Amanda Young
Amanda Young is a fictional character created by James Wan and Leigh Whannell and is one of the antagonists in the Saw franchise. She first appeared in Saw, portrayed by Shawnee Smith, as a victim of one of serial killer Jigsaw's traps. Amanda's role was expanded in subsequent films, where she served as an apprentice to Jigsaw, with the goal of succeeding him after his death. Amanda has physically appeared in five of the ten films in the series. The character has gone on to appear in various other media, including video games and comic books.
As an apprentice to Jigsaw, Amanda began placing victims in inescapable traps, as opposed to the traps Jigsaw made, which had the intent of being survivable if certain actions were taken. This places her in an antagonist role within the series. Even as an antagonist, she has become a fan favorite. For her role as the character, Shawnee Smith has received a largely positive reception, leading to her recognition as a "scream queen".
Fictional character biography
''Saw''
Amanda first appeared as a supporting character in the 2004 film Saw. She was the only known survivor of the Jigsaw Killer, a man who abducts people he deems unappreciative of their lives and forces them into death traps. Amanda was targeted by Jigsaw because of her past as a drug addict.Her trap is shown in flashback as it is described to the police and Dr. Lawrence Gordon as Dr. Gordon was initially a prime suspect in the case of her trap.
In Amanda's trap, she wakes up with a device attached to her head that is set to rip her jaws apart; the device is described as a "reverse bear trap". The key to unlocking the trap is in the body of her "dead" cellmate, Donnie Greco, who is someone Amanda recognizes from the Homeward Bound Clinic, which is where Amanda stayed to recover from her drug addiction. Amanda prepares to cut Greco for the key, only to find that he is not dead, but heavily sedated. Nevertheless, she uses a scalpel to stab him to death and searches his stomach for the key. Amanda finds the key with only seconds left before the trap would have activated.
Billy the Puppet enters the room with Amanda shortly after she removes the trap, congratulating her on her survival and explaining that she now knows how to appreciate life.
''Saw II''
It is revealed in Saw II that Amanda started using heroin in prison. She was sentenced to prison after being framed by Detective Eric Matthews for a crime she did not commit. She appears in most of the film as one of the contestants of a trap set by Jigsaw involving a house that will flood with nerve gas after a time limit. Also trapped are several other people who Eric had framed, along with the detective's son, Daniel. As the last surviving woman in the nerve gas house, her character seems to fill the role of the film's final girl, but this is a red herring. In a twist ending, it is revealed that Amanda is working with John, seeing him as a father figure and working as his apprentice. Amanda claims that the test she experienced in the first film ultimately saved her life, and this is what caused her to join him. She survives the nerve gas house, saved by Daniel from a violent victim Xavier, and upon the arrival of Eric Matthews she abducts him as her first "test subject" and rescues John from his custody. Amanda expresses vengeful tendencies toward Eric, telling him that the "tables have turned" and that she will make him experience what it is like to be imprisoned, as she traps him in a bathroom to rot. At the end of the film, Amanda claims that she intends to continue John's work after he dies.''The Scott Tibbs Documentary''
Amanda has a brief appearance in the short film The Scott Tibbs Documentary, which is included on the Special Edition DVD of Saw II. In the short film, she is harassed by a news reporter who wants information about her experience when she was captured by Jigsaw, and Amanda responds by punching the reporter in the face and storming off.''Saw III''
Saw III reveals that Amanda had been working with John since the first film, and that she kidnapped one of the film's protagonists, Adam Stanheight, eventually killing him out of mercy shortly after the events of the film. Flashbacks in Saw III also reveal that Eric had escaped from his trap, and struggled with Amanda over the whereabouts of his son. Amanda managed to overpower him and left Eric to die.By the third film, Amanda is shown to be ignoring John's modus operandi by creating inescapable traps that kill the subject regardless of whether or not they successfully complete their test. She also shows a tendency to cut herself under stress. The dying John decides to test Amanda to see if she is still stable enough to continue his work by having her work with Dr. Lynn Denlon to keep him alive while she oversees Jeff Denlon's tests. Amanda is aggressive toward Lynn. While John is being operated on, he becomes delirious and professes his love for his ex-wife Jill Tuck, which Amanda mistakes for a professed love for Lynn. Amanda becomes upset and refuses to remove the shotgun collar trap from Lynn, which will kill Lynn if John flatlines. Amanda argues about John's ethics and whether or not Lynn learned anything, revealing that Amanda made her traps inescapable because she felt that the victims would have learned nothing from the test they were put through. Amanda shoots Lynn in the stomach as Jeff walks in. Jeff shoots Amanda in the neck in retaliation. As she dies, a saddened John explains the nature of her test – Lynn and Jeff are actually husband and wife – and expresses his disappointment that she has effectively defeated the purpose of his actions by giving her victims no chance to learn from their tests.
