| ◄ | Rigg's Trial | Scalping Seat | Bedroom Trap | ► |
| “ | Your obsession tells you to save the victim. I tell you to walk away. The choice is yours. | ” |
— Jigsaw encourages Rigg to leave Brenda behind[src]
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The Scalping Seat is a trap from the Saw franchise, appearing in Saw IV.
Design and Function[]
This trap was the first one in a series of tests. The Scalping Seat was basically a mechanical chair, consisting of a seat which was mounted onto a heavy machine with an exposed gear system. The victim was placed on the seat and chained to it. The chain in return was secured with a combination lock. Additionally, the victim's hair was put through a metal lug and then tied to a small metal axis. The machine would be started once a metal pin was pulled out of it. This would activate the gear system and therefore the axis. As it started to turn, it would slowly pull back the victim's hair and subsequently tear out the scalp. The only way to escape the trap was to open the combination lock attached to the victim's chain. Therefore, the necessary numbers had been written in the gears. As they weren't visible from the victim's position, another person was necessary to open the lock. (Saw IV)
History[]
Preparation[]
The persons tested in this trap were Brenda, a criminal pimp who forced young women to work for her as prostitutes and thereby ruined their lives for the sake of her own personal gain, and Daniel Rigg, an officer obsessed with saving everyone around him. One day, she was abducted by her own lawyer, Art Blank, who had become a victim of John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, as well and was forced to obey his orders. After her abduction, he invaded Daniel Rigg's apartment at 23 Park Place and subdued him as well, before placing his unconscious body in his bathtub. When he was done, he set up the trap in Rigg's living room and chained Brenda to it as she was going to participate in the first part of Officer Rigg's game. Additionally, he placed a TV in front of her, set up a timer and placed numerous photos of the victims involved in the game all around the room. Then, he removed all the knives from the drawer in the kitchen and placed one knife in a small shelf underneath the TV in the living room. Shortly afterwards, Brenda woke up and he told her that the combination to the lock of her trap was written in the trap's gears, before he finally left the apartment. When she was alone, she noticed a tape recorder chained to her hand. The tape told her that an officer was going to save her. If he was successful, she'd have to play a game on her own. The officer would arrest and convict her of her crimes with the various photos left by Art Blank. In order to prevent him from doing so, she would have to kill him with a tool taped underneath the TV. (Saw IV)
Daniel Rigg's Test[]
| “ | Officer Rigg, your first test. The person in front of you is in desperate need of help. But it is not your job to save them. You view this person as a victim, but if you were to SEE WHAT I SEE, beneath the mask is a criminal undeserving of the life she leads. Your obsession tells you to save the victim. I tell you to walk away. The choice is yours. | ” |
— Daniel Rigg's tape[src]
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Brenda in Rigg's living room
Shortly thereafter, Rigg woke up again and scrambled from the bathtub. Upon leaving his bathroom, he unknowingly pulled out a metal pin connected to a TV positioned right in front of him, thus activating it in the process. When it turned on, Jigsaw's mechanical ventriloquist puppet appeared on screen and introduced Rigg to his game. In order to overcome his obsession with saving everyone around him, Rigg had to face a series of tests. When the video ended, he left his bedroom and thereby activated the timer for his game. Carefully, Rigg made his way through the hallway, where multiple photos were hanging from the ceiling. Upon finally entering his living room, he was surprised to see Brenda with a pig mask, sitting on the mechanical chair in the middle of the room. As he approached her at gunpoint, several lights turned on and illuminated the wall, which was filled with photos as well. Above them, the words "See What I See" were written in red letters. Rigg ordered the woman to take off the mask; however, when she started to beg for help, he realized that she was chained to the chair. Moments later, the second TV turned on in front of them. A video left by Jigsaw told Rigg to go away and abandon Brenda to her fate.
Rigg looks for the numbers
When the video ended, Brenda asked Rigg if he was a cop, which he affirmed. As he refused to follow Jigsaw's rules and leave her behind, Rigg took the pig mask from her face. Unbeknownst to him, the mask was connected to a metal pin, which was subsequently pulled out of the trap, thus activating it, and causing Brenda's scalp to be slowly pulled off. Brenda immediately started to panic and told Rigg that the combination to the lock of her chains was written on the gears of the chair. Rigg then searched his apartment for something to cut her hair. However, when he opened a drawer in his kitchen, he realized that the invader had removed all the knives and left only a letter which told him that he was wasting his time. Therefore, Rigg returned to Brenda, who panicked even further, and shot the gearbox of the trap. While this seemed to be successful at first, the trap continued to work after a few seconds. As it started to rip Brenda's scalp off, Rigg looked at the gears and eventually managed to find out the combination: 647. As a result, he was finally able to open the lock and free Brenda from her chains. (Saw IV)
Brenda's Test[]
| “ | Hello, Brenda. I want to play a game. An officer will try to save you. If he is successful, then your game begins. This man will use these photos to sentence you for your crimes, and the only way to stop him is taped underneath the TV. Let him save you and accept your fate and rot in prison...or kill him and guarantee your freedom. Make your choice. | ” |
— Brenda's tape[src]
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Brenda escapes the trap
Due to her serious injuries, Rigg told Brenda to stay where she was and not to touch anything while he went back to the kitchen to get a towel. However, when she was alone, Brenda opened the shelf beneath the TV and found the knife left for her by Art Blank. When Rigg returned a few moments later, she suddenly attacked him from behind. After unsuccessfully trying to calm her down, Rigg pulled her scalp back even further and threw her right into a mirror. While she was lying before him, bleeding to death, he noticed a tape recorder chained to her hand. When he started the tape, he learned that Brenda hadn't only been used as a test subject for him but was actually tested herself. After listening to the tape, Rigg went back into the hallway, where he found a box containing two keys, one of which was for Room 261 of the Alexander Motel. Furthermore, it contained a note by Jigsaw: "One saves a life... One takes it away." Knowing his next destination, Rigg finally left his apartment. (Saw IV)
Aftermath[]
Lamanna finds the humiliated corpse of Brenda
Shortly afterwards, detective Fisk was informed by a young cop about a reported shooting at 23 Park Place, the location of Rigg's apartment. Therefore, a SWAT team led by Officer Lamanna invaded the apartment after someone had reported the shooting to the police. When entering the living room, they found the humiliated corpse of Brenda, while Rigg had disappeared. Shortly afterwards, the forensic team arrived along with Special Agent Peter Strahm and Special Agent Lindsey Perez, who began their investigation. Meanwhile, Lamanna and Detective Fisk unsuccessfully tried to contact Rigg's wife. The photos on the walls revealed to the agents that Eric Matthews who was still alive, and Detective Hoffman, who was seemingly abducted as well, were part of the game. While Perez suspected that everything in the apartment had been arranged to throw suspicion on Rigg, Strahm stated that Rigg himself could've set up the game to give himself an alibi.
He took a black light from one of the CSI forensics and thereby revealed a message written on the wall with fluorescent color. This message said: "Four walls build a home." Assuming that this was a reference to the photos on the walls, which showed the victims of Rigg's game, Strahm found one that didn't fit the others as it showed Jigsaw's ex-wife, Jill Tuck. Therefore, they decided to talk to her immediately, while Brenda's corpse was sent to the morgue for her autopsy by Dr. Adam Heffner. (Saw IV, VI).