Here We Go Again

One theme that’s been talked about with Saw a lot is the unfairness of it for Adam. He's just there as a prop in Lawrence’s game, and in the end is discarded. In the script, John even says to him, “The pawn has done what the knight couldn’t. You’ve murdered an innocent man” in reference to Adam killing Zep before he says “Game over,” slams the door shut, and leaves. Adam never had a chance, etc etc. But in John Kramer’s eyes, Adam did have that hacksaw, and could have made the same choice Lawrence made.

Oh, and he had a key.

I’ve seen it brought up before, what was the point in giving Adam a key to begin with? Was he supposed to just be up walking around? Well, yeah I guess. For a while now my headcanon was that Adam, who we see multiple times in the movie is prone to violent, angry outbursts, was supposed to be able to get up and move around and his test is what would he do once he knew Lawrence’s task was to kill him. Would he help Lawrence escape? find that bullet and shoot him first? We'll never know for sure because the key went down the drain.

Another hc that I’ve had for a couple years now is related to something that I never see people bring up- Adam tried to shoot John when he got up off the floor. He lunged for Zep’s gun, and John shocked him before he could fire and left him for dead. Adam does this after John tells him the key to the chain is in the bathtub. (In the script, Adam tries to shoot him first). I’ve wondered if Adam had tried to beg for his life, told him the key wasn’t there, anything other than try to kill him, if John would have let him go. When you consider it in the context of the movie Jigsaw, that John lets Logan go because he didn’t have a fair chance at his game, I truly believe that if Adam hadn’t tried to shoot him, that John Kramer would have let him go.

“But Johnny, Jigsaw was intended to be a soft reboot of the franchise and doesn’t take place in the same continuity as Saw 1-7 and X,” yeah, you’re right, so let's pretend Jigsaw didn't exist, (something I know a lot of y'all do anyway but that's beside the point)

I was thinking about this a little more, specifically in relation to what Adam is told on the tape: “Now I see you as a strange mix of angry, yet apathetic, but mostly just pathetic. So are you going to watch yourself die today Adam, or do something about it?” (In the og script, the tape said, “So many days you’ve wanted to die- today your aim is to live. To get out of this room alive. Either way, you win, yes?”)

We know John loves his little riddles and loves to tell people what to do without actually telling them what to do, see Saw II and the whole thing about how Eric Matthews just has to sit and talk to him for 2 hours and then he'll find his son in a safe place, and after two hours a safe unlocks to reveal Daniel Matthews was inside the whole time.

So, let's think about "are you going to watch yourself die today Adam, or do something about it?" in the context of him being able to get up and walk around. Once he knows that Lawrence has been instructed to kill him to save his wife and daughter, Adam's only other instructions are, "are you going to let him or stop him?" And when you're telling the guy prone to violent, angry outbursts to stop someone from killing him, why wouldn't he be like, "oh shit, i need to shoot this guy before he can shoot me"? Like I said, that was his test.

But Adam didn't unlock his chain, he didn't get up, he didn't try to kill Lawrence before he could kill him, and instead made a connection with him and showed genuine care about what happened to Lawrence and his family, people he'd never met before. He begged for his own life. He wasn't apathetic. He said, "I have a family, too, I don't see them, that's my mistake, a mistake I'd like to fix." (Don't even get me started on the voicemail from his mom in the og script)

And when John gets up in the movie, what is the first thing he says to Adam? "The key to that chain is in the bathtub." Now, we also know that John also likes to be a diva and taunt the people in his traps, but upon further reflection, I don't think this was a taunt. I think this was John's way of saying, "You're free to go. You passed your test, congratulations." He was giving him a chance to look for the key, unlock his chain, and leave. Adam learned to control his temper and appreciate his life! Yeah he killed Zep, but if he didn't, he would have killed Lawrence, so it was as much an act of compassion as anger and fear. Let's not forget, Amanda killed someone in her game, too.

