Se7en (1995)

In director David Fincher's grisly, neo-noir, psychological crime thriller, a patterned series of gruesome killings was exhibited and displayed at each murder scene in an unnamed, decaying, and rainy city underworld. The punishing deaths were inspired and set up to represent each of the Seven legendary Deadly Sins (gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath). The very black suspense thriller and police procedural from New Line Cinema was Fincher's second theatrical feature film following his poorly-received sci-fi film Alien³ (1992) - the series' second sequel. Fincher's first films were often music videos in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s.

The narrative of the formulaic script by American screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker portrayed rampant city crime with a very unexpected and shocking twist ending. None of the first six 'deadly sin' crimes were seen committed on-screen, but the aftermath of the killings and various autopsies were often pictured in very repulsive and suggestive, unpleasant detail.

The visually dark and grim film set up a contrast between two mismatched or 'odd-couple' detectives - a calm and methodical veteran cop who was about to voluntarily retire and leave the irredeemably rotten and evil city, while his idealistic, hot-headed replacement felt he had to always prove himself and be a hero. They both participated in the hunt for a diabolical, intelligent, violent and sociopathic serial killer-lunatic who had staged multiple murders, and whose twisted motive was to play God.

On a budget of approximately $33 million, the film grossed $100.1 million (domestic) and $327.2 million (worldwide). The well-crafted film also received one Academy Award nomination - Best Film Editing (Richard Francis-Bruce). The intensely-dark cinematography by Darius Khondji and the musical score by Howard Shore added to the film's sense of dread and menace. The film's taglines were: "Let he who is without sin try to survive," and "Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die." The murders took place over a period of seven days.

• the character of soon-to-retire, meticulous, world-weary veteran Det. Lt. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) was clearly depicted; after 32 years of service, he was going about his orderly and precise morning routine in his furnished bachelor apartment, only seven days before his retirement; he carefully tied his tie in front of a mirror, then methodically picked up items all laid out in a row (from l to r): his handkerchief with a piece of cut-out wallpaper depicting a rose, his gold homicide badge, his switchblade knife, his pen, and his eye-glasses case; he removed a fleck from his sportscoat before picking it up from his neatly-made bed, and then shut off the light on his nightstand where there was a wooden, pyramidical metronome (used as a sleep aid to drown the city's noise by its rhythmic ticking, and a symbol of the passing of time)
• Det. Somerset's first bloody crime scene of the day was the result of a domestic dispute ("crime of passion"), coldly described by Det. Taylor (Daniel Zacapa) to Somerset; the argument ended with the shotgun blast-killing of the husband by the wife; the male corpse was pictured on the floor [Note: The victim was a cameo portrayed by the film's scriptwriter, Andrew Kevin Walker.]
• it was a short transition period for homicide investigator Somerset who had decided to retire; he was in his last week and would be shadowed by his rookie replacement who arrived at the crime scene - young, headstrong, arrogant and hotshot young Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt); the brash Mills was quite different from the wise, perceptive, patient, empathetic and methodical Somerset; he learned that Mills had "fought to get reassigned" or transferred to Somerset's precinct, although the older Somerset wondered why; Mills bragged about his five years of experience in homicide, but Somerset tutored Mills: "I want you to look and I want you to listen"
• the opening title credits sequence was artistically designed and directed by Kyle Cooper - to the remixed sounds of Nine Inch Nail’s Closer, it was composed of numerous clues to the film's content presented in striking, unnerving and unforgettable, close-up images; the white-colored titles themselves were either drawn by hand or produced on a manual typewriter; often, the frames flickered and were scratched or fuzzy:
  • the first image was of the opened and turning pages of a personal journal, followed by a picture of a pair of crippled or gnarly hands
  • the antagonist (serial killer) cut or shaved off the skin of his fingertips (later covered with bandages) with a rusty razor blade, to avoid leaving fingerprints
  • the individual was brewing a drink - a tea bag released into water was viewed in extreme closeup
  • a pen was seen writing cryptic lines in a school composition book or journal; in one instance, written text was crossed out with a black marker, as were the eyes of a pictured young boy (and then his entire face), in certain instances, words such as "pregnant" (a foreshadowing hint), "heterosexual intercourse" and "transexual" were blackened out
  • a strip of film and Polaroid photographs were trimmed with a pair of scissors above a book article titled: "What is a Transexual and How Is He Different From a Heterosexual?", and then placed inside the journal-diary
  • a needle and thread sewed and stitched to bind together the pages of a journal that were assembled into a book; also a human hair was picked up with a pair of tweezers and placed in a transparent, plastic sleeve or wrapper, seen above pictures of half-dressed boys (one had his eyes blackened out); pictures and other items were placed within the pages of the diary, and some were covered with plastic
  • one of the briefly-viewed, upside-down handwritten scribblings of the killer revealed how he felt about himself: "I NEVER DID ANYTHING RIGHT. I ALWAYS F--K UP. KNOWING ME, I'LL F--K THIS UP TOO. I JUST CAN'T SEE LIVING WITHOUT YOU"
  • the word "GOD" was excised from an upside-down "In God We Trust" motto on US currency
  • the collection of individual books or journals were stacked together on a shelf

