| “ | I don't know what you think you know, but my marriage has survived more suffering than someone like you could ever grasp. | ” |
— Lynn talks to John about her marriage[src]
| ||
Dr. Lynn Denlon is a fictional character from the Saw franchise as well as one of the main protagonists of Saw III. She was portrayed by Bahar Soomekh.
Biography[]
Family Tragedy[]
Lynn and Jeff in an argument
Dr. Lynn Denlon was a surgeon working at the Angel of Mercy Hospital and was the wife of Jeff Denlon, with whom she had two children, Dylan and Corbett. However, her life changed dramatically when Dylan was killed by drunk driver Timothy Young in a car accident at the age of 8. Following this traumatic incident, Lynn suffered from severe depression and started to regularly take antidepressants. Her depressions worsened when Dylan's death also affected their marriage, as her husband, Jeff, started to neglect himself and his family and instead indulged in thoughts of revenge. This led to numerous arguments between them and ultimately caused them to neglect their daughter, Corbett, as well. (Saw III)
Affair[]
Lynn and Chris in his apartment
Throughout the next three years, Lynn and Jeff became further estranged from each other and eventually, Lynn started to have an affair with a man named Chris, who she occasionally met at hotels to sleep with him. However, unlike Lynn, Chris developed actual emotional feelings for her and was soon unsatisfied with the situation. One night, after they had sex with each other again, this caused an argument between them. When Lynn told him that she had to be at the hospital by 9:00 o'clock, Chris thought that this was merely an excuse for her to leave and reminded her that it was Tuesday, when her shift usually started at 11:00 o'clock. Lynn however responded that the timetable had been changed last minute, causing Chris to give in. He offered her to take a shower, which she denied, saying that she would do so at the hospital. Chris then tried to talk to her about their relationship and openly told her that he was unsatisfied with their affair, which Lynn was barely interested in. As she was about to leave, he finally told her that he wanted her to finally file for divorce from Jeff. Lynn however, who was annoyed by this discussion, ignored him and left without wasting another word on him. (Saw III)
Abduction[]
Lynn in the hospital's changing room
When she eventually arrived at work, a heavily injured young boy was taken to the hospital at about the same time after surviving a car accident. While Lynn was in the changing room, her colleagues paged her to immediately get to the emergency ward. However, she stayed at the room and ignored the paging until Deborah, one of the nurses, found her and took her to the patient. When they arrived, the boy was still unconscious and entered a state of shock. One of the doctors ordered to prepare everything for open heart surgery. Lynn intervened and auscultated the boy's lungs, realizing he was suffering from tension pneumothorax, a dangerous collection of air in the pleural space. Therefore, she intubated him and was ultimately able to successfully stabilize his vital functions. Despite this, Deborah was aggravated by her and took her aside, berating her for her initial hesitation when she was needed. Therefore, she told her to go to the psychiatrist if she had any problems that would affect her work. Lynn however was merely annoyed by her and left her behind without a word.
After this incident, Lynn went back to the locker room. When she was about to leave, she realized that the door had been locked. Upon trying to call for help, she was eventually attacked by Amanda Young, who had disguised her face with a sinister pig mask. After subduing Lynn, Amanda took her unconscious body to the abandoned Gideon Meatpacking Plant, where she gagged her and tied her by the arms to a wheelchair taken from the hospital. (Saw III)
Test[]
Amanda puts the collar on Lynn
Shortly afterwards, Lynn woke up and immediately panicked and screamed for help when she realized that she was tied up. Moments later, Amanda calmly approached her from behind and told her to be quiet before she brought her to the next room, where a bedridden man, John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, was already waiting for their arrival. When the women entered the room, John greeted his new test subject and former doctor, even though she couldn't remember him being one of her former patients and only recognized him from the news stories. After a brief introduction, John told her that he had chosen her for a dangerous test due to her depression after her son's death and explained her the rules for her game. Amanda put a collar on her which was connected to John's heart rate monitor and would explode if John died or she moved out of his range. It was her task to keep John alive until another victim managed to finish a series of tests. However he refused to tell her and Amanda that the victim was actually Lynn's husband, Jeff. If she was able to accomplish her task, Amanda is to let her go after her test and to free her from her restraints.
