Eric Matthews [To Daniel]
Your mother gets to keep custody, I get to take you into custody.
Played by Donnie Wahlberg 
Saw II (2005) · 57 quotes
Saw II (2005) · 57 quotes
Most-quoted character in Saw II (2005): in 25 of its 57 quotes
Most scenes with: John Kramer/Jigsaw. (7), Kerry (6), Daniel (3)
The clock is ticking, John.
More lines from Eric Matthews
10 quotes Eric Matthews Eric Matthews [To Daniel]
Well then go!
Eric Matthews [To Jigsaw, about his son]
You MOTHER****ER!! WHERE IS HE?!
Eric Matthews I don't want to talk to him.
Eric Matthews It's a little hard to follow the manual when you've got my son, John.
Eric Matthews First, you said you wanted to talk. Then you said you wanted to play a game. You're talking, but it means NOTHING!
Eric Matthews Putting a gun to someone's head and forcing them to pull the trigger is still murder.
Eric Matthews Shut the **** up!
Eric Matthews [Amanda locks him in the bathroom from the first film]
I'LL **** KILL YOU! YOU **** BITCH! YOU **** BITCH! I'LL **** KILL YOU! No! NO!!! [Screams fade away]
Eric Matthews [To Jigsaw]
Hey. Is this close enough?
Scenes with Eric Matthews
14 scenes
Took you long enough.
Eric Matthews [Sarcastically]
I'm sorry. I didn't have it penciled in on my schedule.
I just think I should go back to Mom's early.
Eric Matthews What did you say?
What, can you not hear me?
Eric Matthews No, I can't hear you. Say it again.
Eric Matthews Well, then go!
It was the arriving officer who called it in as your buddy.
Eric Matthews He wasn't my buddy. He was an informant. This officer IDed him just by looking at him?
Well, he wasn't positive. That's why I wanted you here.
Eric Matthews All right. Well, let me get a look at his face. I'll tell you in two seconds if it's him or not.
Therein lies the problem.
All right, let's just pretend for a second that this is new to us, all right? Can you think of anyone that would want to do this to your guy?
Eric Matthews Well, he's an informant, Kerry. You want a list of possible suspects? Grab a phone book.
Crackhead county punks don't have engineering degrees. Now I'd say that our cause of death here narrows that list down just a little bit, wouldn't you?
Eric Matthews You know, you and that guy have a lot in common, Kerry.
Oh, yeah?
Eric Matthews Yeah. You both like playing games with people.
Excuse me?
Eric Matthews Don't ever pull some shit like that again on me at a crime scene.
I'm not the one taunting you. He is.
Eric Matthews Doesn't mean I have to take the bait. Besides, I got a full caseload as it is.
A bunch of desk errands and shit work.
Eric Matthews Yeah, well, between that and the IA breathing down my neck, my son's budding criminal career and my wife's **** divorce lawyers, I'd say my hands are pretty full, wouldn't you?
Yeah. Look, I'm sorry. I was hoping, maybe, that I could bring you in on this one.
Eric Matthews We're not partners anymore, Kerry.
Hey, forget that we're not partners. What about the fact this guy wrote your **** name on the wall, huh? He asked for you!
Eric Matthews It's not the first time some psychopath called me out.
All right. What about the fact that I'm asking?
Eric Matthews Can't help you.
Eric Matthews You're the Jigsaw expert.
When did you stop being a cop?
Thought your caseload was big enough as it is.
Eric Matthews Just taggin' along for the ride.
Eric Matthews Hey. This close enough?
Get his ass out of here.
[Eric starts to leave]
Actually, I will need to remain here while you deal with your problem, Detective Matthews.
Eric Matthews What problem?
The problem in that room.
Eric Matthews What the **** is that?! Hey! HEY! WHAT THE **** IS THAT?!
It's your son Daniel. You remember him, don't you?
Eric Matthews I know who he is, you piece of shit! What's he doing on that **** monitor?!
Well, I haven't looked at the monitors for some time, so it would be hard for me to say, but I would imagine he's cowering in a corner with a look on his face--
Eric Matthews You mother****er! [Runs forward - Rigg restrains him] You mother****er! Where is he?! WHERE IS HE?!
Where is he? That's a problem you're gonna have to solve before it's too late. He has about two hours before the gas creeping into his nervous system begins to break down his body tissue and he begins to bleed from every orifice he has. [Smiles] Oh, yes. There will be blood.
Eric Matthews Tell me where he is.
John He's in a safe place.
Eric Matthews What do you want with me?
A little of your time, Detective.
Eric Matthews I don't have any time.
