The story begins with Detective Willaim Somerset, looking for his ideal countryside cabin, where he plans to live after his premature retirement, away from the filth and decay of the unnamed city in the story. This is where he cuts out a picture of a rose from the wallpapers, with his switchblade, making an unsaid promise to go back to the innocent life after his retirement, which is to come in another 6 days.
In the city, Somerset meets Detective David Mills, an ambitious young Detective who had forced a transfer from a quiet town to hell-hole of a city, where they investigate the death of a morbidly obese man who, according to the autopsy reports had been force-fed to his death. The killer has apparently left no clues except for the strips of plastic, which he had fed the victim. This leads the Detectives to the words “GLUTTONY” scribbled on the back of the victim’s refridgerator.
This is when Somerset concludes that this is the start of a series of seven murders, all related to the Seven Deadly Sins. As Somerset is stuck with the investigation of the “fat boy”, Mills is sent to investigate the murder of the famous Defense Attorney Eli Gould, who was found murdered in his Law Firm’s office, with the words “GREED” written in his blood on the floor.
With the unearthing of the third victim or “SLOTH” victim, Somerset uses his contact in the FBI to run a list of people who had issued flagged library books, which were related to the Seven Deadly Sins. The FBI list leads the Detectives to the apartment of a man named Jonathan Doe, who greets them with gunfire. After a long chase, Doe manages to hit Mills with a two-by-four, with the latter being held at gunpoint. However, Doe does not pull the trigger, and flees instead.
As two more victims – “LUST” and “PRIDE” are unearthed; Somerset postpones his retirement till this case has been solved. Meanwhile, John Doe himself appears at the Precinct Building, all blood-stained, and surrenders himself to the law enforcement. Doe’s Lawyer Swarr, tells the police that Doe has agreed to sign a full confession if he would be allowed to take Mills and Somerset to the last two victim – “ENVY” and “WRATH”. After much deliberation, they both agree.
Doe takes them to an industrial marshland, towards the outskirts of the city, where they spot a delivery van coming. Somerset stops the van, and the driver hands him a package addressed to “Detective David Mills”. Somerset opens the package after the Deliveryman has been sent back. He unwraps the package, only to withdraw in horror. Meanwhile Doe confesses to Mills that he is guilty of “ENVY”, that he had “tried to play husband” with Mills’ wife, Tracy. But instead, he took a souvenir – “her pretty head”. As Somerset tries to stop an enraged Mills, the latter shoots him on the shoulder before killing Doe. Here, Mills is signifying “WRATH”.
Two weeks later, after Somerset has recovered from the friendly fire, he takes out the paper rose, only to find that it has been stained by blood. He tears it up, along with a note from Mills that said: “You were right. You were right about everything”, and goes straight back to the Precinct House.
Character of David Mills
“Innocence does not find near so much protection as guilt.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld.
Andrew Walker might have portrayed Detective David Mills as a foul-mouthed cop, with a temperament the size of a peanut; but there is more to this man than meets the eye. Yes, he acts as a tough guy, does not hold back the expeltives – not even in front of his superiors, and has little regard for the law. But moving past this initial impression, we see a loving husband; an almost Fox Mulder-like devotion to work; and most of all, an innocent flower in an inhabitable terrain. Yes, the paper rose that Somerset carries around in his pocket, signifies Mills’ innocence.
This innocence can be spotted from Mills’ very first scene, where he winces from seeing the carnage of a man’s brains being blown all over a wall with a shotgun. The thing that Somerset finds so interesting about Mills in this particular scene is that the latter actually fought to get to the unnamed city, where crime and unruliness rule the streets. Mills may have tried to justify himself by saying that he made the move for the sake of his career, that it was better for a Detective to move to a city with a high crime rate than stay in a small quiet town; but the fact remains that he had bitten off more than he could possibly chew – much like an infant would often do with its food. Although in Mills’ situation, he had gone beyond the point of any return.
Detective David Mills holds a special position in the eyes of the serial killer, Jonathan Doe. Not just because the former is a detective, with an upward career trajectory, but also because he had a stable domestic life. Mills had married his high school sweetheart, Tracy and they were also going to have a baby sometime in the near future (although Mills did not know this). Perhaps Doe himself had a high school sweetheart, who he could not marry for some reason – we may never know. All that we know is that Doe admired Mills and envied him as well.
Perhaps this is why Doe chose Mills to embody “WRATH” and kill him. At any rate we can be almost certain that Doe’s “masterpiece had not just taken seven lives; rather it had taken eight – the last one being Mills. After finding out what Doe had done to his wife, and killing the latter, Detective Mills can be said to have been scarred for life, much like the paper rose in Somerset’s pocket has been stained with blood. It is much better to tear up such a rose, than keep it. Mills does accept that Somerset was “right about everything”; but this confession is of no use anymore. His life can now only be a mere shadow of what it once was.
Sources:
The Script Lab, Se7en (1995), Available at < http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/five-plot-point-breakdowns/861-se7en-1995 > [Accessed 20 Feb 2013]