A deleted scene in Saw III shows Amanda killing Eric, by slashing his body several times while on top of him. Darren Lynn Bousman fought to keep this scene in, but the producers removed it because they thought it would be better to leave the door open for Eric's return in Saw IV. Leigh Whannell confirms on the Saw III DVD commentary that Amanda's murder of Eric was the first time she killed out of spite and that it was this incident that caused her to stray from John's intentions.
Two deleted scenes were included on the Saw III Director's Cut DVD. The first was a flashback showing Amanda meeting Adam in his apartment building before kidnapping him for Jigsaw's game. Adam complimented Amanda on her hair, gave her a flyer promoting a friend's concert, and took a picture of her. The second deleted scene was between Amanda and Lynn, in which they had a fight that resulted in cuts on Amanda's arms. It is also noted in Leigh Whannell's Saw III commentary that Amanda's character was abused by her father as a child, although this is never seen in any of the Saw movies.
''Saw IV''
During Saw IV, Amanda's ability to carry the much heavier Detective Allison Kerry's unconscious body is questioned by the FBI, leading them to believe that another accomplice is helping John. It is discovered that the events of Saw III and Saw IV occurred at the same time, revealing that Amanda was alive during the events of the fourth film. Her bloody body is found by Agent Peter Strahm in the makeshift operating room just moments after her death.''Saw V''
Amanda reappears in Saw V, but only through flashbacks and voice acting. On August 7, 2008, Shawnee Smith confirmed in an interview with Bloody Disgusting that she had heard that she would indeed be featured in the fifth installment of Saw. However, she claimed that she was never on the set of the fifth film. Smith suggested that her reappearance would most likely be through the use of previously filmed archival footage.In the fifth film, Hoffman, in a flashback, questions why Amanda would be needed to participate in the nerve gas house trap. Amanda is briefly seen in this flashback, lying unconscious on the floor as John and Hoffman set up this game. In another flashback, in the operating room seen in Saw III, Hoffman questioned John about why he was letting emotional attachment get in the way of his perception of Amanda. Hoffman predicted that she would fail John. He then left the room through a secret exit just before Amanda entered the room with Lynn.
''Saw VI''
In Saw VI, a flashback shows that Amanda, desperate for drugs, sent Cecil to Jill Tuck's clinic to steal some for her, making her an accomplice in the miscarriage of John's son Gideon in Saw IV.It is also shown that after Amanda survived her test in the first film, John showed Amanda to Jill to prove that his method of rehabilitation was the only one that worked. It is implied that Amanda was once a patient at Jill's clinic and that Jill had given up on her. Amanda told Jill that John's method had helped her.
Amanda appears in a flashback with John and Hoffman as they prepare the trap for Timothy. It is shown that although Amanda and Hoffman were both apprentices of John, they were competitive and reluctant to work together. Amanda expressed doubts about Hoffman's ability to properly set up the mechanics of her devices, noting that she thought he was only useful for "heavy lifting." Hoffman openly expressed his dislike for her, saying that he was the one who truly valued his life. Amanda also questioned whether Hoffman should be tested, reflecting on the fact that she had already passed one test. Amanda's close emotional bond and care for John was also further demonstrated in the film. Amanda seemed awkward and uncomfortable when she and John later ran into Jill as they left the room. It was also revealed that the masked figure who kidnapped Lynn Denlon in Saw III was Amanda.
Another flashback reveals that Hoffman plotted to sabotage Amanda's final exam in Saw III. Knowing of Amanda's involvement in Jill's miscarriage, Hoffman blackmailed Amanda into killing Lynn through the letter he left for her in Saw IV. In the letter, Hoffman told Amanda that he would inform John of Amanda's indirect role in the incident. Feeling pressure not to disappoint her mentor, Amanda followed Hoffman's threats and shot Lynn. This resulted in Amanda's failure to pass the final test John had set for her and her death.
In the director's cut of Saw VI, one of the scenes added was a dialogue between Amanda and Cecil in which she convinces him to rob the clinic by saying, "I've been good to you". Also in the Director's Cut, a scene was added after the credits in which she approaches the room where Corbett Denlon is trapped and frantically tells her, "Don't trust the one who saves you".