Lynn and Amanda discuss John's condition
Lynn eventually began her examination of John, when Amanda told them that Jeff's game had begun. They got in an argument when Lynn told her that John had to be operated on at the hospital as soon as possible to decompress his brain as it was presumably herniating. When Amanda insulted and threatened Lynn, John told her not to do so as Lynn couldn't do what she had to do under such pressure. Seconds later he suffered an epileptic attack. Lynn immediately took action and ordered Amanda, who was shocked and paralyzed, to help her, which she eventually did. However, they didn't have the right medicament to end the seizure and therefore, all they could do was wait. After a few seconds, the attack was over and John stabilized again. Following this incident, she talked to Amanda, who had left the room in tears, and finally convinced her that he had to be operated on. However, Amanda demanded her to perform the surgery at the meatpacking plant and asked her what she needed. Realizing that every attempt to convince her to take John to the hospital was pointless, Lynn told her that she would need anesthetics as well as a power drill, among other instruments. After that, Amanda left to get the necessary supplies.
Lynn holds the axe
When she was alone, Lynn walked around the hideout and was horrified by the various vicious devices John and Amanda had designed. Eventually, she came across a mannequin's head with a heavy metallic device on its had, which was in fact the Reverse Bear Trap which John had previously used to test Amanda before she became his apprentice. In a twinge of curiosity, she tried to touch it, but eventually hesitated. Seconds later, she saw a phone lying on the table, partly covered by a cloth. However, when she tried to grab it, the beartrap accidentally went off, destroyed the head and fell to the floor with a loud noise. Lynn stepped back and was scared witless when Amanda suddenly appeared behind her. Lynn tried to convince her once again that John had to be operated on in a hospital. However Amanda ignored her advice and simply remarked how hard it must be for Lynn to concentrate while she was surrounded by so many things she could kill her with. To mock her she thrust an axe into her hand and told her that if she wanted to kill her she should do it quietly to not alert John and make him rip off his heart rating monitor which would activate the collar. She also told her that it was she who built the collar and therefore knew exactly what it could do to her if she didn't follow the rules. As Lynn was increasingly frightened by her, Amanda took the axe back from her and asked her if she had everything she needed for the surgery. When Lynn responded that she couldn't save John's life with the instruments given to her, Amanda merely responded that she'd be surprised what tools could save a life before she took her old trap from the floor and put it back on the table.
Lynn performs the surgery
Amanda then went to John to tell him that Lynn was going to perform the surgery on him now. Meanwhile, Lynn struggled with her tears but ultimately calmed down, knowing that her only chance to survive was to follow John's rules. When Amanda left John's room again and returned to the surveillance monitors, Lynn prepared everything for the surgery. Just when she shaved John's head, Amanda came back, telling them that Jeff had finished his second test and had been able to save the other test subject involved, Judge Halden. Therefore, John was surprised by his fast progress. After that, Lynn explained the procedure of the operation to him, which was going to ease his headaches and would enhance his motor faculties, before she injected him with a local anesthetic. Due to the complexity of the surgery Lynn had no choice but to do it while John was conscious. Lynn then partly cut off a part of his scalp in order to lay open the skull. After disinfecting the wound with alcohol, the hardest part of the surgery began. With the power drill, she bored four small holes in his skull. Afterwards, she used an electric circular saw to cut through the skullcap and finally removed a piece of it with a small retractor to take the pressure from his head. After his vital functions stabilized, Lynn told him to raise his hand and flex his fingers. However, he suddenly suffered a breakdown, causing Amanda to burst into tears out of fear. While his heart-rate declined, he had hallucinations about his ex-wife, Jill Tuck. Lynn was just barely able to save him. Due to his delirious state, John confused her with Jill and told her he loved her, causing Amanda to be jealous of the attention that John gave to her.
