The Entire Saw Timeline Explained

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Saw is one of the most well-known and profitable horror franchises in history, but that doesn't mean that it's exactly easy to understand. Let's try to make sense of Jigsaw's entire timeline, explained in as painless a way as possible.
Transcript
00:00 Saw is one of the most well-known and profitable horror franchises in history, but that doesn't
00:05 mean that it's exactly easy to understand.
00:07 Let's try to make sense of Jigsaw's entire timeline, explained in as painless a way as
00:12 possible.
00:13 When we first meet John Kramer in 2004's Saw, he's already made a name for himself
00:17 as the infamous Jigsaw Killer, a sick, sadistic genius who tests the limits of human morality.
00:22 However, his motives and backstory aren't fully explored until the sequels, which are
00:27 peppered with flashbacks to Kramer's past.
00:29 In Saw 4, we learn that everything started when John's wife, Jill Tuck, the founder of
00:34 a local rehab clinic, becomes pregnant with their son, Gideon.
00:37 John is over the moon and begins creating a life for the child.
00:41 In his workshop, he shows Jill a homemade crib as well as the franchise's iconic puppet,
00:46 but happiness doesn't last long.
00:48 Late one evening, a pregnant Jill is locking up her clinic when she's held at knife point
00:52 by the junkie Cecil Adams.
00:53 The door handle slams into her stomach, causing her to miscarry.
00:57 Saw 6 further reveals that Amanda Young, who later becomes one of John's devout disciples,
01:02 was the one who coerced Cecil into stealing methadone from the clinic.
01:11 According to Jill in Saw 4, John received his stage 4 cancer diagnosis from Dr. Lawrence
01:16 Gordon soon after the loss of their son.
01:18 This event was expanded upon in 2017's Jigsaw, when former army medic Logan Nelson returns
01:24 to medical school and begins a residency at the same hospital employing Gordon.
01:28 Due to his negligence, Nelson mislabeled Kramer's x-rays, delaying John's brain tumor diagnosis.
01:34 Saw 6 introduced the health insurance executive William Easton, whose company Umbrella declined
01:40 several of John's coverage claims.
01:42 While Kramer suggests participation in experimental gene therapy to treat his illness, Easton
01:46 asserts that nothing will help at this point.
01:49 This series of events culminates in John's suicide attempt, driving his car off a cliff.
01:54 Suffering severe injuries, Kramer survives and gains a new appreciation for life.
01:58 Thus, a killer is born and his life's work is set in motion.
02:03 According to Logan's third act villain speech in 2017's Jigsaw, he reveals how he was the
02:08 fifth player in one of John's very first traps.
02:11 The rules were simple, five people must confess their crimes or die.
02:15 But the catch is that regardless of their intent, every player's actions resulted in
02:20 death.
02:21 For example, the character Mitch caused the death of John Kramer's nephew by selling
02:24 him a motorcycle with faulty brakes.
02:26 John's neighbor Anna suffocated her newborn baby and pinned the crime on her husband,
02:31 who later hanged himself.
02:35 The first round of the game involves metal collars, helmets made from buckets, and a
02:39 wall of table saws.
02:41 While the others free themselves by making a blood sacrifice, Logan doesn't wake up
02:45 in time and blades start slicing into his back.
02:48 John saves Logan, giving a second chance after determining his mix-up of the x-rays didn't
02:53 warrant his death.
02:54 John takes Logan under his wing, with the doctor helping to fabricate the reverse bear
02:58 trap that's used in the characters Amanda, Detective Mark Hoffman, and Jill.
03:02 Believing Logan had clearly suffered enough, with him still reeling with PTSD from the
03:06 Iraq War, John's rare display of empathy further endeared him to fans of the Saw films.
03:12 During a flashback sequence in Saw 4, John kidnapped Cecil during a bustling celebration
03:17 for the Chinese Year of the Pig after donning a pig mask and dousing a rag with chloroform.
03:22 After Kramer brings Cecil back to his workshop, he straps him into a metal chair and gives
03:26 Cecil a choice.
