Eric Matthews (Saw)

Eric Matthews
Saw character
Eric Matthews
First appearance	Saw II
Last appearance	Saw V
Created by	Leigh Whannell Darren Lynn Bousman
Portrayed by	Donnie Wahlberg

Detective Eric Matthews (originally scripted to be named Eric Mason) is a fictional character from the Saw franchise. He first appeared in a fake documentary entitled, Full Disclosure Report: Piecing Together Jigsaw, featured on the Uncut Edition of the original film. He officially appears in Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV. It was originally stated that Donnie Wahlberg (who portrayed Eric Matthews) would not be reprising his role in Saw III due to creative differences, but this turned out to be a hoax conceived by Lions Gate Entertainment to throw off fans of the series trying to dig up details on the film.

Eric's first appearance was in the fake documentary titled "Full Disclosure Report" which was featured on the Saw: Uncut DVD. A reporter stated that Mathews' extensive force and bad temper might be one factor that was holding police back from solving the Jigsaw case. A clip of Eric entering his car was shown as a reporter asked Eric for some information on the case, also asking about the reports of Eric's brutality. Eric responded by pulling out his gun and yelling, "What brutality?". A fellow officer then pulled Eric back to his car.

Eric appeared in Saw II as the father of Daniel Matthews, and as an ex-detective doing desk work. He was called to the scene of one of the Jigsaw Killer's recently discovered games, where Eric was asked by his ex-partner, Detective Allison Kerry, to identify the victim, who turned out to be Michael, a police informant used by Eric. While leaving the scene, Kerry pointed out a message written on the ceiling, which stated, "LOOK CLOSER DETECTIVE MATHEWS." Annoyed with Kerry for bringing him to the scene to be goaded into the investigation by the message, Eric announced that he had enough work to do, while having to deal with his wife's divorce lawyers.

Later, while trying to sleep, Eric remembered the brand name of a padlock used on the device that killed Michael. With this information, he decided to tag along with Kerry and SWAT Commander Daniel Rigg to an old warehouse that they believed to be Jigsaw's latest lair. Finally coming face to face with Jigsaw inside, Eric was put into a test. Eric was told that he had a problem to deal with, and uncovered numerous computer monitors that displayed a camera feed that showed his son, along with seven others, being held captive in a house. Confronting Jigsaw, Eric was told that Daniel was in danger of the nerve gas that was being pumped into the house, but that if Eric were to sit and have a conversation with Jigsaw for long enough, he would get his son back. Eric, under advice from Kerry, reluctantly sat and began his test. During his conversations with Jigsaw, it was revealed that Eric had once been a ruthless and brutal police officer who used extreme measures to complete his assignments, going so far as to plant evidence on suspects and shoot down unarmed suspects. However, Jigsaw seemed to state that Eric at least felt alive during those times, but was now cowering behind a desk. Eric eventually left the conversation with Jigsaw to watch his son's progression through the house with the seven strangers, only being convinced by Kerry, who was revealed to at one point to have been Eric's mistress, to threaten Jigsaw's work as a way to find his son's location. When that did nothing, Jigsaw revealed that the seven strangers in the house with Daniel were in fact seven ex-convicts who had been arrested by Eric after being framed with false evidence. Eric, under Rigg's advice, began to aggressively attack Jigsaw, punching and kicking him repeatedly and breaking his finger in order to find out where his son was being held. Jigsaw stated that Eric's game was over, and that he would take Eric to the house. Together, they escaped from the building without Eric's team, and drove away in a van. Jigsaw gave Eric directions to the house along the way. Leaving Jigsaw in the van, Eric went through the back door of the house, and found the corpses inside in a state of decay, as if having been there for an extended period of time. He managed to get into the foundation of the house, where he stumbled across the bathroom from the first film, where his son had already been to. Expecting to find Daniel there, Eric was attacked by Amanda Young, dressed in a pig mask, and rendered unconscious. It was revealed that the feed of the house that Eric had seen was not in fact live, but had been a recording. Daniel had been locked in a safe that had sat a few feet away from Jigsaw during Eric's test. When Eric woke up, he was shackled by the ankle to a pipe in the bathroom. Amanda revealed herself to be Jigsaw's apprentice before sliding the door shut, leaving Eric to die.

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Wikipedia