Now I'm even more curious...

I bought Saw VI yesterday and have managed to watch it 3 times already... Don't judge me. In all fairness, I watched it once normally and the other two times with the two commentaries. They can reveal clues that you wouldn't hear otherwise.

Anyway, in the Unrated Director's Cut (which is the only version available if you want widescreen or Blu-Ray) there is a little more footage included with Cecil and Amanda. From what I remember about the Theatrical Cut we just saw them outside of the clinic and the brief driving scene while Hoffman's voice over is reading the letter. Cecil hesitates, you see Jill turning off the lights in the clinic, and Amanda pushes Cecil out of frame telling him to just do it. He slams the door into Jill's abdomen killing Gideon, yada yada yada. We all know what happened in Saw IV. You see Cecil running away and Amanda collapses into a corner in shock and awe.
The difference between the DC and the TC is basically the length and what was included. In the DC we see a longer driving scene with Amanda and Cecil (which was completely out of place, in my opinion) and there is more interaction between them outside of the clinic. If I remember correctly, the extended interaction introduces the first real glimpse of sexuality in the entire Saw franchise so far. Cecil turns back, tries to tell Amanda that Jill has been good to them, Amanda goes on to say "I've been good to you," leans in toward his face, and her hands go south and start feeling up his crotch. Not only does this finally show what we all suspected of Amanda in terms of being willing to go as far as necessary for drugs, even sexual favors, but it implies that she and Cecil were a couple. How does this effect previous theories, Cecil's knife trap in Saw IV, and Amanda? Here's what I'm thinking.

John knew Cecil was present at the time of the accident with Jill. He is reading in his car and sees Cecil run outside. That gives him a face to place at the scene. However, to our knowledge John didn't notice Amanda at the scene. Unless she managed to get up and run away, or hide somewhere else, in the time that Cecil left and John came running into the clinic and found Jill, I think she could have been spotted. Especially if she kept making all of that noise.
As a result of the accident we see John's first test. He follows Cecil to a parade, captures him, and places him in the knife chair. Let's take a brief look at what John said to him:

"I want to play a game. Your life is a lie Cecil, but now comes your moment of truth. As a drug addict and a theif you've preyed on the kindness of others to fuel your addiction. Today, we bring the ugliness inside of you out into the open. Now in order for you to stay alive, you have to match your face to the ugliness of your soul. Just lean forward into the knives with your face. Press hard enough and you will release the arm and leg restraints that bind you. Press hard though, and you'll be free. Or you can sit idly and bleed out on the floor. Live or die, Cecil. Make your choice."

So... seeing that Amanda was really the one behind breaking into the clinic for drugs, should Cecil's trap have really been her's? I see the way things turned out and how symbolic the RBT became as the plot unfolded movie by movie, but in terms of principle (we all know John and his principles) the knife chair should have had Amanda in it and not Cecil. After seeing the events of Saw VI it shows even more so that the knife chair was used by John purely for revenge. Cecil had a chance and technically won, but when he was released John led him into the razor wire. Say self defense all you want, but that's in no way what it was. Not in my opinion.
I always thought Jill inquired about Cecil with John fairly quickly. If Amanda was a regular at the clinic and was linked to Cecil publically (I have no doubts about that) she could have been the one to report him missing, she could have said something about not knowing where he was to Jill... any number of things are possible. Jill knew what Cecil did to her but at that point she didn't know about Amanda's involvement so she would have seen her as a woman just not knowing where her man was. Not to mention that Jill always possessed a great amount of sympathy for addicts, which is mainly what irritated John, so she might have been inquiring for Amanda's sake out of conscience. Seeing how upset John was about Gideon and how crazy he got, the fact that she even thought to go to him and ask was very plausible and I always thought it showed how well she knew John.

Personally, I think John knew Amanda was involved in the loss of Gideon. His dialogue with Jill in Saw VI with Amanda standing there clearly indicates that Jill had spoken to John about Amanda. He flat out says Jill had told him she was a lost soul. John was also a frequent visitor at the clinic and according to Saw: Rebirth, he was in a rehab hospital with her after she overdosed. Granted Rebirth isn't 100% credible anymore but it gives insight to possibilites that have been written in association with the actual franchise.
If John knew it would potentially explain how Hoffman knew about her involvement and why he included it in the letter. Another possibility with that is that Hoffman could have added to it.
Compare the two letter possibilities:

John's
"Amanda, you were with Cecil the night Jill lost Gideon. You killed our child. You know it and I know it. (insert more text if desired)"

Hoffman's:
"Amanda, you were with Cecil the night Jill lost Gideon. You killed their child. You know it and I know it so do exactly as I say. Kill Lynn Denlon or I will tell John what you did."

It is more than possible that Hoffman could have inserted that last piece. The new scene with him setting up the Rack with Amanda shows that she wasn't necessarily intimidated by him. She flinched at him and laughed, picked on his inability to perfect traps, and basically rubbed in his face that she was an apprentice too. Her only true weakness was John. Their connection and her level of love for him was obvious all throughout Saw III. Hoffman knew that and the only way he could create the leverage to get her to do something was to threaten the relationship they had. By setting her up with unwinnable traps (at least I think he did) and making her kill Lynn it ensured that Jeff would most likely take out his vengeance and frustration on the last two people he faced, if his wife was killed or wounded. Seeing that Amanda shot Lynn, it was only natural for Jeff to use his one bullet to shoot her. He went even farther and killed John, too. The fact that he killed his own wife by killing John is just ironic.
Who does that leave as a sole survivor and newly promoted hero? Mark Hoffman.


I like the scenes included in Saw VI. It opens up a lot more windows. I wish there were more and I hope this isn't the last we see of Amanda, but I have a feeling it is. They can't really expand on too much and still have it be relevant. Not to mention that Shawnee Smith is still pregnant and most likely will be cruising into February. Production on Saw VII starts in about a week and a half. Unless it does well and there is a Saw VIII, I am doubting the return of Amanda for another movie right now.

What can you do except theorize, eh?