• each of the days in the last 7 days of Det. Lt. Somerset's employment were titled on the screen, beginning with Monday (each day was involved in the discovery of 7 ultimate murders at various crime scenes, that were revealed to be related to the legendary Seven Deadly Sins in medieval times described by Dante and others)

1. Gluttony - on MONDAY, an obese victim (Bob Mack), an obvious shut-in in his dark and dingy apartment, was found lying face-down with his head in a bowl of spaghetti in front of him on a table; his hands and feet had been manacled; there was a foul-smelling bucket to collect his vomit under the table near him; the small apartment was filled with rotting food, flies, and roaches, and dozens of cans of tomato sauce on a shelf; at the morgue, Dr. Santiago (Reg E. Cathey) explained his autopsy results that revealed the victim had been sadistically forced to feed himself to death for at least 12 hours; then, a blow (possibly a kick) to his engorged stomach forced him to hemorrhage internally; midway through the torture, the killer took his time to shop a second time at a supermarket; Det. Somerset conjectured: "You don't risk the time it takes to do this. Unless the act itself has meaning"; he feared that it looked like the start of something much more involved and sinister that would continue for some time, long after his retirement day, and he didn't want to retire in the middle of the on-going cases: ("This is beginning...No motive...It's just gonna go on and on and on"); Det. Somerset was also aggravated that in his final week, he had to work with the inept and inexperienced Detective Mills; Police Captain (R. Lee Ermey) promised to put Mills on a separate assignment

The First Crime Scene - (GLUTTONY) Representing One of the Seven Deadly Sins

2. Greed - on TUESDAY, the next crime was headlined in several local newspapers: "DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOUND MURDERED - High Priced Lawyer Discovered Dead in Posh Uptown Office Building"; the victimized wealthy defense attorney Eli Gould (Gene Borkan) was found on Tuesday morning, dead from lethal bloodletting after being forced to mutilate himself; the word "GREED" was spelled out in blood on the floor; blood was used to paint circles around the eyes of Gould's wife in a framed photograph [Note: It was the killer's cryptic sign that Mrs. Gould was supposed to see or nothing something in the office.]

The Second Crime Scene (GREED) - Tuesday-Wednesday
Tuesday Morning Headlines	"GREED" Written in Blood on the Floor	Defaced Photograph of Mrs. Gould - A Significant Clue
Victim Eli Gould Bound Up	Gould's "Pound of Flesh" on a Scale	Gould Cut Off His Own "Love Handle" And Bled to Death

• Det. Mills had been assigned to this new case - to Somerset's surprise; the Captain kept urging Somerset to reconsider his retirement: "You're not gonna be a cop anymore....I don't think you're leaving. Hell, you can't leave all this"; the Captain handed over an 'EVIDENCE' bottle containing thin plastic strips fed to the fat victim and found in his stomach
• on a hunch, Somerset paid a second visit to the 'gluttony' crime scene; the plastic pieces fit into scrape marks on the linoleum kitchen floor in front of the refrigerator; behind the refrigerator on the kitchen wall, he found the word "GLUTTONY" scrawled in grease with a note - a quote from Milton's Paradise Lost ("Long is the way and hard that out of hell leads up to light"); he summarized to the Captain: "It means that this is beginning"; it appeared to him that these two murders were connected to the 7 Deadly Sins, and that there would undoubtedly be five more crimes and victims ("You can expect five more of these") - he told the Captain: "I can't get involved in this"
• late that night, Det. Somerset visited the city's library and in the deep rows of dark stacks, he located volumes of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, and viewed drawings that would have hidden significance; at the same time on his apartment sofa in front of the TV, Lt. Mills was studying police crime photos and was stretching backwards and adjusting his neck; he appeared tired and baffled; his pose duplicated the drawing of the myth of Arachne in Greek legend in one of Somerset's volumes; closeups of the words "crimson with his blood," "to tear his flesh" and "seven children slain" appeared