Amanda threatens Lynn
Weakened by his breakdown, John fell asleep. While Lynn washed off his blood and took a look at the various paintings and drawings on the walls, Amanda entered the room and tightly hugged John. However, when Lynn told her that he couldn't hear her and didn't even know about her presence, she became angry and grabbed her by the throat. As she was about to pull her gun, John, who had waken up by the noise, intervened and told her to put the weapon away. After some hesitation, she did as he told her and was harshly ordered to leave. When they were alone, John apologized for her behavior, stating that while she was close to him, her strong emotions were her greatest weakness.
Amanda sends Lynn back to John
As time went by, he talked to Lynn about her family and advised her to appreciate them. He also talked about her depressions, her neglect of her daughter, and her affairs with other men. Angered by this, Lynn told him that her marriage had survived more suffering than someone like him could possibly ever imagine. However, John merely responded that she didn't know what true suffering meant yet. Lynn then begged him to let her go, when moments later, Amanda re-entered the room and saw how he held Lynn's hand. John told her he was fine and she could go away. However she refused to do so until John asked Lynn to leave the room so he could speak with Amanda alone. As Lynn left the room, she embraced her opportunity for an attempt to flee. She tried to open the lock of the exit door with her scalpel. This turned out to be unsuccessful. However, seconds later, she found a screwdriver and was therefore able to finally open the door. As she went on, she saw a telephone. However, it was on the other side of a chain-link fence. Therefore, she eventually went back, closed the door and put the screwdriver back. Moments later, Amanda returned from John's room and calmly approached her, stating that John needed her. However she got suspicious by Lynn's behavior and examined the door. When she asked her why it was open, Lynn embraced the opportunity and attacked her with her scalpel, causing the two of them to engage in a fight. After a brief struggle, Lynn finally managed to gain the upper hand and threatened to kill Amanda. However the latter was rarely impressed by her threats and told her that she would never get the key to the collar if she killed her. Lynn ripped off a key which was hanging on a chain around Amanda's neck. Unfortunately she quickly realized the key wasn't meant for the collar. When Amanda mockingly laughed at her she left angrily and went back to John, leaving Amanda behind.
Upon her return, she begged John again to let her go, reminding him that she had saved his life. John however remarked that in the end it might not have been his life that she had saved and claimed that she would be grateful one day if she survived this experience. During their conversation, he asked her to tell him about her daughter and her son, asking her why she spent so much time on grieving about him while she had a wonderful family that needed her. (Saw III)
Death[]
Lynn realizes her upcoming fate
Moments later, Amanda reentered the room, telling John that Jeff had just finished his third test. Therefore, John congratulated Lynn and told her that she was now free to go. However, Amanda refused to unlock her collar as Jeff hadn't finished his trial yet. John repeatedly told her to let Lynn go and reminded her of the rules, but Amanda eventually pulled her gun and aimed it at Lynn, angrily stating that she doesn't deserve to live. Frightened by her threats, Lynn burst into tears and told her that Amanda had promised to let her go. When John told Amanda to put down the gun, claiming that it was Lynn who held her life in her hands, Amanda angrily yelled at him for giving Lynn the control over her. During their dispute, John asked her if this was how she had felt about her other test subjects, specifically Detective Eric Matthews, the cop who had innocently framed her by faking the evidence in her case, and thereby revealed that he knew that Amanda had manipulated her traps, giving her victims no chance to survive even if they managed to accomplish their tasks. John told her that he had forgiven her her past mistakes and tried to convince her to let Lynn go, as it would harm all of them otherwise. Amanda however still refused to do so, stating that John was just a murderer in her eyes just like her and that she didn't believe that anyone would ever change due to his games. When he told her that he had always just tried to help her, Amanda yelled at him to help her now as she needed him and asked why Lynn was so important to him. He however claimed that she wasn't important to him but to her, which Amanda denied. He then tried to persuade her one last time to lower her weapon, when all of the sudden, Jeff appeared before the door of the room. As he and Lynn noticed each other, she went to him but was shot by Amanda in the back. Angered by this, Jeff entered the room and shot Amanda in the throat with a gun he had found earlier, before carefully deposing his wounded wife on the floor. While he was comforting Lynn, who was barely conscious, John revealed to Amanda that he had tested her just like Lynn and told her that his initial instructions for Lynn, according to which she had to learn how to save a life, were meant for her as well. Realizing that she had been fooled by her mentor, Amanda eventually succumbed to her wound and died on the floor in front of John's eyes who ended her game with the words "Game Over."