You asked me what I wanted and I told you. Believe me when I tell you your son is in a lot of trouble.
Eric Matthews And if I give you a little bit of my time? What then?
I only want to talk to you. Everyone else must leave. Those are my conditions.
Eric Matthews No. It's a crime scene. Nobody leaves.
They don't have to leave the building. They just have to leave this area long enough for me to talk to you. If you agree to that, then you will see your son again.
Eric Matthews If I don't see my son, I swear to god I'll rip your **** head off.
I don't intend to mock you, Officer, but I'm a cancer patient. How could you possibly put me in any more pain than I'm already in?
Should have your tech team here in about an hour or two.
Eric Matthews He said he wants to talk to me.
Well, maybe you should talk to him.
Well, **** that. Five minutes. Old-school method.
He's not gonna respond to phone-book treatment. You know that.
Don't underestimate a tried and true method here.
I am the one who's been working on this case since day one. I have been spending every waking moment piecing it together.
Maybe that's why you ain't got no family for yourself and you can't understand what this man is going through.
Eric Matthews [Kerry approaches Eric]
Don't.
Look.
Eric Matthews I don't want to talk to him.
Listen, you already lost your son one time before because you got involved with me. It's not gonna happen again.
This is bullshit! What are we gonna do?
Just humor him. Buy us a little more time. You can win this, Eric. You can beat him. Come on.
Eric Matthews All right.
Eric Matthews Okay. Let's talk.
Sit down. [Eric grabs a chair and sits in it] I want to play a game. The rules are simple. All you have to do is sit here and talk to me, listen to me. [Eric puts a walkie-talkie on the floor] If you do that long enough, then you will find your son in a safe and secure state. We haven't been properly introduced. My name's John.
Eric Matthews I thought you like to be called Jigsaw.
No. [Laughs] It was the police and the press who coined the nickname Jigsaw. I never encouraged or claimed that. The jigsaw piece that I cut from my subjects was only ever meant to be a symbol that that subject was missing something. A vital piece of the human puzzle. The survival instinct.
Eric Matthews This is all really, really interesting, John. But right now I'd really like for you to talk to me.
I am talking to you. You're not listening. Don't forget the rules.
Eric Matthews I am listening to you, but all I'm getting is the same sick **** bullshit that comes about two seconds into every interview I've ever done with one of you **** people.
Well, that's an interesting approach to police work, isn't it? Aren't you supposed to be convincing me that I'm your friend, lulling me into a false sense of security so that I'll confide in you?
Eric Matthews It's a little hard to follow the manual when you've got my son, John.
The manual? What do you really want to do to me right now, huh? What would you have done five years ago? Would you have followed the manual then? Would you have broken my jaw with a flashlight?
Eric Matthews You seem to know a whole lot about me.
I know you were once considered a fearless police officer. Do you feel a whole lot safer now that you only sit behind a desk?
Eric Matthews I feel a whole lot of things right now.
But you feel alive. That's what you feel, and that's the point. [Pauses] Would you... kindly get me a glass of water? [Holds up a paper cup] I would very much appreciate that.
You see, Detective. Darwin's theory of evolution and survival of the fittest, based on his little trip to the Galápagos, no longer applies on this planet. We have a human race that doesn't have the edge or the will to survive.
Eric Matthews What the **** do you want?!
It's hard to remain calm, isn't it? When your son is walking around on those monitors.
Eric Matthews I can't give you what you want if you don't tell me what the **** it is.
I told you what it is. Just remember the rules.
Eric Matthews No, you said you wanted to talk. Then you said you wanted to play a game. You're talking, but it means NOTHING!!
What do you think the cure for cancer is, Eric?
Eric Matthews What?
The cure for cancer? What is it?
Eric Matthews I don't know what it is, but I know it's not killing and torturing people for your own sick **** pleasure.
I've never murdered anyone in my life. The decisions are up to them.
Eric Matthews Yeah, well, putting a gun to someone's head and forcing them to pull the trigger is still murder.
Since when has force been a problem for you? Why are you so desperate to get your son back?
Eric Matthews 'Cause he's my son...
What's the last thing you said to him before you left him?
[Flashback]
Eric Matthews Well, then go!
[Present]
Seems to me that the knowledge of your son's impending death is causing you to act. Forgive all his sins, to wipe the slate clean. Why is that we're only willing to do that, when a life is at stake?
Eric Matthews I've always loved my son. That's never changed.