03:27 He can either bleed out from his wrist and ankle restraints, or press his face into a
03:31 device made out of kitchen knives.
03:34 Cecil actually manages to rise to the occasion and frees himself, but when he lunges at John,
03:39 he tumbles into a wire cage.
03:41 The original Saw also revealed several other early traps, including a game involving a
03:45 knife, shards of glass, a candle, and a man's body smothered in flammable goo.
03:50 Later, Detective Allison Carey finds a penlight seemingly left by the killer at the crime
03:55 scene, which links back to Dr. Gordon.
03:57 As revealed in Saw 5, Detective Mark Hoffman planted this evidence to throw law enforcement
04:02 off the trail.
04:03 We also witness Amanda's iconic reverse bear trap test.
04:07 In further flashbacks, Amanda admits to feeling rehabilitated after surviving her game and
04:11 becomes John's star pupil.
04:13 It is even revealed in Saw 3 that she assisted him in setting up the bathroom game for Adam
04:17 and Gordon in the first film.
04:19 Saw 5 reveals Detective Mark Hoffman's backstory, which opens with a gruesome adaptation of
04:24 Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum."
04:26 Seth Baxter is bound to a table and can only escape the deadly pendulum by pressing buttons
04:31 inside two separate boxes that will crush his limbs.
04:35 But there's a problem.
04:36 This trap is inescapable.
04:37 We later discover that Seth murdered Hoffman's sister, Angelina.
04:41 Seth's original 25-year prison sentence is reduced to five due to a technicality.
04:46 Hoffman takes matters into his own hands, hoping to frame Jigsaw for Seth's murder.
04:51 "She was my only family.
04:53 He didn't deserve a chance.
04:54 She was an animal."
04:55 "Everybody deserves a chance!"
04:57 Some time later, when Hoffman is heading home, he meets John Kramer in an elevator, who stabs
05:02 a syringe into his neck.
05:04 Hoffman wakes up, tied to a chair with a shotgun pressed against his chin.
05:08 But his test is not like the others, with John pulling the trigger himself and driving
05:12 Hoffman to the edge.
05:14 As Detective Peter Strom discovers, Hoffman has been involved in every Jigsaw murder since,
05:19 as well as countless early games, including the opening of "Saw II."
05:23 At this point in the timeline, popular author Bobby Dagan, a central character in "Saw,"
05:27 the final chapter, makes the media rounds while promoting his book about his alleged
05:31 experience surviving one of Jigsaw's attacks.
05:34 But things aren't what they seem.
05:35 Before he was famous, Bobby wore lots of denim and frequented a local pub.
05:40 In between pints of beer, a news segment caught his eye — a Jigsaw survivor coming forward
05:45 to share their truth.
05:46 At this moment, Bobby decided to write a fake story and exploit the tragedy of Jigsaw's
05:50 victims as part of a money-grubbing scheme.
05:53 Set at an undetermined time before the first film, Kramer approaches Bobby during a book
05:57 signing, seemingly to get Bobby's autograph.
06:00 Dressed like Eminem from "Eight Mile," Kramer hints that he knows about Dagan's trickery.
06:05 According to flashbacks in "Saw VI," Jill meets Amanda outside John's laboratory around
06:09 this same time, implying that Jill knew about John's games all along, yet did nothing to
06:14 stop them.
06:15 John slips a key into her hand and vows that she'll be released from his work soon enough.
06:20 Jill wears this key around her neck, which plays a crucial role later in the franchise.
06:25 The original "Saw" movie serves as the present-day starting point of the franchise, and is considered
06:29 instrumental in igniting the torture-porn craze of the 2000s.
06:33 With its gritty color palette, fast cuts, and nauseating brutality.
06:37 However, unlike most of the sequels, the story is pretty straightforward.
06:41 Struggling photographer Adam and oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon are trapped in a bathroom,
06:45 where they must atone for their sins.
06:48 It's essentially an escape room with buckets of blood.