Beheading Drawing in Dante's Divine Comedy	A Second Beheading Drawing - A Clear Foreshadowing	The Punishment-Death of Arachne: Her Transformation into a Spider
Tortured Souls and Purgatory from Dante's Divine Comedy	A Similar Arachne-Like Pose of Det. Mills (Both Were Guilty of Hubris)	Det. Somerset's List of Books About the 7 Deadly Sins for Lt. Mills

• he had made a list of books related to the legend of the Seven Deadly Sins; he deposited duplicated copies of his research in an envelope onto Det. Mills' desk; meanwhile, Mills had ordered Cliff's Notes copies of the recommended books
• by WEDNESDAY of the same week, Mills and Somerset were now sharing Somerset's old office for just a few days; Somerset's name on the door had been replaced by Mills' name; a phone call from Mills' wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt's real-life girlfriend at the time) brought an invite for Somerset to join them for a late supper that evening; during discussion, Tracy and David both admitted that they were still settling in after moving to the city; Somerset advised: "You get numb after awhile...There are things to any city" - including the rumblings of the nearby subway as it passed by; Somerset's drink of choice was wine, while Mills drank beer
• after Wednesday's dinner, Mills talked out his analysis of the second crime scene with Somerset; he had concluded that the murder of wealthy and powerful defense attorney Eli Gould was a self-mutilation in his office; he was bound up and given a butcher knife, and at gunpoint, he was ordered to literally cut off "a pound of flesh" from his body as a repayment penalty: (Somerset: "Imagine it. There's a gun in your face. Which part of your body is expendable?"); Mills responded: "What about the love handle?"; Somerset concluded that the killer was probably "preaching" and "punishing" the entire time and forcing a confession of sins from the victim - "The sins were used in medieval sermons. There were seven cardinal virtues and seven deadly sins - used as teaching tools...The sermons were about atonement for sin. These murders are like forced attrition...It's when you regret your sins, but not because you love God"; there were no fingerprints at the scene, no witnesses, and it was unclear how the killer was able to leave the building undetected; they thought that maybe the defaced picture of Mrs. Gould was a hint that the wife would see and reveal another "puzzle piece" from the crime photos
• although it was very late, the two visited the lawyer's wife Mrs. Gould (Julie Araskog) at a safe house location; in great distress and grief, she was shown the crime scene photos and asked if there was anything out of place, strange or unusual; she noticed an upside-down abstract painting in her husband's office - apparently the painting had been improperly re-hung on the wall; the detectives visited Gould's office and behind the painting, Somerset realized there was a series of fingerprints left on the wall; the Print Lab's fingerprint technician (Alfonso Freeman) determined that the prints did not belong to the victim, but there was a two-word message that the prints had formed, from left to right reading: "HELP ME"
• after a long wait, on early Thursday morning, the prints were determined to belong to a felon named Theodore "Victor" Allen (Michael Reid Mackay) - a mentally-ill, ex-drug dealer, thief and child rapist, whose lawyer was the recently-deceased Eli Gould; Somerset sensed that "Victor" wasn't their guy: ("Our killer seems to have more purpose")

3. Sloth - on THURSDAY, the two (with an entire SWAT team) entered the slum building residence of "Victor" about a Giant Penny Store; they entered with flashlights and guns drawn into a seemingly-empty apartment (# 306) with hundreds of scented air-freshener magic trees hanging from the ceiling; in another dark, smelly crime scene under a blanket (when it was pulled away) on a bed in a back room was skeletal victim "Victor" - the killer's third murder victim; Victor’s left hand had been severed; it was the hand with fingerprints used to write the words - Help Me - on Eli Gould's wall in the previous crime scene (for "GREED")