Jeff comforts his wife
After Amanda had died, Jeff aimed his gun at John. The latter berated him for not having learned anything from his test, stating that his thirst for vengeance would only harm his loved ones. Furthermore, he told him that he couldn't kill him. Despite this, Jeff eventually pulled the trigger, but didn't have any bullets left. John then told him that Lynn was about to die. When Jeff comforted her and promised to bring her home, she uttered that she loved him. John then warned him that she would die if he tried to bring her away and offered to call an ambulance. Jeff eventually agreed and asked John what he wanted in exchange for his help. John demanded one final test from him to see if he had overcome his obsession with revenge. Jeff could either kill him with the tools lying on a table in the room, or he could forgive John for all the pain he had caused him and his wife, proving that he had learned from his previous tests. Jeff got up, despite Lynn begging him to stay by her side, and grabbed a circular saw from the table. He then approached John and lay his hand on his chest, stating that he forgave him. However, only seconds later he raised the saw and despite Lynn desperately yelling at him to stop, he eventually slashed John's throat, while claiming again that he had forgiven him.
With the last of his strength, John took out and started a tape recorder, which explained to Jeff that John had been his final test of forgiveness. Furthermore, he finally explained to him what he meant when he told him that Jeff couldn't kill him, stating that he had also abducted his and Lynn's daughter, Corbett, and was the only person who knew about her whereabouts. If Jeff wanted to see her again, he had to play another game. When the message ended, John succumbed to his wounds, activating Lynn's collar in the process, which killed her by blowing off her head. (Saw III)
Post-Mortem[]
Lynn's corpse
Just moments after her death, Special Agent Peter Strahm entered the room and was threatened by Jeff with Amanda's gun, who demanded to tell him where his daughter was, causing Strahm to shoot him in self-defense. Moments later, he was trapped in the room by Detective Mark Hoffman, Jigsaw's other apprentice and successor, who locked the door behind him and turned the lights off. When Strahm found a hidden door out of the room, he received an audio tape from John who told him to stay where he was until the police arrived. However Strahm refused to do so and entered the secret hallway behind the door, leaving the dead bodies of John, Amanda, Jeff and Lynn behind him. Shortly afterwards, the Metropolitan Police Department finally arrived and took the corpses to the morgue where they were examined by Dr. Adam Heffner. (Saw IV, V, VI)
Personality[]
After the death of her 8-year-old son, Lynn Denlon began to suffer from severe depression and had to regularly take antidepressants to stabilize her mind. Her depressions worsened when Dylan's death also affected their marriage, as her husband, Jeff, started to neglect himself and his family and instead indulged in thoughts of revenge. This led to numerous arguments between them and ultimately caused them to neglect their daughter, Corbett, as well. Due to her state of mind, she became emotionally numb and barely cared for anyone, be it her family, her patients or Chris, with whom she had an affair. However, during her captivity at the Gideon Plant, she eventually realized that she still loved her husband and was willing to do everything to see him again, regretting what had become of their marriage. Therefore, she finally made peace with him during her final moments of life.
Appearances and References[]
| Films | |||||||||
| Saw | Saw II | Saw III | Saw IV | Saw V | Saw VI | Saw 3D | Jigsaw | Spiral | Saw X |
| Absent | Absent | Appears | Archive, Corpse, & Mentioned | Archive, Corpse, & Mentioned | Archive & Mentioned | Archive, Pictured, & Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Other Media | |||||
| "Saw" (2003 Short) |
Saw: Rebirth (2005 Comic) |
Full Disclosure Report | The Scott Tibbs Documentary | Saw: The Video Game | Saw II: Flesh & Blood |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |