Film Theory: Saw, How A Dead Man Killed Jigsaw

A fact that MatPat missed. Leigh Whannell - the guy who plays Adam - was the WRITER of the first three Saw films and he produced the last four. If anyone knew where the shackle was supposed to be it would be him! Also, he forgot to mention the magic gunshot wound that jumps around in all the movies where we see Adam's corpse.

There's also the fact that Adam kinda got screwed over without Jigsaw's knowing. See in the first movie it's revealed that the key to Adam's shackles went down the drain as soon as he woke up in the tub, meaning there was no way he could've possibly been able to retrieve them at any point, basically dooming him. It's revealed in Saw III that this was due to Amanda doing a half-assed job setting Adam up, literally just tossing his key into his tub without tying it down or anything. And as we see in the Jigsaw movie, Jigsaw has intervened in games to save victims when he feels they hadn't been given a chance to survive. Shown when he rushes in to save Logan from being killed because he didn't wake up quick enough. He wants them to atleast have a chance, cause that's the whole point. So there is a precedent.

I can imagine a set designer watching this like “oh so I DID put the shackle on the wrong foot”

Another point in favor of this was Gordon's insistence that he would come back for him. He was adamant that he wouldn't abandon him then when Gordon is saved he never mentions Adam again? Plus Adam's specialty is taking innocuous photographs and future contestants had many photos to go with their files.

week 8 of asking for a ‘which total drama challenge is the most deadly’ episode

Finally everything makes sense! I've always wondered how Jigsaw had the time to track down his "victims" while also setting up the traps.

A lot of fans did think it was odd in the last scene of Saw 7 (not calling it "the final chapter") when Dr. Gordon saw Adam's corpse but had no visible reaction to it, which would make sense if at that point he knew it wasn't really Adam. Also in Saw 8 and Saw 9 we still don't have a Jigsaw apprentice who could have done the surveillance and photography Adam was known for, so honestly the characters and the films themselves seem to support MatPat's theory.

Funny thing about "Teamwork." No two of Jigsaw's apprentices were ever teammates. Hoffman pretty much just hated/fought with everyone else while no two others besides him interacted with one another.

Finally someone who appreciates Adam! His game was so unfair, he technically did everything right which is another point to why John would save him.

I love this theory. He was a favorite and didn’t deserve to die. Him being the one to pull the strings that lead to Jigsaw’s death is great and a perfect fate for him.

I always hoped that Adam would return by the end of the series but all we got was an inconsistently placed corpse. I think the problem was that the actor was also the writer and producer, a lot of people see it as self-centered or something, even his really small role in Insidious got people triggered.

Matt forgot one crucial detail. Amanda failed her apprenticeship for Jigsaw because she made her traps unwinnable, a key example being Officer Kerry. She made plenty of mistakes that Jigsaw could never clean up because she killed people and didn't care about rehabilitating them.

This is Saw in a nutshell: “It’s all fun and games until Jigsaw asks you if you wanna play a game.”

An additional note is that Adam didn't fail his game, his only task was survival and he did.

I actually believe this. Adam is the only known photographer in the series. He’s like Saw’s TMZ reporter, taking stalker photos, except that he’s hired by anonymous clients to do so. So theoretically he could be hired by anyone and not know who they are, like Hoffman or Kramer.

One major detail to notice that may go over someone's head considering it happens in the very first movie at the beginning is that Adam accidentally unplugged the tub and then the key goes down the drain. The plot of the game was to have Adam able to move around Jigsaw doesn't know this happened because he was knocked out faking his death. The way he saved that one guy in "Jigsaw" because he had a bigger dose that had him knocked out and able to wake up in time to participate in the game. Or the way that the scans were accidentally mixed up it's known that if Jigsaw makes a real mistake he then fixes it or "saves" the participant. So considering Adam accidentally unplugged the tub I think Jigsaw saved him once he realized he made a mistake.

Its a shame you didnt mention that in The Final Chapter we have two apprentices alongside Gordon in covered pig masks. Its actually a big point of debate of who exactly is under there, and having Adam be one oddly fits

I actually love this theory, I don’t know if it fits or not but having one of his early victims be his undoing from the shadows sounds poetic.

Does make sense since Jigsaw in Saw 3 mention Amanda's weakness is 'her emotions'. Her abrupt crying at the 36 second mark was her weakness giving in, allowing Adam to live.

And technically, Adam won his game, but Zep got a toilet tank lid to the head, and was beaten to death. Giving Dr. Gordon the ability to “win” Edit: Thank you for reminding me I was wrong, I’m sorry.