The Third Crime Scene (SLOTH) - Thursday
The Emaciated Skeletal Victim "Victor" on a Bed	SLOTH Written on Wall	Christmas Tree Air Freshners
Pictures Over A Year's Period Chronicling Decline	SWAT Team Member Examining Body Closely	A Major Jump-Scare - The Victim Was Still Alive

• "Victor" had been tortured and emaciated for an entire year while strapped and bound onto the bed to suffer a slow death; his emaciation was chronicled by snapshots taken by the killer over exactly one year; as SWAT team leader California (John McGinley) bent over the corpse and whispered close to the body's face: "You got what you deserved," the drug-dealing, seemingly-dead pedophile slightly rose up and gave a death-rattling gasp and cough - a major jump-scare, revealing to everyone's shock that he was still alive; later, examining Dr. Beardsley (Richard Portnow) determined that he had been given minor amounts of IV drugs and antibiotics to keep his bed sores from becoming infected, and he was on the verge of death; his brain was "mush" and he had chewed off his tongue many months earlier
• shortly later as they were discussing the case at the closed crime scene on the stairway, an intrusive photographer allegedly from UPI snapped a few shots of Lt. Mills (who unwisely identified himself as Detective Mills M-I-L-L-S) before being thrown out
• early on FRIDAY morning, at a cafe during breakfast, Det. Somerset secretly met up with Mills' unhappily-relocated (from upstate), lonesome ex-5th grade schoolteacher wife Tracy who had requested to speak to him alone; in the film's best acted sequence, she confided in him about looking for work in the poor public school system, and about her unrevealed pregnancy: ("David and I are gonna have a baby"); Somerset advised her that many years earlier, he was in a strong relationship with an ex-girlfriend who became pregnant; Somerset was still very regretful about his own "right decision" to have her seek an abortion, although he firmly believed and was fearful that the city was definitely not a place for a family: ("I remember thinking how can I bring a child into a world like this?"); in Tracy's case, he advised that if she aborted, she shouldn't ever tell her husband that she had been pregnant; if she went ahead with the delivery, however, he urged her to inform Mills and added: "You spoil that kid every chance you get"
• in the office on FRIDAY afternoon as Mills and Somerset were waiting for their "lunatic" and "nut bag" (Mills' words) to strike again, Somerset cautioned Mills about labeling the killer with pejoratives: "This guy is methodical, exacting, and worst of all, patient"; Mills made a chance remark: ("And just because the f--ker's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda")
• the random comment led Somerset to speculate that the killer might have a library card; he was spurred to use one of his undercover FBI contacts (Mark Boone Junior), and the two met up with the "greasy" individual in a New York Pizza joint; FBI resources that had been used to monitor reading habits could also reveal who might be checking out "flagged" library books that referred to the killer's related subjects (i.e., the '7 Deadly Sins,' Purgatory, Canterbury Tales, etc.); persons who applied for a library card could easily be identified, and might lead them to their killer; the FBI contact was paid 'under the table' and promised to return with results in about an hour
• the detectives were led to the apartment of a Jonathan "John" Doe (an unbilled Kevin Spacey) who was down the hallway arriving with a bag of groceries; he fired on them as they were knocking on his door; during an intense chase after Doe onto various floors and through the interior of one apartment as Mills was shot at, he scaled down a fire escape and fell to the street and injured his left arm; as he further pursued Doe and searched around a garbage truck, the assailant atop the truck ambushed and struck him in the head with a tire iron, causing him to fall into a large puddle with a bloody head wound; the shadowy figure aimed his gun at Mills' head and threatened to shoot him dead in the pouring rain, but then Doe inexplicably left him and fled - possibly because he had further plans for Mills and wanted him alive
• inside Doe's apartment, a search discovered a number of tools of torture, a religious shrine with a red cross above a single-twin bed, a large upright light-table with pictures on it, a drawer (full of empty bottles of aspirin, a bible and a rosary), evidence that he was associated with the other crimes: cans of spaghetti sauce, SLOTH's severed left hand in a bottle, a receipt from Wild Bill's S&M leather store for a "custom leather" outfit (later related to the LUST victim), photos of the GLUTTONY and GREED victims, and the future blonde LUST victim; there were also shelves of books, 2,000 of the suspect's own hand-written diary-notebooks (with 250 pages in each one), and a dark-room with reddish light (and the picture of Lt. Mills taken by the elusive photographer-journalist at the SLOTH crime scene - it was actually the killer himself!; it was also a hint that Mills would be one of Doe's future victims); Detective Sara (Emily Wagner) discovered a cigar-box full of cash, but she and others were stunned that there were no fingerprints to be found, no appointment books, addresses, or pay-stubs, etc.
• a phone call from the killer John Doe himself was answered by Lt. Mills, who listened and heard Doe express admiration for the law enforcement officers who had located his apartment; he stated: "I'll be re-adjusting my schedule in light of today's little setback," apologized for hurting one of the officers, and ended the call with: "I feel like saying more, but I don't wanna ruin the surprise"

