Saw VI: The Shotgun Carousel

Saw VI was all about revealing America’s healthcare system as a twisted death game of its own. Not much has changed since 2009 and people are still denied coverage for preexisting conditions (alongside all the other garbage that health insurance companies pull), so Saw VI still feels like one of the most damning and relevant films in the franchise. William Easton, a health insurance executive who previously denied Jigsaw coverage for his cancer treatment based on some nonsense formula he invented, is dropped into a series of traps that require him to make decisions about who should live and die, and in so doing, face the consequences of his facts and logic. Typically I’m not a fan of Saw traps that put someone’s fate in the hands of someone else, but the format was used to such incredible effect in Saw VI that it’s still one of my favorite movies in the series. No trap captures this better than the Shotgun Carousel, which is probably one of the best games in the whole franchise. William’s insurance team is chained to a spinning carousel with a loaded shotgun posted up on one side. The ride will spin and come to a stop six times, and the shotgun will fire six shells. William is only allowed to aim the shotgun at the ceiling twice, otherwise all six will die. So each of the possible victims has to make their case, begging and pleading that they are the healthiest and best-suited to keep on living according to Williams’ policy. It’s all so degrading, but it’s exactly what the healthcare system in this country requires of people who just want to live. All William can do as the shotgun aims at his final victim is cower in the corner in shame. God. Saw VI rules, y’all. We don’t talk about this enough.