06:50 "He doesn't want us to cut through our chains.
06:55 He wants us to cut through our feet."
06:57 Meanwhile, Detective Tapp is convinced that Gordon is the man behind the madness, and
07:01 becomes obsessed after the death of his partner, Detective Singh.
07:04 His paranoia ultimately gets him killed, while a complicated web of deceit unravels, entangling
07:09 hospital orderly Zep and Gordon's wife and daughter.
07:13 In desperation to save his family, Gordon does the unthinkable and, in one of the series'
07:17 best moments, saws off his own foot.
07:19 While it seems unlikely that Gordon survived, we learn in "Saw" the final chapter that Gordon
07:24 managed to cauterize his leg and became one of Jigsaw's accomplices.
07:28 He contributed to many of the film's traps, including the Venus flytrap in "Saw II" and
07:33 Hoffman's test over the course of "Saw IV," "Six," and the final chapter.
07:37 Outside of the first film, "Saw II" is generally the easiest sequel to follow along.
07:42 However, the imagery is far more stomach-turning than in the first.
07:45 Once you witness the needle pit, you'll never sleep again.
07:48 In the film, Detective Carey teams up with Detective Matthews to find his son Daniel
07:53 and uncover the location of Jigsaw's latest creation.
07:56 The events of the film largely center around a "Halfway House"-style game, partly constructed
08:00 by Detective Hoffman, as revealed in "Saw V," featuring players with criminal backgrounds.
08:05 In twisted fashion, Jigsaw puts Daniel in the middle as a way to crawl under Matthews'
08:10 skin.
08:11 "Oh yes, there will be blood."
08:14 As fans know, the "Saw" franchise loves to toy with audiences' perception of time, and
08:19 "Saw II" flips viewers' expectations on their head.
08:22 When Matthews thinks he's uncovered the location of the game, several key reveals follow.
08:26 First, it's only a decoy house.
08:28 Second, the game actually took place an unknown amount of time beforehand.
08:32 And finally, in one of the series' most shocking twists, Daniel is revealed to be in a safe
08:36 place, just as Jigsaw promised, gasping for air inside a safe that's been sitting next
08:41 to Matthews the whole time.
08:43 The problem?
08:44 Matthews fails to heed Kramer's simple instructions to just sit and talk, resulting in his imprisonment
08:49 in the bathroom from the first film by Amanda.
08:52 "Saw III" and "Saw IV" take place concurrently, and this is where things start to get confusing,
08:56 as numerous storylines with Hoffman, Amanda, Detective Cary, Detective Matthews, newcomers
09:01 Perez and Strom, and SWAT member Rigg all overlap.
09:05 Flashbacks in "Saw V" and "Saw VI" reveal Hoffman's involvement in setting up several
09:09 of the film's traps.
09:10 The opening of "Saw IV" chronicles John's autopsy, during which the medical examiner
09:14 discovers a new tape.
09:16 Psychologically, the first scenes of "III" follow, picking up right after "Saw II," with
09:20 Matthews chained in the bathroom.
09:22 He mutilates his foot and crawls away, only to be captured by Hoffman and put on literal
09:26 ice.
09:27 Meanwhile, Amanda kidnaps Dr. Lynn Denlon, upon Dr. Gordon's suggestion, for what becomes
09:32 her final test.
09:33 Lynn performs an emergency craniectomy on Kramer, for if he dies, she will too.
09:38 Amanda somehow has time to kidnap Cary as well, and hooks her into a ribcage trap.
09:43 But it's another inescapable game, and Cary perishes.
09:46 Meanwhile, Lynn's husband Jeff learns to forgive those involved in his son's death after making
09:51 his way through the factory where everyone is being held.
09:54 Moments later, Amanda shoots Lynn, with Lynn falling into Jeff's arms.
09:58 Four days later, Rigg helps discover Cary's body, but soon finds himself trapped in his
10:03 own game, which tests his obsession with helping others.
10:06 However, he doesn't learn his lesson, and his choices lead to Matthew's death.
