to get out of there alive or what?

Answer: There was no photograph on or in the box on the wall. The contents were: A cell phone, 2 cigarettes, a lighter and a note. The picture was in Lawrence's wallet which told them to look for the X on the wall.

Question: My gripe is why did the doctor cut off his foot to get to the phone/gun?? He was of mind enough to use his shirt to tie around his leg - why not use his shirt to retrieve the phone/gun. Also can't mobile phones set to receive only still make calls to directory enquiries and emergency services?

Answer: It is doubtful there can be a precise correct answer to this, unless you happen to be the screenwriter. However, it can be presumed that the doctor resorted to the skills he had down cold, almost automatic, as opposed to attempting any further creative problem-solving because he was at his wits' end, in a very traumatic situation. He knows how to tourniquet and amputate.

Question: Why did the killer place the key into the bathtub together with Adam? If it hadn't been sucked down the drain the game would have been over pretty quickly.

Answer: The killer is a sadist. There is no way Adam could have noticed or retrieved the key before it was sucked down the drain. The whole point was to make Adam be feeling the whole time "Oh if only I'd caught the key," knowing he couldn't have caught it, and being unable to get it.

Question: I understand why Jigsaw targeted Adam and Larry, it's stated in the film. But why Zep? He was shown earlier to actually care for his patient.

Answer: The killer didn't seem to have a problem with killing innocent people to make the games work (think of the guy with the key in his stomach, or the drill guy, who jigsaw referred to as a 'test').

Question: When Danny Glover was taking pictures of Cary Elwes home, didn't he wonder who the stranger was peering out from the window? And since he didn't know who the man was, why didn't he follow up or call the police? Also, how could photos from Glover's camera be so quickly developed, and then somehow put into the toilet in the sewer room?

Answer: I'm not too sure about how the pictures got in the bathroom, but Glover says something along the lines of, "Does he know someone's at home with his wife?" Meaning he may have thought that she was having an affair.