No... no... It's changed now. You see, the knowledge of death... changes everything. If I were to tell you the exact date and time of your death... it would shatter your world completely. I know. Can you imagine what it feels like to have someone sit you down and tell you that you're dying? The gravity of that? That the clock's ticking for you. In a split second, your world is cracked open. You look at things differently, smell things differently. You savor everything, be it a glass of water or a walk in the park.
Eric Matthews The clock is ticking, John.
But most people have the luxury of not knowing when that clock's going to go off. And the irony of it is that that keeps them from really living their life. It keeps them sleepwalking. It keeps them drinking that glass of water, but never really tasting it.
Eric Matthews You can still fix this, John.
Yeah, but can we fix you?
Eric Matthews Me?
I'm not fixable. I've got cancer.
Eric Matthews [in disbelief]
You're using cancer as an excuse for what you do?
No. The cancer isn't what started me in my work. It was the moment I decided to end my life... that started me in my work. I had literally driven myself to suicide, and I had failed. My body had not been strong enough to repel cancer cells, yet I had lived through a plunge off a cliff. But, to my amazement, I was alive. And I was determined to spend the rest of my days testing the fabric of human nature. Do you understand, Eric?
Eric Matthews You got a chance to do something. Do it right now, John. Just tell me where my son is. I'll help you.
I don't need your help, and I can tell you still don't understand. Those who don't appreciate life do not deserve life.
Eric Matthews My son appreciates his life.
But do you appreciate yours? Do you appreciate your son's?
Eric Matthews [Hits the table]
Oh, this is shit! [Stands and walks away]
Don't forget the rules. If you want to find your son.
[Eric ignores him and leaves]
[Eric begins tearing apart and trashing John's files]
How will you get your conviction without all this evidence, Eric?
Eric Matthews I don't need this shit to convict you.
So go ahead. Destroy it.
Eric Matthews I will.
Destroy it all. Just know it will not save your son if you do.
Eric Matthews You kill my son, I kill you.
Go ahead. Why wait? We both know the sort of person you are, sir. The sort of person who guns down an unarmed suspect. In fact, the sort of person who plants evidence in order to obtain a conviction. The sort of person whose wife leaves him and his son hates him.
Eric Matthews SHUT THE **** UP!!
[Eric awakens, chained in the bathroom from the first movie and discovers a tape. He starts it.] [Amanda's Voice]
Hello, Eric. You probably don't even remember me, but you changed my life once. You sent me to prison. I was guilty of a lot of things, but not the drug charge you framed me for. You wouldn't know the things you lose when you're locked away. The second time somebody changed my life, I was guilty.
[Flashback]
Hello, Amanda.
You said you survived this, right?
Yeah.
You must meet death... in order to be reborn.
He helped me.
[Present]
What is the cure for cancer, Eric?
[Flashback]
Those who don't appreciate life do not deserve life.
Eric Matthews [Eric realizes he is chained to a pipe]
Daniel!!
By creating a legacy, by living a life worth remembering, you become immortal. So now you find the tables are turned.
[Flashback]
He asked for you!
Eric Matthews What the **** do you want?!
I told you.
He wants us to survive this.
I want to play a game.
You have to play by the **** rules!
The rules are simple. All you have to do is sit here and talk to me.
Eric Matthews What?
If you can do that long enough, you will find your son in a safe and secure state.
Eric Matthews [Kerry finds Daniel in a safe]
What the **** is that?
It's your son, Daniel. You remember him, don't you?
My dad's a... he's a real hardass.
The knowledge of your son's impending death is causing to forgive all his sins. Why is that we're only willing to do that when a life is at stake?
Eric Matthews DANIEL! [To John] I'm done listening to you.
Don't forget the rules.
Eric Matthews SHUT THE **** UP!!
He's playing a game.
Eric Matthews I don't want to talk to him. [To John] You're not saying shit!
We both know the sort of person you are. Not long to go now until your son is pissing-- [Eric hits him] I'll take you to the house.
Eric Matthews [In the bathroom, reaching into the bathtub]
Daniel?
[A figure in a pig mask injects him with something]
There's something I haven't told you, Eric.
[Amanda removes the pig mask] [Narrating]
It is I who will carry on John's work after he dies...
[Present]
Eric Matthews DANIEL!
[Flashback]
So go ahead. Destroy it.
[Present]
... and you...
Eric Matthews [Reaching for his gun]
Daniel!
... are my first test subject. Now you are locked away. Helpless...
Eric Matthews You **** bitch.
Game over.
Eric Matthews [Amanda locks the door of the bathroom.]
I'LL **** KILL YOU! YOU **** BITCH! YOU **** BITCH! I'LL **** KILL YOU! NO! NO! NO! [Screams fade away]