10:10 Jigsaw 5 continues right after the previous two films.
10:14 Strom, while trapped by Hoffman in the storage room with Jigsaw's body, discovers a hidden
10:18 passageway and his own tape.
10:20 Despite Jigsaw's warning to stay put, he follows along the corridor, is captured, and has his
10:25 head confined inside a glass box that's slowly filling with water.
10:29 Strom immediately goes into survival mode, removing a pen from his pocket and stabbing
10:33 himself in the trachea, which prevents him from drowning.
10:36 Hoffman is noticeably surprised that Strom survived, and sets his sights on framing him
10:40 for the latest murderous rampage.
10:42 In the next scene, Jill meets with John's lawyer, Bernie Feldman, and receives a box
10:46 that she unlocks with a key around her neck.
10:48 Inside, she finds six numbered file folders, a manila envelope, and the reverse bear trap.
10:54 Meanwhile, a disturbing game ensues while Strom uncovers Hoffman's storied past.
10:58 "We were all supposed to die.
11:01 We were supposed to be heroes."
11:03 In addition, Special Agent Dan Erickson is introduced, and led on a wild goose chase
11:07 to the location of the latest game.
11:09 He's seemingly convinced of Strom's involvement, with Jill also claiming that Strom has been
11:14 following her for quite some time.
11:16 Strom falls deeper into the abyss, and in the finale, tussles with Hoffman in a secured
11:20 room where the walls narrow, ultimately crushing him to death.
11:24 Where previous installments of the Saw franchise addressed police corruption, Saw VI veers
11:29 into a fang-toothed commentary on the healthcare system.
11:32 It begins with Strom assuredly dead, while Hoffman continues his bloodthirsty rampage.
11:37 Liam Easton, the health insurance agent who denied John Kramer's claims, is a rat trapped
11:41 in a macabre maze.
11:43 He's left to endure various tests involving his lawyer, his star employees, a journalist
11:47 named Pamela, revealed to be William's sister, and finally, a woman and her young son, whose
11:52 father died soon after William's company denied him coverage.
11:55 The flashbacks make all of this somewhat unbelievable, even if the carousel test is a franchise standout.
12:01 Jill's file folder number six reveals that Jigsaw's last wish is to finally put Hoffman
12:06 to the test.
12:07 Jill happily carries out his plans, as special agents Perez and Erickson remain hot on Hoffman's
12:12 trail.
12:13 However, the two feds meet an unfortunate fate when Hoffman attacks them.
12:17 But that's when Jill catches up with him, fastens the bear trap to his head, and leaves
12:21 him for dead.
12:22 Or, so we think.
12:23 As a 60-second timer counts down, Hoffman rams the front of the trap into the bars covering
12:28 the room's windows and slithers free, setting up his last attempt at revenge.
12:33 If the series hadn't already jumped the shark, Saw the Final Chapter, aka Saw 3D, seals the
12:38 deal.
12:39 For many fans, several plot points are hard to swallow.
12:42 First, Dr. Gordon is very much alive, and yet another secret Jigsaw accomplice.
12:47 Second, the first trap, which is staged in a bustling town square, is way too theatrical
12:52 compared to previous traps.
12:54 Third, Hoffman's vendetta against Jill is arguably strange.
12:57 The main plot follows author Bobby Dagan, who's promoting his self-penned memoir, only
13:02 to become Hoffman's latest target.
13:04 Of course, Bobby's story about surviving a game involving meat hooks is fabricated, and
13:08 serves as the basis of his final test.
13:10 In order to save his wife, he must insert meat hooks into his pectoral muscles and hoist
13:15 himself up into the air.
13:16 He fails, and his wife is cooked alive.
13:19 Hoffman appears to have the upper hand, particularly when he kills Jill with the bear trap.
13:23 But he quickly gets his comeuppance when three masked pigs attack him, one of whom is Dr.
13:28 Gordon.
13:29 Dr. Gordon is then locked into the same bathroom from the original film.
