| “ | You're in very good hands with us. | ” |
— Mateo falsely assuring John Kramer about his treatment.[src]
| ||
Mateo is a fictional character from the Saw franchise. He is one of the tertiary antagonists of Saw X.
He is portrayed by Octavio Hinojosa.
Quick Answers
Who portrays the character Mateo in Saw X?
What is the Pederson Project in the Saw franchise?
What is the role of Mateo in Saw X?
What is the connection between Mateo and the Pederson Project in Saw X?
What happened to Mateo in the trap scene of Saw X?
Biography[]
The Pederson Project[]
The Pederson Project is a program comprised of a small group performing an experimental procedure that included surgery to cure people of fatal illnesses and diseases for large sums of two separate payments. It involves a group of medical experts that take their patients into an off-the-grid, isolated area outside of U.S. jurisdiction. After the procedure is finished, the patient is then required a special medication for the next week.
Under the Pederson Project Group, Mateo serves as the anaesthesiologist. When Cecilia gives John a tour of the facility, she introduces him to Mateo who, according to Cecilia, graduated from Johns Hopkins University and had just finished his residency at Alto Prado. Mateo then ensured John that he is in good hands with them. He is seen analysing blood samples taken by Valentina and keeping records of patients of the Pederson Project.
Mateo is introduced to John.
The Surgery[]
During John’s surgery, Mateo is seen assisting Dr. Cortez by injecting local anaesthetic into John's head where the surgery is being performed. He is the one who admits the general anaesthetic to John which puts him to sleep, the last thing John sees or hears before waking up is Mateo. When John found out the whole operation was a scam, Mateo and all of the group became a target of John's vengeance and part of a personal game.
Life Outside The Pederson Project[]
In reality, Mateo is a low-level veterinary assistant and kennel technician who is often tasked with remedial work from his colleagues such as janitorial work and closing up the office. He also takes advantage of his position by selling drugs to his co-scammer, Gabriela. It is clear that he and his co-scammers Gabriela, Valentina and Diego are all struggling finically as Cecilia seems to keep the majority of the money for herself and lives a lavish lifestyle in a large expensive mansion, while the others do not. It seems Cecilia and Parker picked people who were struggling finically or are vulnerable and suffer with addiction such as Gabriela.
Abduction[]
Mateo at work.
After the operation and abandoning the warehouse, Mateo continues his real profession of working as a veterinarian. After saying bye to his co-workers when they leave for the night, he goes to check on the dogs at the clinic. Before he can do this, Gabriela comes to visit Mateo to buy drugs from him. He says she "looks like shit" and that she needs to find a new drug dealer as he "is not doing this anymore" saying that he doesn't like to see Gabriela in this state. Gabriela thanks him and leaves, Mateo notices that the dogs have stopped barking and goes to investigate. Amanda, who has been hiding in the clinic and is most likely responsible for silencing the dogs, sneaks up behind him and tases him with a cattle prod which knocks him out, he is abducted after.
The Cons' Game[]
Mateo along with the rest of his co-conspirators awaken to find themselves chained up and trapped, in the very same place they "healed" John. As the quartet tries to understand what’s going on, Amanda enters and takes the rest of Cecilia's belongings, as she is not fully awake yet and puts them on a cart in the centre of the room out of reach of the prisoners, while she ignores all the prisoners pleas for help and questions. John enters the room where the four immediately beg for his help. Mateo tells John, that Cecilia planned the "whole thing" and he, Gabriela and Valentina have "nothing to do with this." John rebuts the group’s pleas by scolding the four for their unforgivable crimes, which resulted in the deaths of 34 people while they collectively pocketed $8 million dollars in profit. John and Amanda then proceed to set up Valentina’s game as the group can only helplessly look on.
The Wire Saw Trap[]
Mateo watches in horror as the timer is running out for Valentina.
Before Valentina unintentionally starts her test by picking up the Gigli saw Mateo tells her "if Diego can do this, you can do this". With enough encouragement from Cecilia and the gang, the hesitant and hysterical Valentina applies the tourniquet to her leg and begins to painfully cut her leg; slowly and then faster. After incessant screams and motivation from the others, she manages to fully cut off her leg. After cutting her leg off, she inserts the surgical vacuum into her femur, screaming as Mateo cheers her on. Mateo notices the blood and bone marrow are being successfully transferred to the other machine, to which Valentina faintly smiles. Valentina notices the time is almost up and panics saying "I'm not gonna make it" while Mateo and his fellow prisoners watch in anticipation and horror as Valentina is close to collecting 3 ounces of bone marrow, as Valentina desperately pleads and screams. Valentina is just shy of 3 ounces when the timer reaches zero. As Valentina fails and is decapitated, her death seen by Mateo and the other trapped victims, as well as John and Amanda, who are supervising the test. Her body falls to the ground and lands near to Cecilia, Mateo is seen crying after Valentina dies.
