| ◄ | — | Bathroom Trap | Razor Wire Maze | ► |
| “ | You're probably wondering where you are. I'll tell you where you might be. You might be in the room you die in. | ” |
— Jigsaw tells Adam Stanheight about his game[src]
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Adam and Dr. Gordon's Test is one of Jigsaw's games in the Saw franchise, occurring in the first Saw film.
History
Preparation
Amanda drags Adam into the bathroom
Several months after the beginning of his games, John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, used an old, dilapidated bathroom located in an underground tunnel network as the location of one of his most complicated tests. He and his accomplice, Amanda Young, abducted the renowned oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon and the freelance photographer Adam Stanheight, who had been observing Gordon for some days already. After abducting Adam from his apartment at night, Amanda took his unconscious body to the bathroom. Upon entering, she saw John, standing in front of a mirror, while he disguised himself with fake blood and a false head wound, to make it look like he had shot himself in the head. As he noticed Amanda's arrival, he ordered her to chain Adam to a pipe in the corner of his room by his left leg. While she removed his belt and shoes and chained him up, John used a special fluorescent color, which was only visible in the dark, and painted an "X" on the wall in the corner of the room, where Gordon was chained up. Afterwards, picked up a bucket full of fake blood and poured it on the floor. Meanwhile, Amanda filled a bathtub next to Adam with water and finally laid his unconscious body in there. Afterwards, she turned off the water again and tossed the key for his shackle on his stomach. Once they had finished all of their preparations, John told her that it was time to start their game. John then injected himself with a tranquilizer, which slowed his heartbeat and relaxed his muscles. Afterwards, he ordered Amanda to go. Therefore, Amanda took Adam's belt and shoes, as well as the things they had used for the preparation of the game, with her and was about to leave. Meanwhile, John grabbed a tape recorder and a revolver and lay down in the puddle of blood, posing as a corpse. Amanda then turned off the lights and closed the door behind her as she left the bathroom. (Saw, III)
Adam Stanheight and Dr. Lawrence Gordon's Test
Both men were chained by the ankle to pipes in opposite corners of the room, with Adam lying in a water filled bathtub. He had the key for his shackle lying on his stomach. However, after waking up and scrambling from the bathtub, he accidentally pulled the plug and unwittingly sent the key down the drain. Between them, in the middle of the room, lay John in a pool of blood, posing as the corpse of a man who shot himself in the head, still holding the gun in one hand and a tape recorder in the other. Both Adam and Lawrence had an envelope in their pockets. While Adam's envelope only contained an audio tape, Lawrence's also had a key and a bullet inside. Using the plug from the bathtub, Adam eventually managed to obtain the dead man's tape recorder and play the tapes.
| “ | Rise and shine, Adam. You're probably wondering where you are. I'll tell you where you might be. You might be in the room you die in. Up until now you simply sat in the shadows watching others live out their lives. But what do voyeurs see when they look into the mirror? Now, I see you as a strange mix of someone angry, yet apathetic. But mostly just pathetic. So are you going to watch yourself die today, Adam, or do something about it? | ” |
— Adam Stanheight's tape[src]
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| “ | Dr. Gordon, this is your wake-up call. Every day of your working life you have given people the news that they're going to die soon. Now, you will be the cause of death. Your aim in this game is to kill Adam. You have until six on the clock to do it. There's a man in the room with you. When there's that much poison in your blood, the only thing left to do -- is shoot yourself. There are ways to win this hidden all around you. Just remember, X marks the spot for the treasure. If you do not kill Adam by six, then Alison and Diana will die, Dr. Gordon... and I'll leave you in this room to rot. Let the game begin. Follow your heart. | ” |
— Lawrence Gordon's tape[src]
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The tapes recorded by Jigsaw gave them the instructions they had to follow in order to win their game. Lawrence had to kill Adam by 6:00. Otherwise his wife, Alison, and his daughter, Diana, would be killed by Zep Hindle, who held them hostage as part of his own test and was told to kill them and Gordon afterwards if Lawrence didn't kill Adam in time. Adam, however, was merely told to survive until the end of the game.
The bathroom
Following the clues from the tapes, Adam found a plastic bag in the toilet tank, containing a pair of hacksaws as well as his photos of Dr. Gordon. He kept the photo's from Gordon but gave him one of the saws. However when they tried to cut through their chains, Adam's saw eventually broke, causing him to angrily throw it against the mirror which broke a piece of glass out of it. After unsuccessfully trying to cut through his chain as well, Dr. Gordon soon realized that the saws were not strong enough to cut through their chains and were actually meant to cut off their feet. He then told Adam about the Jigsaw Killer and how he himself was interrogated as a suspect five months ago. However, Adam still distrusted Gordon and even threatened to slit him with a glass shard from the mirror. Thereby, he realized that it was actually a one-way mirror with a camera positioned behind it.
Adam finds the photo of Gordon's family
Despite their continuing distrust Adam and Lawrence soon started to talk about the latter's family and Gordon gave Adam his wallet to show him a photo of him and his family, which he said to be his favourite picture of them. However the photo was replaced with another picture showing Alison and Diana tied up in their apartment. On the back of the photo was a message for Gordon, telling him that an "X marks the spot" and that sometimes he might see more with his "eyes shut". Adam told Gordon the photo wasn't in the wallet but refused to tell him about the new picture. However when they got into an argument about Adam not helping Gordon to find a way out Adam finally realized the meaning of the message and told Lawrence to turn off the light. Doing so revealed a "X" written on the wall with a fluorescent paint not visible in the light. When Gordon used his saw to break through the marked part of the wall he found a box inside a small hollow space which he was able to open with a key from the envelope from his pocket. The box contained a cellphone, two cigarettes and a message for Gordon which told him that he wouldn't need a gun to kill Adam and hinted at the blood of the dead man in the middle of the room being poisoned. When he asked Adam how he knew that they had to turn off the light Adam initially refused to tell him the truth but ultimately showed him the photo of his family held captive and apologized for not telling him earlier. Upon seeing that his family is actually in danger Lawrence thinks about killing Adam with a poisoned cigarette. However instead of actually doing so Lawrence formulated a plan to stage Adam's death in front of the camera. He gave one of the cigarettes which wasn't poisoned to Adam who pretended to die. This plan was thwarted when Adam was electrocuted through his chain. Due to this they got into another argument. However the shock also helped Adam to regain his memories of the night he was abducted in his apartment.
Adam during the final seconds of the game
Some time later Lawrence was unexpectedly called by his frightened daughter and his wife. When Alison asked him if Adam was with him in the room she told her husband not to trust Adam as he already knew him before. Upon the call being interrupted Lawrence angrily yelled at Adam and demanded him to finally tell him the truth. Eventually Adam admitted that he was observing him for some days already and revealed the photos of him he found in the same bag which also contained the hacksaws. He claimed that he even knew about Gordon's mistress whom he met at a motel the night before. When being asked who hired him to take the pictures Adam told Gordon about Bob, the "tall black guy with a scar around his neck" which Lawrence immediately recognized as former detective David Tapp. When looking at his photos Adam suddenly found a picture which wasn't from him, showing a man staring out of a window of Lawrence's apartment, whom Lawrence identified as Zep Hindle, an orderly from the hospital. Moments later the clock struck 6:00, marking the end of the game as well as Lawrence's failure.
Culmination
Lawrence was called again by Alison and heard shots and screams, causing him to panick until he was electrocuted as well, which rendered him unconscious for some mere seconds. Adam desperately tried to wake him up and finally even managed to do so. However this caused Lawrence to further panic as he didn't know that his family actually managed to escape from Zep and despite Adam's frequent attempts to calm him down he started to cut of his foot while a screaming and horrified Adam was forced to watch. When Lawrence grabbed the dead man's gun and aimed at Adam the latter begged for his life but Lawrence shot him in the shoulder, intending to kill him, which caused Adam to collapse.
Lawrence severing his foot
Shortly thereafter, Zep entered the bathroom, and Lawrence desperately tried to shoot him but was out of bullets. Zep then prepared to kill him, since he didn't kill Adam in time. However, Adam, who had survived the gunshot, knocked him to the ground and started to fight for Zep's gun. Adam eventually managed to get the gun out of Zep's hands and bludgeoned his head with the lid of the toilet tank. Lawrence promised to find help for Adam before crawling out of the bathroom, leaving Adam behind alone.
Adam about to be sealed in his tomb
Ridden by fear, Adam searched Zep's body for a key to his shackle, but instead found another tape recorder which revealed that Zep was merely another victim of Jigsaw. After listening to the tape, the man in the middle of the room, who was thought to be dead the entire time, stood up and revealed himself to be the actual Jigsaw Killer. When he told Adam that the key to the shackle was in the bathtub, Adam recognizes how it went down the drain when he woke up. Terrified, he grabbed Zep's gun and attempted to shoot Jigsaw, but was electrocuted by the latter's hidden remote control. After that, Jigsaw turned off the lights before closing the door and leaving Adam to die in the darkness of the bathroom with the words "Game Over." (Saw)
Adam's Death
Adam is suffocated with a plastic bag by Amanda
Some time after Adam failed his test and was left to die, Amanda returned to the bathroom, as she felt guilty for abducting him and had nightmares about his ghost haunting her. When she arrived, Adam was already weakened by both his gunshot wound and his lack of food. Out of mercy, Amanda suffocated him with a plastic bag. Adam desperately tried to fight her off but his head smashed against the toilet, leading to him losing his consciousness and finally succumbing to asphyxiation. (Saw III)
Trivia
- The bathroom is considered to be the most iconic location within the Saw franchise since it is one of the few revisited locations in the series.
- According to an interview with Leigh Whannell, Adam and Lawrence were originally going to be trapped in an elevator or a basement instead of the bathroom.
- In Saw and Saw III, Adam Stanheight was shown to be chained by his left ankle, but in Saw II, his corpse is shown to be chained by his right ankle, and in Saw 3D, his chain is shackled to Hoffman. This is interesting, as in Saw III, it was revealed that Jigsaw specifically told Amanda to chain Adam by his left ankle. This has led some fans to believe Adam is alive, and that the corpse in the bathroom is not him.
- When Lawrence cuts off his foot at the climax of Saw, the cellphone disappears and is not seen again for the rest of the film or in any of the bathroom's reappearances.
- In Saw and Saw 3D, Lawrence's foot was lying on its right side, but in Saw II and III, it was lying on its left side.
- Adam's shirt and the bathtub stopper which was tied to it have disappeared from the bathroom floor.
- In the end of Saw 3D, Dr. Gordon sees his wallet lying next to his foot. The wallet is empty, without any documents.