One of the most compelling aspects of the Saw franchise is its roster of memorable characters, figures we passionately admire or vehemently despise. While Jigsaw, the infamous John Kramer (Tobin Bell), naturally takes center stage, his web of accomplices, including Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), and the surprisingly revealed Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), also captivate audiences.
Amidst this gallery of morally ambiguous characters, Special Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) emerges as a protagonist who garnered significant fan appreciation, particularly in Saw IV and Saw V. Although these installments are often ranked lower within the franchise, Strahm’s presence is undeniably a highlight. For some, like myself, an existing fondness for Patterson from his role as Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls adds an extra layer of enjoyment to his Saw performance. However, even without prior bias, Strahm’s portrayal and arc within the Saw universe are worthy of closer examination.
Peter Strahm’s Introduction in Saw IV
Our first encounter with Strahm occurs at the grim scene of a crime in Saw IV. He arrives alongside his partner, Special Agent Lindsey Perez (Athena Karkanis). They are called in following the death of Detective Allison Kerry (Dina Meyer), a victim of a Jigsaw trap. Working alongside Detective Hoffman, Strahm and Perez are tasked with unraveling the latest Jigsaw puzzle. Strahm’s opening line, “open the door and you will find me,” is a chilling delivery of Jigsaw’s cryptic clue, a message that holds significance for both Strahm and Officer Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent) as the film progresses. Ultimately, this clue foretells Rigg’s fatal decision to open a door leading to Hoffman’s accomplice reveal, and Strahm’s discovery of John Kramer’s deceased body behind another.
From his initial scenes, Strahm is established as the quintessential hardened detective – stoic, observant, and unwavering. He quickly demonstrates his sharp intellect, deducing that Amanda, the previously known accomplice, lacked the physical capacity to construct Kerry’s elaborate trap, as did Kramer himself. This early display of Strahm’s deductive prowess becomes laced with irony when Hoffman’s true role as the accomplice is later unveiled. Strahm’s on-screen theorizing about the killer occurs directly in front of the actual perpetrator. The tension between Strahm and Hoffman is palpable, amplified by Strahm’s pointed remark, “we’re here to find the person your department couldn’t, Detective.” Unbeknownst to Strahm, Hoffman is that very person, but even without this knowledge, Strahm’s statement asserts his superior investigative skills and sets the stage for their adversarial dynamic, a central theme throughout Saw IV and its sequel.
In a private moment, Perez reveals to Strahm that Kerry, in her final message, warned of potential danger to two police officers. Perez urges Strahm to inform Hoffman, but Strahm dismisses the idea, deeming it unnecessary panic and asserting his own judgment. While Strahm and Perez operate effectively as a team in Saw IV, Strahm clearly assumes the leadership role and holds the authority. His reluctance to confide in Hoffman further underscores his distrust and intensifies the existing friction between them.
The central “games” in Saw IV are designed to test Rigg, yet Strahm plays a crucial role in tracking Rigg’s progress and attempting to intercept the killer. Upon discovering photographs of Hoffman in Rigg’s apartment, Strahm swiftly recognizes the imminent danger to Hoffman and immediately requests his location. This action reveals a key aspect of Strahm’s character: despite his independent and sometimes headstrong approach to his work, he prioritizes the safety of his colleagues when their lives are threatened. The discovery of Detective Eric Matthews’ (Donnie Wahlberg) photos in Rigg’s apartment prompts another rapid and accurate deduction from Strahm – Matthews is still alive, held captive by Amanda since the events of Saw II. Strahm’s deep understanding of Jigsaw’s methods and his accomplice’s patterns positions him as the most competent investigator on the case.
However, Strahm’s otherwise sharp intuition is momentarily misled by a red herring. Noticing photographs of Jigsaw’s ex-wife, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), Strahm fixates on her as a prime suspect for the accomplice role. This leads to Strahm bringing Jill in for interrogation, initiating a classic “good cop/bad cop” routine with Perez. The contrasting styles of Strahm and Perez highlight their individual approaches to their profession and the case itself. Strahm maintains a detached, objective perspective, focusing solely on facts and evidence. Perez, in contrast, exhibits greater empathy for the victims and is more emotionally affected by the gruesome nature of the crimes. After a forensic scientist becomes a casualty, killed by a crossbow triggered at a crime scene, Perez displays visible distress, while Strahm remains composed, continuing to press for information to pinpoint Jigsaw’s new hideout.
During Jill’s recounting of her ex-husband’s descent into becoming Jigsaw, triggered by the tragic loss of their unborn child, Strahm displays a complete lack of compassion, dismissing it as an unconvincing motive for Kramer’s actions. (An interesting detail surfaces here: in the final flashback depicting Jigsaw’s origins, Kramer is shown unveiling a glass box lined with shards of glass, just before the scene cuts back to Strahm. This subtle visual foreshadowing hints at the glass box trap that awaits Strahm in Saw V.) Strahm’s interrogation tactics become increasingly aggressive and intimidating towards Jill, escalating dramatically after Perez is critically injured by a shrapnel bomb planted by Jigsaw. As the interrogation intensifies, Strahm raises his voice, resorts to profanity, and even physically corners Jill against a wall, yelling directly in her face.