13:37 It's a cool ending, but it's arguably undone by an overly complicated and needlessly nihilistic
13:42 storyline.
13:43 If you've made it this far into the franchise, bless your heart, but 2017's Jigsaw somehow
13:49 further distorts the timeline.
13:51 As previously mentioned, the actual game takes place a decade before the present-day timeline.
13:56 There are a few breadcrumbs that'll help orient you, but you have to be paying very close
13:59 attention to detail.
14:01 While working as a medical examiner assistant alongside Logan Nelson, the character Eleanor
14:05 secretly runs a popular Jigsaw fan site while collecting some of the killer's devices, including
14:10 the reverse bear trap.
14:12 One evening, Eleanor brings Logan to her studio and reveals a cyclone-type contraption, allegedly
14:17 undiscovered by the cops.
14:19 Detective Holloran suspects that Logan is the killer, while Logan eyes Holloran.
14:23 The premise is outrageous, but it generally works.
14:26 Logan and Eleanor follow clues that lead them to the Tuck family pig farm, the location
14:31 of the game.
14:32 Acting on a hunch, Holloran is right behind them and gets into a hand-to-hand altercation.
14:36 Holloran and Logan wake up with dog collars secured to their necks.
14:40 To survive the trap, all they have to do is confess, but their egos are strong.
14:44 But Logan's complicity in Kramer's scheme since the early days is among the franchise's
14:48 most enthralling revelations.
14:50 As absurd as it is, we ask ourselves, how could John possibly have had this many secret
14:55 accomplices?
14:56 But at this point in the franchise, you just have to accept it.
14:59 Chris Rock's Detective Banks has a line early on in Spiral in which he claims that
15:03 Jigsaw never targeted cops, but detectives Matthews and Singh would disagree.
15:08 That aside, Spiral from the Book of Saw has something profound to say about law enforcement.
15:13 After all, police brutality is all over social media these days.
15:16 This latest entry takes place an undisclosed amount of time after Jigsaw, with Detective
15:20 Banks attempting to follow his father's footsteps at a local precinct, but can't seem to get
15:24 out from under the shadow of his past.
15:26 Twelve years earlier, he reported another cop for dirty dealings.
15:30 Afterwards, when he was investigating a crime and called for backup, no one returned his
15:34 call and he was shot.
15:36 Banks' task was showing William Schenck the ropes, and they quickly begin investigating
15:40 a series of crimes that bear a striking resemblance to Jigsaw's games.
15:44 "That spiral is what I think it is."
15:46 "Jigsaw?"
15:47 "Wait, I thought the Jigsaw killer was dead."
15:49 Is Jigsaw alive, or is it just another copycat?
15:52 The finale is heart-pounding, from the trap that puppeteers Banks' father like a marionette
15:57 to the reveal of the real killer.
15:59 Details about Saw X are few.
16:01 What we do know is the events take place sometime between the 2004 original film and Saw II.
16:06 In the official trailer, John Kramer travels to Mexico for an experimental surgery, but
16:10 it turns out to be a scam, and his tumor isn't removed.
16:13 With only months left to live, he returns to his work and targets those medical personnel
16:18 who scammed him.
16:19 From a fake former patient to the doctor herself, everyone will have to pay the price for their
16:24 lies.
16:25 Via the official Saw account, on the website formerly known as Twitter, longtime Saw producer
16:29 Oren Kulesh shared,
16:31 "John is absolutely the protagonist in this movie.
16:34 This is John Kramer's story as a human."
16:36 Director Kevin Grudert also stated,
16:38 "The film feels in a lot of great ways like the older Saw movies.
16:42 As far as we can tell, he's absolutely correct."
16:44 The traps presented in the trailer tease the raw grittiness and merciless brutality found
16:49 in those early installments.
16:50 And because the film takes place so early in the timeline, that means that Amanda returns,
16:55 seen in her signature pig mask and cloak.
16:57 What role she will play exactly is unclear, but here's hoping she has enough screen
17:01 time to justify her presence.
17:03 [music]