4. Lust - on SATURDAY, the two detectives Mills and Somerset visited Wild Bill's Leather shop, and were told by the owner (Martin Serene) that a custom leather outfit was picked up the previous evening by Doe himself, who suffered from a limp, and was thought to be one of those "performance artists" [Note: As the detectives spoke to Wild Bill inside the store, Doe with a limp and umbrella was seen walking by and spying on them through the front window. The name 'Wild Bill' paid homage to the same-named character in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).]

• the two were called to The Hot House Massage Parlor - the grisly scene of the next crime victim: a "blonde" - a prostitute/masseuse (Cat Mueller); as tecno-music blasted in the background, they walked down a narrow corridor in a reddish-lit massage parlor basement, where they passed Room # 7; the word LUST was scrolled on the door of Room # 9; the corpse of the hooker was under a sheet on a bed, while her murderer - a severely-distressed and crazed man (Leland Orser) - was detained to the side and yelling: "Get this thing off of me"
• in a police interview room, Somerset questioned the crazed brothel client, while Lt. Mills spoke to Gordon - the apathetic brothel manager (Michael Massee); the traumatized, hyperventilating and stuttering 'John' killer confessed that in the brothel-massage parlor, he had been forced with a gun stuck down his throat to wear a "custom leather" outfit and then have sex with the blonde on the bed; he strapped on the leather belt-suit with an attached dildo and a knife blade in place of a plastic phallus; thus, the prostitute was raped to death

The Fourth Crime Scene (LUST) - Saturday
Room # 7 in the Corridor	The "LUST" Crime Scene Found in Room # 9	Crazed Brothel Customer Begging : "Get this thing off of me!"
The Traumatized, Stuttering Customer in Massage Parlor	The Apathetic Brothel Manager (Michael Massee)	A Polaroid of the Deadly Custom Leather Strap-On

• afterwards in a bar, Somerset concluded to Mills that they must prepare for the worst: "This isn't gonna have a happy ending...I mean, if he's Satan himself, that might live up to our expectations, but he's not the devil. He's just a man"; Somerset warned his optimistic, idealistic and naive rookie-partner that he shouldn't think that staying in the fight and finding the killer would make any real difference: ("You wanna be a champion. Let me tell you, people don't want a champion. They wanna eat cheeseburgers, play lotto and watch TV"); he continued about how his quitting was his way to survive: "I just don't think I can continue to live in a place that embraces and nurtures apathy as if it was a virtue"; Mills tried to remind Somerset that apathy wasn't a suitable reaction or solution to deal with the sins of humanity that they encountered every day: "I don't think you're quitting because you believe these things you say. I don't. I think you wanna believe them because you're quitting"
• the emotional Mills returned home and cuddled with his wife Tracy, and told her: "I love you, honey, so much"
• in his apartment, the solitary, cynical, jaded and cautiously-methodical Somerset began to reevaluate his life's core values; he flung his steadily-ticking metronome across the room and smashed it (symbolically destroying his effort to find order, control, perfection and meaning in life as time ticked away); then due to his inability to sleep, he accurately threw his switchblade at a target dartboard's bulls-eye

5. Pride - on SUNDAY, the killer called 911 and reported his next crime: ("I've gone and done it again"); a pretty model Rachel Slade (Heidi Schanz) was assaulted by John Doe in her apartment; he disfigured, mutilated, and sliced up her face, cut off her nose and then bandaged her up; a telephone was glued to her right hand, while the other held a bottle of sleeping pills; she apparently suicidally chose to put herself out of a life of misery - to kill herself in her bedroom with an overdose of the sleeping pills (rather than phoning an ambulance for help).