“You see this? This is my partner’s blood. She’s fighting for her life right now because of your lunatic husband!”
The scene’s focus shifts entirely to Perez’s critical condition and Strahm’s profound distress over her injuries. His emotional detachment from Jigsaw’s other victims becomes starkly apparent, emphasizing his deep loyalty and protectiveness towards those he cares about. It’s a portrayal of a man who remains unaffected until someone he holds dear is harmed, at which point his reaction is explosive. Strahm struggles to process his emotions healthily, expressing them through either intense anger or rigid repression. A fleeting moment of vulnerability surfaces as he looks concerned and gently holds Perez’s hand while she is being stretchered away. However, this brief glimpse of tenderness is quickly followed by a violent outburst in his office, where he trashes the space in a display of distress, before regaining control and refocusing his energy back on the evidence.
Deciphering the clue “four walls build a home,” Strahm successfully identifies the building serving as Jigsaw’s lair. In another classic Saw twist, Strahm opens a door and stumbles upon the gruesome climax of Saw III – the corpses of Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh), Amanda, and Jigsaw himself. Lynn’s grieving husband, Jeff Denlon (Angus MacFadyen), distraught and armed, points his gun at Strahm. In self-defense, Strahm fires first, killing Jeff. This decisive action effectively closes the narrative loop of both Saw III and IV.
Simultaneously, the film reveals Hoffman as the true accomplice. He reappears at the lair and traps Strahm in the room, uttering the iconic “game over” line. But as Saw V reveals…
Peter Strahm’s Relentless Pursuit in Saw V
…the game is far from over. Saw V picks up directly where Saw IV concludes, after the customary opening trap sequence. Strahm, defying expectations, discovers a hidden door within the room where Hoffman left him. Kicking it open, he finds a tape recorder.
In his characteristically analytical and critical tone, Jigsaw’s voice on the tape describes Strahm as possessing an “insatiable hunger to uncover the truth” – a hunger that could “push [him] deeper into the abyss.” This foreshadowing serves as a crucial warning. The tape explicitly advises the detective against proceeding through the doorway. However, true to his nature, Strahm disregards this cautionary advice, responding with a defiant (and arguably cathartic) “f*ck you” before venturing through the door. Immediately, he is ambushed and subdued by a figure in a pig mask – Hoffman in disguise. This sets the stage for one of the most viscerally terrifying traps in the Saw franchise.
Strahm awakens to find his head encased in a glass box with a rusted metal frame, initiating his first personal Jigsaw trap. Water begins to pour into the box, relentlessly rising until his head is completely submerged. What elevates this trap to another level of intensity is the fact that Scott Patterson genuinely endured having his head underwater during filming. The close-up shots required for the scene precluded the use of a stunt double. In a truly breathtaking display of resourcefulness and sheer will, Strahm pulls a pen from his pocket, empties its ink cartridge, and plunges it into his neck, performing an emergency tracheotomy to create an airway and survive. This moment stands out as one of the most unforgettable and audacious in the entire Saw series. Adding to the brilliance is the realization that Hoffman intended for Strahm to perish in this trap. He strategically left no tape inside the box, anticipating Strahm’s demise. He clearly underestimated Strahm’s tenacity and ingenuity. The expression of stunned disbelief on Hoffman’s face when he witnesses Strahm’s survival is priceless, further igniting their already intense rivalry. The stakes are now exponentially higher, with the audience fully aware of Hoffman’s villainous role.
In a frustrating turn of events, Hoffman is promptly promoted to Detective Lieutenant, lauded for “saving” Jeff and Lynn’s daughter, Corbett Denlon (Niamh Wilson), and for “closing” the Jigsaw case. Conversely, Strahm is removed from the case and placed on medical leave by his superior, Agent Dan Erickson (Mark Rolston). Adding insult to injury, Strahm learns that Perez has succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. Strahm finds himself stripped of his professional standing and grappling with personal loss, a significant regression from his position at the start of Saw IV. We see him sitting by Perez’s empty, blood-stained hospital bed, haunted by flashbacks of her attack, replaying the events in his mind, desperately searching for a way he could have altered the outcome and saved her. While Perez’s death is a classic example of the “fridging” trope, it undeniably serves to deepen our sympathy for Strahm and amplify his emotional burden.
Adding salt to his wounds, Hoffman enters the room. In a raspy voice, Strahm informs him that Perez’s dying words were “Detective Hoffman.” The two engage in a tense exchange, each inquiring about the other’s survival. Strahm’s curt reply, “on a gurney with a f*cking hole in my throat,” pointedly contrasts Hoffman’s relatively minor injuries. He then pointedly states, “Jigsaw doesn’t make mistakes,” highlighting the improbable survival of Hoffman alone from his entire department. Everything Strahm says in this encounter meticulously builds a compelling, and accurate, case against Hoffman. He makes no attempt to conceal his deep suspicion. Strahm excels at piecing together evidence and constructing accurate theories (Jill Tuck misdirection in Saw IV aside).
