Saw character

Forensic Hoffman

Hoffman
Gender: Male
Relationships: Jigsaw (mentor)
Allison Kerry (fellow detective)
Rigg (fellow officer)
Eric Matthews (fellow detective)
Amanda Young (fellow protégé of Jigsaw)
First appearance: Saw III
Portrayed by: Costas Mandylor

D. Hoffman[1] is a character from the Saw series who first appeared in Saw III. He was portrayed by Costas Mandylor.[2][3][4][5] His name is a reference to the late Saw producer Gregg Hoffman, who died shortly after the announcement of Saw III.

Appearances

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Hoffman first appeared in Saw III as one of the first detectives to arrive at the scene of an explosion in an abandoned classroom that was revealed to be the trap area for Troy, whose burnt and disfigured corpse had been found among the debris of the detonated bomb. He told Detective Kerry what he knew before she did her own analysis on the trap. He made a special note that the trap did not follow Jigsaw's usual M.O., as Kerry had said, due to the fact that the door to the room was welded shut, making it impossible for Troy to escape. While Lieutenant Rigg and Kerry were arguing, it appeared as though Hoffman pocketed some of the evidence.

He, along with Rigg, returned in Saw IV, during which Rigg, after charging through an unsecured door, was scolded by Hoffman, who also pointed out the motto "Cherish your life" to Rigg. Hoffman cooperated with special agents Perez and Strahm of the FBI, who arrived following the discovery of Kerry's corpse. Later, Hoffman told Rigg to go home after seeing him distraught over Kerry's death. Perez spotted Hoffman with a stuffed toy while leaving the office, and when questioned about it, Hoffman replied that he had a girl, yet he wasn't married. Hoffman next appeared placing some papers in an envelope, with a pig mask positioned behind him as if someone were about to kidnap him. Hoffman then woke up in a trap that was the final part in a series of tests made for Rigg. Hoffman was strapped to a chair on one end of a scale, with Eric Matthews hanging from the ceiling and standing on an ice block at the other end of the scale. If Matthews was not on the melting ice block, the scale would tip and send the runoff water towards Hoffman, hitting an electrode beside his chair and presumably electrocuting him. Art Blank watched over them, a victim himself, waiting to push a button to free them all once the 90 minutes Rigg had been given were up.

During the course of Rigg's tests, flashbacks revealed that Hoffman covered up an assault case on Rigg's behalf after Rigg punched Rex, an abusive father, in the face. Art, who had been Rex's lawyer, discussed the case between Rigg and Hoffman.

Finally approaching his final test, Rigg entered the door with one second to spare, not knowing that he should have entered after the 90 minutes had passed, and Matthews was killed, but not before trying to shoot Rigg to prevent him from coming through. Rigg killed Art, thinking he was the new apprentice. Hoffman then removed himself from the chair, revealing that he was the one to carry on John's work, and was in no risk of dying in the trap. Flashbacks showed how he had placed the envelope in the drawer for Amanda and implied that he was the one who placed Kerry in the Angel trap, while also being the one responsible for kidnapping most of victims in the third film, obscuring his face with the pig mask. Hoffman walked toward Rigg and said, "Game over" before leaving the room, leaving Rigg to bleed to death. He then walked over to a room in the same warehouse, where the bodies of Jeff, Lynn, Amanda, and Jigsaw lied, and closed the door shut, locking it from the outside, with Agent Strahm still inside.

Later during the autopsy of John, a tape is revealed in John's stomach, intended for Hoffman. It states that John's work will continue and Hoffman, the last man standing, will not go untested.

The synopsis for Saw V lists Hoffman as the last person to carry on Jigsaw's legacy. His role in the film involves "[eliminating] all the loose ends" that could expose his connection to Jigsaw.

Removed and altered content

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According to the Saw IV script, there were multiple scenes with Hoffman that had been altered or removed, among them being two scenes tying him to Corbett; in the first, while arriving at the scene of Detective Kerry's demise, Hoffman was to be seen talking on his cellphone to someone, later revealed to be Corbett, who had been locked away in her cell and had been speaking through an intercom.[6][7] The second was her rescue at the hands of Hoffman following Agent Strahm's imprisonment, in which he explains that Rigg died while trying to save him.[8] It was also hinted in the Saw IV script that Agent Perez began taking a liking to Hoffman.[9]

References

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