But what did Adam do? He grabbed the fucking gun and tried to kill the only man who could let him go. Whether Adam's motivations were anger, fear, revenge, or trying to keep John from walking out into the hallway and putting Lawrence down, it doesn't matter. It was enough to make John Kramer go, "Oh, nevermind." He gave Adam the chance to free himself and instead of taking it, Adam let his pathetic anger get the best of him and he tried to kill John instead. And why would John then extend his (in his mind) good grace to a person he knows wants to kill him and quite literally already tried?

reaches forward and touches the pipe w rh (to be fair, given the way he's standing here, his rh is his downstage hand, so this could be more about blocking here)

holds envelope with lh and pulls the tape out with rh

tries to use the key with his rh

reaches into envelope and pulls out the tape again w rh

sets the tape down and supports his weight with his lh as he gets on the floor

reaches for the tape player w rh

tries to throw his shirt for the tape w rh

holds shirt in lh while he feels around/gestures w rh

reaches in the tub for the plunger w rh

ties plunger onto his shirt with and uses his rh to try to get the tape recorder

holds tape recorder w lh, puts tape in w rh

holds tape recorder w rh as he listens to it (which in this instance might be more of a blocking thing like with the pipe more than a dominant hand thing, though at 11:07 when he plays Lawrence's tape, he still holds it up with his rh which is not his downstage hand in this position)

I think the point has been made here, but let's skip ahead to a couple other memorable parts in the movie:

Adam reaches into the toilet bowl and digs around w his rh

reaches into the toilet tank and lifts out the bag with his (non poop covered) lh

he pulls the saws out of the bag with his non poopy lh but uses, breaks, and throws the hacksaw with his rh

Adam is resting his weight on his rh when it cuts back to the bathroom after Amanda's trap and gestures w his lh, but i think this is more about the blocking and camera position here

he reaches forward to pick up the mirror shard and threaten Lawrence with his rh which is not his downstage hand here

picks up and throws stuff at the mirror with his rh

picks up Lawrence's wallet with his lh, which is the one closer to it (the one he uses to hold it and dig for the picture of Alison and Dina switches between shots)

Adam does smoke with his lh in the bathroom, but he picks up and uses the lighter with his rh, and as a right handed stoner, I most definitely light my shit with my right hand and hold a joint/pipe/bong with my left (he also reaches/gestures for the cigarette with his rh when he's asking Lawrence to give him one, which is his downstage hand)

Adam is smoking with his rh when he's walking up the stairs to his apartment, shuts the front door with his rh, is carrying and throws his keys on the table with his rh, has the camera hanging around his shoulders so that the camera is hanging on his right hip next to his rh

beats up Billy in his apartment w a baseball bat w his rh

approaches his closet door with the camera in his rh and the bat in his left, also opens the door with his left

holds the camera up to his right eye to take pictures of Lawrence ("BUT THAT'S HIS EYE" you say- well typically people are right or left eye dominate in the same way that they are right or left hand dominant and usually that dominance is on the same side, so unless he's a right handed left eye dominant freak like me, he is likely right eye dominant and therefore also likely to be right handed)

that said, he does appear to be holding the camera to his left eye when he watches Lawrence go into the motel room

he does throw the stack of photos at Lawrence with his lh

he takes the money from Tapp w his lh

picks up and throws things at Lawrence with his rh after he gets electrocuted when he's begging him to get up

he punches Zep in the face w his lh while pinning him down w his right arm, after getting shot in the right shoulder

not surprisingly, he uses his lh for most things (reaching for Lawrence, searching Zep's body for a key, holding and listening to the tape recorder) after he gets shot in his right shoulder

he does dive for, grab, and take aim and John with Zep's gun with his rh (and Adam died for it)

So while Adam does use his left hand for plenty of things that don't always seem related to blocking, given that he uses his right for more fine movements like loading the tape recorder, using the lighter, and it's his throwing arm, I'm inclined to say that his right hand is dominant