This is where Strahm’s narrative arc begins to slightly falter. In Saw IV, he was portrayed as exceptionally intelligent and remarkably swift in both forming and acting upon his suspicions. However, as one observer noted, in Saw V, Strahm essentially spends his time retracing the plots of Saw III and IV. His investigative prowess is somewhat diminished by the extended time it takes him to connect the (jigsaw) pieces. The audience is already privy to much of this information, so the “new” revelations primarily consist of awkwardly inserted flashbacks detailing Hoffman’s rather uninspired origin story. However, this criticism is more directed at the Hoffman narrative than at Strahm himself. It’s also important to acknowledge that Strahm operates under significantly more challenging circumstances in Saw V, working entirely alone and officially barred from the case.
Driven by his relentless pursuit of the truth, Strahm utilizes his access pass to surreptitiously enter the precinct and access restricted files. He uncovers the fact that Hoffman’s sister was murdered by her boyfriend, who subsequently became the victim in the very first Jigsaw trap depicted in Saw V. Strahm realizes that Hoffman orchestrated a Jigsaw copycat killing to avenge his sister, believing it would go undetected. However, John Kramer, with his uncanny perception, recognized Hoffman’s actions and ultimately recruited him as an accomplice. Strahm gradually unravels this intricate web of deceit – the numerous shots of him intently studying files visually represent the slow but sure process of his deductions. During one clandestine visit to the precinct, he encounters Erickson. Strahm fabricates a story about collecting his belongings and intending to rest, but his true motives are transparent to the audience.
Strahm embarks on a self-guided tour of past Jigsaw crime scenes (almost a morbid sightseeing trip: “and to your left, we have one of Jigsaw’s greatest hits—The Rack!”) in an attempt to immerse himself in the killer’s mindset. These scenes are interwoven with flashbacks illustrating Hoffman’s mentorship under Jigsaw, creating visual parallels that mirror the thematic parallels between Strahm and Hoffman. They are presented as polar opposites engaged in a deadly conflict, yet both are detectives who have diverged onto drastically different paths: one vehemently opposed to Jigsaw, the other having forged an alliance with him.
His independent investigation leads him to the chilling realization that Hoffman intentionally designed the final games in Saw III and IV to ensure everyone’s death, thereby positioning himself as the heroic survivor, a calculated move that resulted in his promotion and favorable media coverage. Overwhelmed by anger, Strahm again loses control, violently flipping over a bed in his rage. Unable to contain his fury and driven by his unwavering conviction, the detective makes a fatal error – he sets out to arrest Hoffman alone. Throughout Saw IV and V, Strahm has consistently acted impulsively, pursuing his suspicions with little to no backup. This instance proves tragically similar, but his final actions seal his grim fate.
Entering the room where Hoffman has lured him, Strahm discovers the large glass box lined with shards of glass and a tape recorder inside. The tape commends his dedication and inquires if he has “learned anything on [his] journey of discovery.” Strahm is once again instructed to trust the tape and enter the box to survive the game. Predictably, Strahm disregards the warning, choosing to hide and ambush Hoffman upon his arrival. Their brief confrontation culminates in Strahm forcefully locking Hoffman inside the glass box, triumphantly declaring, “I got you, you motherf*cker.” Sigh. This moment of misplaced triumph becomes his undoing. The glass box descends beneath the floor, safely out of reach of the crushing metal walls that begin closing in, leaving Hoffman in the securest position.
While Strahm’s hesitation to trust a serial killer’s tapes is understandable, it’s frustrating that he seemingly fails to learn from the first tape’s explicit warning to avoid the room – the very room designed as a trap to eliminate him. This final trap is even more inescapable, a cruel irony given Strahm’s previous escape from the water box.
The walls relentlessly close in, reducing Strahm to a gruesome pile of bloody remains – not before a horrifying visual of his arm snapping in a cringe-inducing manner. It’s a devastating and stomach-churning death to witness. Adding to the tragedy, Erickson, who has been tracking Strahm’s phone (unbeknownst to Strahm, stolen and planted by Hoffman in his own lair), coupled with the evidence of missing precinct files, concludes that Strahm is, in fact, the Jigsaw accomplice. Not only is Strahm dead, but his reputation is posthumously tarnished (at least temporarily, until Hoffman’s eventual exposure).
And thus concludes Peter Strahm’s arc in the Saw franchise. Few characters within the series begin with optimistic prospects, particularly detectives entangled in the Jigsaw games. Strahm’s unwavering persistence and near-obsessive dedication to the Jigsaw case ultimately pave the way for his downfall, mirroring the fates of other relentless law enforcement figures like Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) from the original Saw. His death, therefore, while tragic, is not entirely unexpected within the grim context of the Saw universe. Despite his grim end, Strahm’s intelligence, unwavering drive, and fearlessness made him a protagonist easy to root for. Scott Patterson injected a fierce intensity into the role, making Strahm a compelling and engaging character to watch. Strahm not only navigated two Saw films but also survived a seemingly insurmountable trap. If that isn’t a testament to his resilience and resourcefulness, it’s hard to imagine what would be.