The Fifth Crime Scene (PRIDE) - Sunday
The Bedroom PRIDE Crime Scene	Bandaged After Excising Her Nose
Choice: Sleeping Pills	Choice: Telephone to Call Ambulance

• as they returned from the crime scene to the 14th Precinct police station, Somerset told an accepting Mills that he had decided to postpone his retirement "'til this is done...You'd be doing me a favor"
• as they entered, John Doe arrived in a taxi across the street, and unexpectedly and voluntarily strode into the Fourteenth Precinct to turn himself in - it was a startling, last-reel revelation; he walked in, yelled out to rookie Detective Lt. Mills who was ascending the stairs: "DETECTIVE!" and then admitted: "You're looking for me"; obviously he had just committed another crime because his shirt was spattered with blood; with his hands out, he was surrounded by cops with guns drawn as Lt. Mills ordered him to kneel and then lie prostrate on the floor; as he obeyed and was lying on the floor, he calmly asked: "I'd like to speak to my lawyer, please"; he had obviously cut off the tips of his fingers, making it impossible to find any usable prints
• Detective Somerset knew "John Doe" wasn't finished - there would be two more bodies and victims: "He's not finished...He wouldn't just stop....He's two murders away from completing his masterpiece"
• the maniacal, lunatic serial killer bargained with the officers through his sleazy, calculating attorney Mark Swarr (Richard Schiff); he voluntarily offered to surrender and confess, but only if he was permitted to be escorted at 6 pm - specifically by Somerset and Mills - to a secret, undisclosed location where he promised to reveal the location of the last two bodies (representing ENVY and WRATH); if the police accepted Doe's blackmailing plea, he would sign a full confession and plead guilty; however, if the deal was rejected, Doe threatened to never reveal the bodies and plead insanity (and thus escape punishment by his lawyer's legal maneuverings); the blood on Doe was determined to be from his own fingers, the PRIDE victim, and a third unidentified individual; Mills urged Somerset to accept the deal: "Let's finish it"
• in the unforgettable, nail-biting, concluding climax, after Detectives Mills and Somerset were wired up to their recently-shaved chests and SWAT helicopters were readied to follow, John Doe was driven in a dark-colored 4 dr. sedan at 6 pm to a remote desert area marked by high-tension power cable towers; in his dialogue with the two detectives during the ride, Doe claimed that he had to use a "sledgehammer" approach to get people to pay attention; he said he wasn't "special," but that he was ordained with divine "work" he had to accomplish; he responded and challenged Mills' assertion that his crimes would soon be forgotten: ("When this is done, when it's finished, it's going to be - People will barely be able to comprehend. But they won't be able to deny"); in particular, he demonstrated cryptic antagonism toward Detective Mills: ("I can't wait for you to see. I really can't. It's really going to be something")
• after Doe explained how he believed that he was "chosen" as a martyr by a "higher power," Somerset caught him in a contradiction: "You enjoyed torturing those people. This doesn't seem in keeping with martyrdom, does it?"; Doe defended himself: "Nothing wrong with a man taking pleasure in his work. I won't deny my own personal desire to turn each sin against the sinner"; Doe raised his voice as he told Mills how he had no remorse or pity for his crimes since his 'sinful and flawed' victims actually deserved death: ("Only in a world this s--tty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face"); he described that his choice to commit the '7 Deadly Sins' crimes was to teach others about their apathetic attitudes toward sin: ("We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home and we tolerate it....Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example"); Mills urged Doe to calm down and then chastised him for having "delusions of grandeur," and for thinking he was in control of everything: "You're no messiah. You're a movie of the week. You're a f--king T-shirt - at best"; Doe summed up his mission: "The Lord works in mysterious ways"
• once the car reached the designated remote location, Doe was let out of the back seat; they stood in an open desert area with only a junk car, a dilapidated trailer, and a dead dog visible for miles; Doe asked: "What time is it?" and Somerset answered: "7:01"; Doe replied: "It's close. Let's go take a look. It's this way"; the detectives followed Doe's lead away from the car; when a delivery van unexpectedly approached, Somerset ran back to the vehicle to drive off and intercept the van and speak to the driver (Richmond Arquette), while Mills guarded Doe who had been ordered onto his knees
• Det. Somerset held the driver at gunpoint, who innocently explained that he had been paid $500 to deliver a cardboard box to Det. David Mills at that location at exactly 7 pm; once the FRAGILE-Handle With Care box was taken out of the van, Somerset ordered the driver to leave on foot - to be picked up shortly later by the SWAT team; Somerset risked his life opening the box with his switchblade; he noticed spots of blood on the inner flap and then was horrified when he looked inside the box - he ordered the SWAT team to stand back, and told them: "John Doe has the upper hand"

6. Envy - on SUNDAY, meanwhile, Doe began to confess to Mills that he represented the sin of Envy - it was his intense feeling about Mills and his wife: "When I said I admired you, I meant what I said....You’ve made quite a life for yourself, detective. You should be very proud....I wish I could have lived like you did...Do you hear me, detective? I’m trying to tell you how much I admire you and your pretty wife...Tracy...It's disturbing how easily a member of the press can purchase information from the men in your precinct... I visited your home this morning - after you'd left. I tried to play husband. I tried to taste the life of a simple man"

• Somerset raced back to where Mills and Doe were standing, yelling out: "Throw your gun down...Mills, throw it (gun) away," as Doe implied that the box contained the severed head of Mills' pregnant wife Tracy: "It didn't work out so I took a souvenir - (pause) her pretty head"; Mills was confused and asked Somerset: "What's he talking about?"; Somerset asked for Mills' gun: "Give me your gun...put the gun down"; Mills asked innocently: "I saw you with a box. What was in the box?" as he kept being commanded to put his gun down
• Doe explained how this was his 6th sick and most gruesome murder, involving ENVY, and that it included a souvenir: ("Because I envy your normal life, it seems that ENVY is my sin")

7. Wrath - on SUNDAY, the last of the Seven Deadly Sins was luridly demonstrated by anguished and angered Lt. Mills who was bound to seek vengeance, and kept asking about the contents of the box; Mills pointed his gun at Doe's head and accused him of lying about how his wife's head was in the box; his partner Detective Somerset begged him not to shoot, and kept ordering him to put away his gun, but to no effect: "That's what he wants. He wants you to shoot him"; Doe kept pressing and urged Mills: "Become vengeance, David...Become WRATH!"; and then he added a devastating detail: "She begged for her life, Detective. She begged for her life and for the life of the baby inside of her"; Somerset ordered Doe to shut up - and even tried to silence him by slapping him; by the pained expression on Mills' face, Doe realized Mills was unaware of the pregnancy; he turned to Somerset, and mentioned with some pleasure: "Oh, he didn't know"; for naught, Somerset again demanded Mills' gun: "If you kill him, he will win"

The Seventh Crime Scene (WRATH) - Sunday
Mills Angrily Holding a Gun to Doe's Head, Calling Him a Liar	Mills Threatening to Shoot Doe	Doe: "She begged for her life, and for the life of the baby inside of her"
Mills Realizing That Doe Had Killed Both Tracy and Her Unborn Child That He Didn't Know About	Somerset: "David, if you kill him, he will win"	Brief Subliminal Flash of Tracy's Face
Mills' Gun Aimed at Doe's Head	Det. David Mill's WRATHful Vengeful Execution of Doe	Mills Emptying His Entire Gun Barrel Into Doe's Dead Body

• the distraught inconsolable Mills ignored Somerset and shot Doe in the head, in exchange for his pregnant wife's beheading; a split second before he pulled the trigger, he imagined Tracy (seen in a brief flash); Doe closed his eyes before his execution; after the head shot, Mills then emptied his gun barrel of five more bullets into Doe's already-dead body
• as Mills was taken into custody for the shooting and driven away, the Police Captain assured Somerset: "We'll take care of him" - Somerset added: "Whatever he needs"; then, he declared to the Police Captain that he wouldn't be quitting after all; he had been roused out of his apathy and would continue to fight for good in the metropolis; he had reevaluated his decision to retire: "I'll be around"
• Det. Somerset delivered the film's final words (in voice-over): "Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part"
• the closing credits scrolled down instead of upwards