Sometimes, it takes writing about a reasonably-tangential subject for a lightbulb of epiphany to illuminate above this dim head of mine.

Because that’s exactly what happened after voicing my thoughts on zombies, apes, and Jigsaw’s traps. 

The bulb turned-on over this boob after ruminating on that phrase: “Jigsaw’s traps.”

…Am I an idiot for never realizing that Jigsaw is short for jigsaw puzzles, because his traps are puzzles?!?!

“Do you want to play a game?” could’ve just as easily been “do you want to solve a puzzle?”

Latecomers to the Saw franchise might believe that the title refers exclusively to Jigsaw. BUT, anyone who remembers the installment that started it all will recall that the solution to Jigsaw’s very first puzzle forced Cary Elwes to SAW off his own leg. 

Also: A JIGSAW IS A TYPE OF SAW!!!

This whole self-dunderheaded situation might solve the queries of longtime Write All Nite readers as to why I so frequently use titles as windows through which to interpret a piece of art.

Titles are the most top-level ingredient that artists give us to analyze their work; they’re basically the first take on the movie that audiences encounter, straight from the horse’s mouth. A thematically-minded title is a constant that can successively and successfully describe, reflect, refract, juxtapose, explain, inspire, beguile, contradict, and comment on everything it’s attached to, both looming over the proceedings AND intermingling with them to add untold riches to the viewing experience.

A lack of this sort of possible elucidation for the title Spiral is one of many signs that it’s missing the (sadistic) ingenuity of its ancestry.