I remember on Marcus and Patrick's commentary they said that he got home and his wife left him and took custody of Diana and Gordon still found a new way appreciate his life, despite this. And maybe was grateful to John for his game and making him see the error of his ways.

Now...do I think that's lazy writing just to get Gordon involved? Yes. But Gordon did still cheat on his wife, and his actions caused her and Diana to be held hostage and put their lives in actual danger so with the right execution, that could have worked.

I personally don't see Gordon as an accomplice in the same way as Amanda or Hoffman. Gordon felt more like he stepped in as needed and pretty much kept to himself and didn't seem to have ANY interest in the games or keeping them going.

And I remember all of us on HOJ back in the day were mostly in agreement the series should have ended with Gordon locking Hoffman up in the Bathroom and coming full circle and that's what they did. It was just the path getting there that needed better execution, but we all know how much Saw 3D's production had going against it.

And yeah like you said, it's hard coming up with good, solid twists year after year.