Alison Gordon

Alison Gordon
Biographical Information
Appearances	Saw
Also Known As	Ali
Status	Alive
Role	Supporting Character Protagonist
Reason Tested	Being used to exert leverage on Lawrence Gordon
Relationships	Lawrence Gordon (husband) Diana Gordon (daughter) Zep Hindle (captor) Father (neighbor)
Portrayed by	Monica Potter

“	That is complete bullshit, I'd rather you break down and tell me that you hated me. At least there would be some passion in it.	”
	— Alison arguing with Lawrence

Alison Gordon, also known as Ali, is a fictional character from the Saw franchise, as well as a supporting protagonist of the first Saw film. She was portrayed by Monica Potter.

Biography

Early Life

Alison Gordon was the mother of Diana Gordon and the wife of renowned oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon. Due to their working schedules, they often struggled to live up to Diana's expectations of being good parents. However, her husband's emotionally cold attitude towards other people, including her and Diana, soon put a strain on their marriage. (Saw)

Captivity

File:Dianagordon.jpg

Alison talks to Diana

One night, Diana woke up in her bedroom when she heard the sound of her wind chimes. Despite the darkness, she soon realized that someone was in the room with her. Out of fear, she went to her parents' bedroom where her mother was sleeping. When she got aware of Diana's presence, Alison became concerned of her well-being and asked if she was okay. Diana then told her about the scary man in her room. When her mother believed she merely had a nightmare, Diana said that the man had talked to her and told her mother that she wanted her father to come with her to get the intruder. However, Lawrence wanted to finish his work first, much to Alison's dismay.

When Lawrence eventually took his daughter back to her room, he tried to calm her down and lift her spirit until he got interrupted by his medical student, Carla, who paged him. As Carla was also his mistress, Lawrence lied to his daughter and told her he had to go back to work. When he was about to go, Diana asked him if he was going to leave her and Alison. Suprised about her concerns, Lawrence told her how much he loved her and that he'd never abandon them before leaving the room, promising Diana he'd read her favourite bedtime story to her the next day. After that he got into an argument with Alison, who had been waiting outside the room. Angry because of his attitude towards them, Alison openly admitted she wasn't happy with their marriage anymore. When Lawrence told her they'd talk when he came back and tried to kiss her, Alison turned away, telling him to just leave.

The invader attacks Diana

Only mere seconds after Lawrence left the apartment, Alison suddenly heard the frightened screams of her daughter. Upon entering her bedroom, she was shocked when she saw a man, covered with a bedsheet, who stood at Diana's bed. Alison tried to protect her daughter but was quickly overpowered by the man who tied her and Diana to one of the posts of Alison and Lawrence's bed. The man was in fact Zep Hindle, an orderly from the Angel of Mercy Hospital where Lawrence was working. Due to his extreme inferiority complex he got targeted by John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, who had given him an ultimatum: Zep had a slow acting poison in his body which only Jigsaw had the antidote for. In order to save himself, Zep had to take Dr. Gordon's family hostage while the latter had to play a deadly game on his own. If he didn't manage to kill Adam Stanheight, another victim trapped along with him, by six o'clock, Zep had to kill Diana and Alison.

Diana and Alison are tied up by Zep Hindle

After tying them up and gagging them, he took a photo of them which he gave to Jigsaw or one of his apprentices, as it was going to be used as a clue for Gordon in his game. Due to his sadistic tendencies, Zep took pleasure in mentally tormenting them. When Diana cried and desperately begged him to let them go, he took out stethoscope and used it to listen to Diana's heart tones. When Alison demanded him to leave Diana alone, he suddenly held his gun to her head and listened how Diana's hearbeat increased. When he was done he gave Diana her teddy bear and stepped to the window. Unbeknown to him he was observed by discharged Detective David Tapp who had rented a run-down apartment on the opposite site of the street to observe Gordon who he believed to be the Jigsaw Killer. Shortly afterwards he went to Lawrence's office in the next room where he set up a timer and a monitoring system to observe Gordon's progress in his game.

Alison is threatened by Zep Hindle

Some time later, Zep returned to his hostages and forced Diana to call her father on a cellphone he had found in the room he was trapped in. When she heard Lawrence's voice she bursted into tears and told him that she and Alison had been tied up by the scary man from her room. Frightened and terrified, Diana begged her father to come home and save them. Afterwards Zep took the phone away and let Alison talk to her husband. Following Zep's instructions, Alison warned him not to trust his cellmate, Adam, as he had already known him before their abduction. After that, Zep ended the call and stuffed the gag back in her mouth before he left the room again. When they were alone again, Alison told Diana she had to stay strong and promised that she would never let anyone hurt her. (Saw)

Escape

Alison holding Zep gunpoint

When the clock eventually striked six, Zep returned to the bedroom to finish his task and execute Diana and Alison. However before doing so he called Gordon again and demanded Alison to tell him that he had failed his task. Unbeknown to him Alison had secretly managed to get free from the cords restraining her hands and was able to take him by surprise and take his weapon. While holding him at gunpoint she forced him to shove the phone to her so she could talk to Lawrence. Unfortunately she was distracted by her daughter, giving Zep the chance to attack her. They engaged in a fight, causing Zep to accidently trigger several shots. He managed to get his weapon back but was injured when Alison grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed him in the leg, causing him to collaps. At the same moment David Tapp who had heard the gunshots bursted into the apartment and opened fire on Zep while Alison grabbed the chance to free her daughter and escape with her.

Safety

Diana and Alison at their neighbors' apartment

Following their escape, Diana and Alison ran to a neighboring family. While the father called the police and told them about their captivity as well as Lawrence's abduction, Diana was comforted by her neighbors and her mother. When the father told Alison that the police would search for Lawrence, Diana embraced her mother, still frightened by the traumatic experience and her anxiety about her father. (Saw)

Non-Canon Appearances

Saw II: Flesh & Blood

Gordon's family and their captivity were also mentioned in a case file by David Tapp in Saw II: Flesh & Blood.

Full Disclosure Report

The captivity of Gordon's family was also mentioned in the documentary Full Disclosure Report, which focused on the early crimes of Jigsaw. As Alison refused to give an interview, the team of the host, Rich Skidmore, instead asked some of her relatives, who gave them some details about their captivity and the phone calls with Lawrence. Additionally, the recording of an emergency call by the Gordons' neighbors after they heard the gunshots, was revealed to the audience.

Personality

Alison deeply cared for her family, especially her daughter, Diana, and would've done everything necessary to protect her. She also loved her husband, Lawrence, but had a strained and rather unstable relationship to him due to his emotionally cold behaviour towards the people around him.

Trivia

• According to the audio commentary of Saw 3D Lawrence was reunited with his family after surviving his game. However as Alison wasn't able to cope with his unstable state of mind after his abduction she divorced him and took Diana with her.
• Lawrence Gordon was originally planned to appear in Saw: The Video Game, released to coincide with the release of Saw VI. He was abducted by Jigsaw and taken to the Whitehurst Insane Asylum where he had to play Jigsaw's game once more in order to save his family who had been abducted as well.

Appearances and References

Films
Saw	Saw II	Saw III	Saw IV	Saw V	Saw VI	Saw 3D	Jigsaw	Spiral	Saw X
Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	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	Pictured & Mentioned	Absent	Absent	Mentioned