The Brain Surgery Trap[]
After Valentina failed her test, Cecilia's cell phone on the cart in the middle of the room rings. Cecilia finds a sharp piece of metal and drags Valentina's headless corpse to herself where she disembowels her, much to Mateo's refusal and plea not to do. So they can use her intestines as a rope to reach Cecilia's cell phone that Amanda and John left in the middle of the room. Gabriela was intended to be the next person tested. Ignoring John’s request to set up Gabriela’s game, Amanda opted to set up Mateo’s game instead. Amanda then tases Mateo and takes him away to secure him into a modified wheelchair, strapping the harness of the Brain Surgery Trap to him. Afterwards, Mateo was wheeled into the lobby with the rest of the group and was set next to a TV display, showing a live feed above his head, where a circular area of hair, in a similar area to the location of John's brain tumour, is shaved off for his test. Moments later, Billy rides up to Mateo on his tricycle, towing a tray of various surgical equipment, which consisted of a scalpel, a craniotome, forceps, and other tools, alongside with Mateo's tape with a "Play Me" note. Initially, Mateo refused to play the tape, but John shocks Mateo with an electrical surge on the wheelchair. Afrer Mateo panics in pain, he plays the tape's instructions. One of John's instructions is that he mustn't hesitate.
Mateo in the trap
Death[]
Mateo's corpse after being killed.
In order to survive his trap, Mateo must remove a piece of his own cerebral tissue and place it in an enzyme tank, where it will dissolve the tissue, completing the circuit and releasing the key to the collar restricting Mateo. Mateo was given 3 minutes to complete his tasks. However, he will feel pain as John nor Amanda granted Mateo any anaesthetic. Like the other test subjects, Mateo initially panics and refuses to start playing the game, but the other players - particularly Cecelia - shout at him to start the procedure, and he does. Mateo is able to successfully cut out a portion of his skull and remove a piece of his brain, but not enough of it is able to dissolve before the timer expires. Panicked, Mateo and the rest of the group watch as the mask's inner coils start heating up before suddenly slamming shut on Mateo's head. The remaining characters watch in horror, as Mateo thrashes in his chair as his head is seared behind the mask. Mateo's thrashing eventually ceases, and he falls limp and dies.
Post-Mortem[]
After Mateo fails at his game, the lights turn off around him leaving his corpse in the dark. Mateo's death is witnessed by his fellow prisoners Gabriela and Cecilia who are in shock and Gabriela is distraught and crying, as well as John and Amanda who are supervising the game and Parker who is held captive with them. Parker says John and Amanda "are fucking sick" for what they did to Mateo. John replies saying "We're sick? These people kill with false hope" Parker then glares at John and Amanda disturbed by watching Mateo die and for what John and Amanda did to Mateo and Valentina.
Personality[]
Initially, Mateo appears to be a good hard-working man willing to assist Dr. Cecilia Pederson with any methods to cure any diseases as part of The Pederson Project, but in reality, he is nothing more than a con artist and scammer. With his fellow workers and boss, Mateo tricked several people in need into paying for fake treatments, leading them to leave the program under the belief that they had been cured when in reality, they hadn't. Mateo also played the role of an anaesthesiologist in the fake treatments, assuring patients like John Kramer that they would be "in good hands."
During the course of the game, Mateo shows the most cowardice of the group towards the situation. He frequently begs and pleads for his life to John & Amanda while also constantly placing the blame on Cecilia for their actions. However, he does seem to care for his fellow prisoners and tries to motivate and support Valentina in her trap and he is seen crying when she dies.
Unsurprisingly, Mateo knows very little about his “profession” as seen before his game when he constantly stops his tape to ask Cecilia what certain medical terminology meant and calling a craniotome a “bone cutter.”
Even outside of the scam itself Mateo is shown to be rather selfish and greedy, happily stealing drugs from the Veterinary office he works at and then selling them to Gabriela.
Trivia[]
- According to Octavio Hinojosa, Mateo's actor, he and Kevin Greutert came up with a backstory for Mateo. Despite Mateo being a veterinarian he was part of Cecilia's scam because he had a daughter with health issues and he needed more money to support her.
Appearances and References[]
| Films | |||||||||
| Saw | Saw II | Saw III | Saw IV | Saw V | Saw VI | Saw 3D | Jigsaw | Spiral | Saw X |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
| 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 |