Top 20 Worst Decisions In Saw

“Saw 3D” (2010)
Strapped to the ceiling of an elaborate sawblade trap, there’s not a whole lot Dina can do in this scenario. And yet, she still manages to get herself killed. With her lovers Brad and Ryan pitted against each other below, all Dina has to do is get either one of them to kill the other so she’ll be spared. Once it seems like Brad has the upperhand, she professes her love for him. But when Ryan turns the tables, she immediately says the opposite. By being so fickle with her so-called affections, she reveals her true nature. Had Dina simply picked one and stuck with him, she probably would’ve gotten a result. Instead, Brad and Ryan stop struggling and merely let her die.

“Saw II” (2005)
In the first sequel, Jigsaw traps a group of convicted felons in a house seeping with a deadly nerve agent. Their only hope is to collect a series of syringes and administer the antidote. Unfortunately, a lot of antidotes go unused, but no one arguably comes closer than Obi. Tasked with climbing inside a furnace to retrieve a pair of syringes, Obi manages to grab the first without incident. However, upon pulling on the second, he also yanks the chain it’s attached to, shutting the door behind him and setting him ablaze. Had Obi merely taken stock of the setup, it would’ve been easy pickings. Heck, he could’ve even done the selfless thing by passing the syringes through the window, but nope.

“Spiral” (2021)
The traps prove deadly for the cops in this movie, but Captain Garza could’ve prevented being put into one in the first place. While most of the cops are distracted elsewhere, Garza gets lured into the evidence locker at the precinct. Once there, however, she’s immediately greeted by the killer in a pig mask. Garza has the wherewithal to pull her gun and then… not shoot? Instead she tries to go out a locked door and call for coworkers who already aren’t there. This allows the killer to knock her out with smoke grenades. Granted, her subsequent task of having to sever her spinal cord is a tough one, but she could’ve avoided having to in the first place. Instead, she gets the hot wax.

“Saw VI” (2009)
To think, all the misery of the entire series could’ve been avoided if not for bad health insurance. In a flashback, we learn John Kramer might’ve found an effective treatment for his debilitating cancer. However, he was kept from pursuing it by William Easton and his unfeeling insurance policies. Sure, William was just following the numbers, but he inadvertently led John to become one of the worst serial killers of all time. Flash forward to several years later, and William’s placed in his own game, whereby his fate is decided by the grieving family of another man he’d loopholed out of existence. Naturally, he’s given little mercy, and instead injected with hydrofluoric acid.

“Jigsaw” (2017)
We can understand the people in this game being in denial about the lives they inadvertently took, but when it comes to their own lives? It should be an easy choice. Early on, the survivors are presented with three syringes, one filled with acid, and another with the antidote to the poison in Carly’s veins. They’re each marked with a monetary value, with the antidote’s being the exact amount Carly stole before letting her victim die of an asthma attack. All Carly has to do is administer it, but her inability to do so puts them at risk. Rather than let them all choke, Ryan plays it safe and injects Carly with all three syringes. The others are saved, but the acid kills Carly.

“Saw IV” (2007)
Billy the Puppet is already freaky enough, but to willingly get closer to it? That’s something we wouldn’t do under any circumstances. While investigating a trap at a school, FBI Agent Lindsey Perez comes across Billy with a tape recorder around its neck. The recording addresses her, meaning her life is already in danger. Instead of getting a team to assess it, Agent Perez instead ignores its warning and draws closer to hear better, only for it to explode and send shrapnel into her face. Fortunately Perez survives - for now - but this injury seems easily avoidable. Billy laughing at her is totally justified.

“Saw” (2004)
Adam and Lawrence’s confinement makes up the central tension of “Saw,” with the two men struggling to find a way out. Unfortunately, armed with little more than a bonesaw and a one-way cellphone, the pair quickly find themselves devolving into panic. When Lawrence can’t reach the phone later in the film, he naively gives up without trying other options. The fact that he doesn’t extend his reach with the saw is painful to watch, especially as he uses it elsewhere only seconds later. It’s also unclear why Adam doesn’t give this advice. Even if the saw somehow slipped their minds, it’s similarly disheartening that Lawrence doesn’t think to use his shirt to extend his reach before employing it as a tourniquet.

“Jigsaw” (2017)
As twisted and hypocritical as Jigsaw is, he doesn’t technically condone violence. So why Anna would think winning the game means killing Ryan is beyond us. At the end of the movie, Jigsaw greets the final two contestants, presenting a shotgun and calling it the “key to [their] freedom.” Of course, Anna fails to take this literally, and intends to use it on Ryan. Ryan pleads for his life, and just as he figures it out, Anna fires. Unfortunately for her, the gun backfires, killing her instantly. Ryan’s intuition is proven correct, as the literal key to their shackles was in the shotgun shell, now destroyed. Not only does Anna get herself killed, but she dooms Ryan by leaving him helpless.

“Saw III” (2006)
As many accomplices as Jigsaw has, few of them actually adopt his penchant for fair play. Case in point Amanda Young, who only has herself to blame for where she ends up. Whereas John always gives his victims the ability to escape, Amanda sets up impossible traps for the likes of Troy and Kerry. This prompts her to be once again tested by John, only this time she isn’t as fortunate. While she’s technically being blackmailed by Mark Hoffman, Amanda nevertheless allows her insecurities to get the better of her and shoots Lynn Denlon. Little does she know, Jeff is Lynn’s husband, and arrives in time to return the favor. You reap what you sew in these movies.

“Saw II” (2005)
Much like Amanda’s, Detective Matthews’s test is simply to resist his baser impulses. When his team tracks down John Kramer, they learn a game is being played elsewhere, with Matthews’s son Daniel being one of the contestants. In exchange for Daniel’s safety, all Matthews has to do is sit still and talk to John, as much as he wants to beat the information out of him. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Matthews does, as John feigns willingness to bring him to Daniel. Meanwhile, the others discover that not only is the game not live, but Daniel has been stable in a literal safe just feet away the entire time. Instead of his son, Matthews finds a cell for himself which leads to his eventual demise.

“Jigsaw” (2017)
Ryan is sealed with Mitch and Anna in one of Jigsaw’s trap buildings. He tries to use an exit to get out early, and ends up catching his leg in an intricate wire setup. While trying to open a door isn’t inherently a bad idea, Ryan’s choice to open one marked “No Exit” is questionable at best. This is particularly upsetting considering that, by this point, Ryan is already well aware of how lethal Jigsaw’s games are. His failure to remind Anna about the literal nature of these traps are what ultimately seals his fate, but his failure to follow basic directions remains more frustrating. Jigsaw’s punishments are all about teaching people, and Ryan demonstrates the pitfalls of learning nothing.

“Saw V” (2008)
Five people are tested with a series of traps in “Saw V.” Unfortunately, each person fends for themselves when they’re tethered together, rather than attempting to use one key to free everyone. They bizarrely miss the fact that another room’s safe zones can hold multiple people, which needlessly diminishes their numbers further. In the end, these thoughtless moves simply mean that their final trials - involving shocks and violent sacrifices - are all the more severe. All this stumbling is even less excusable since Jigsaw tells them from the start that they’re specifically being punished for selfish actions. The whole set of traps is surprisingly easy in retrospect - if only these victims had actually worked together on each one.

“Saw III” (2006)
The vengeful Jeff is forced into a series of traps that revolve around the death of his son and the ensuing court case. He initially hesitates to help the people he blames for the outcome. While these mixed emotions make sense, his inevitable shift to help everyone renders his delays frustratingly counterproductive. Jeff’s angry shaming of each person is also stupidly wasteful given how dire their situations are already. By taking so long, most people are beyond saving by the time Jeff decides to help. All his bumbling decision-making ultimately hurts him the most, and cements his trials as being among the franchise’s most difficult to watch.

“Saw IV” (2007)
By the time Officer Rigg became a protagonist in “Saw IV,” he’d already played a supporting role against Jigsaw in two previous films. Jigsaw tested him in this installment by telling him that his need to save others went too far. Regardless of these warnings, Rigg rushed to Brenda’s aid and wouldn’t you know it… he wound up setting off otherwise avoidable timers. Given Jigsaw’s hints, you’d think he could have looked around first and discovered the trap before touching things! Rigg had already led his fellow policemen to harm in “Saw II” by being rash, and yet still ran hastily into his final test two movies later.

“Saw V” (2008)
Credit where credit’s due, Mark Hoffman is pretty good at being Jigsaw. But he could’ve avoided getting sucked into that world and a lot of hurt had he made better choices. Before the events of the films, Hoffman’s sister is murdered by her boyfriend Seth, who’s eventually set free on a technicality. Craving retribution, Hoffman designs a Jigsaw-esque trap, only Seth maiming himself doesn’t result in his freedom as the pendulum finishes him off. We get Hoffman not wanting to seem like a suspect in Seth’s murder, but he could’ve gone about it in a much less elaborate way. Instead, he gains the real Jigsaw killer’s attention, who blackmails him into participating full-time, which eventually leads to Hoffman’s own retribution.

“Saw II” (2005)
In this gory sequel, a group of strangers wake up in a room and soon learn that they’ve been poisoned. Understandably distraught and driven by panic, Xavier commits to using a key on the door, despite a note telling them explicitly not to. This idea is already risky considering the warning, but Gus putting his eye to the peephole simultaneously is downright stupid. All the previous mentions of noises behind the door only serve to prove how little Gus listens. Though Xavier triggers this trap, Gus’s plan to back him up is the mistake that arguably backfired worst of all.

“Saw III” (2006)
This decision is ill-advised for a few reasons. For one, killing off the franchise’s biggest star pigeonholed the writers into relying on flashbacks to bring him back for the sequels. But it also has disastrous consequences for the perpetrator, Jeff Denlon. Despite his entire game testing his ability to forgive those involved with the accidental death of his son, Jeff still thinks it’s a good idea to exact revenge on Jigsaw. Killing John directly activates the collar around Lynn’s neck, which promptly executes her. While his wife was already shot, Jeff effectively negates the possibility that she receives medical attention, or that he finds out where their daughter Corbett is. While Corbett is “rescued,” Jeff isn’t so lucky.

“Saw 3D” (2010)
If there’s anything Mark Hoffman learned, it’s not to fabricate any Jigsaw traps. Unfortunately, it seems like Bobby Dagen could’ve used that memo. While watching a survivor’s story on TV, Bobby gets the idea to pretend having gone through a game himself and turn his “story” into fame and fortune. His plan works, but it also attracts the attention of, you guessed it, Jigsaw. As a result, Bobby is put into a game for real, wherein his conspiring publicist, lawyer, and manager are all killed. In the end, he’s tasked with completing the trap he supposedly survived in order to save his wife, the only person close to him who didn’t know the truth. He fails, and she burns alive in front of him.

“Saw V” (2008)
Peter Strahm chases down Jigsaw for some time, and even survives a trap in his search for the truth. When he finds a glass coffin sitting in a room, he starts playing a tape that gives a compelling argument to get in. Peter stops the tape mid-sentence to hide, however, and forces the sinister Detective Hoffman into the case. By acting without all the information, Peter dooms himself to the closing walls of the room. The fact that he doesn’t finish the tape before using the trap is truly disappointing. Regardless of Peter’s understandable mistrust of Hoffman, he sadly loses his game because he can’t follow instructions.

“Saw II” (2005)
From the start of her imprisonment in “Saw II,” Addison maintains a level-headed attitude to exploring the house. After being weakened by poison for hours, she finds a box with an antidote in it. However, she ignores a mini-cassette, then accidentally spills the liquid from the syringe. With her one hand caught in blades, it’s unclear why she doesn’t try to free herself with the other one. Her decision to put another hand into the box is foolish to the point of being fatal. We get that Addison is dazed, but her approach to one of the series’ easiest puzzles is agonizingly bad.