8-Part Story Structure: Seventh Sequence

Sequence 7: You Live With the Consequences

If you were to imagine story structure as a mountain, and the protagonist as the climber who must conquer it, then the seventh sequence would be that part of the journey just after cresting the peak. The final climax has been brought to its end, and we often see a few moments of calm. The protagonist has conquered the antagonist, and the final choice has been made. The internal struggle, and the external one have, for the most part, been resolved. Now, we see what that choice has brought about.

Often times, the seventh and eighth sequences are some of the shortest, encompassing very little of a film’s viewing time. The purpose of the seventh sequence is simply to show what the consequences of that final action were, and then to tie up whatever loose ends may still be floating about. The sense of urgency that is present in the sixth sequence is virtually gone, replaced instead with an often distinct lack of tension. This is why the seventh sequence can often be encapsulated in a montage, or even a brief conversation.

The only exception comes during a “twist” ending, which is created when the writer reveals that, in the mist at the top of the mountain, there is, in fact, one more hill yet to climb. A twist ending’s structure is accomplished in a fashion similar to the fifth and sixth sequences, often mirroring the original storyline’s conflict, but in a different way.

The key to creating a successful twist is that this final part of the story must be necessary. It must be crucial to the story, to the point that, if it was missing, the audience would feel like there is definitely something else that should be there. Certain storytellers are masters of this type of the craft, and so we’ll look at the M. Night Shyamalan classic, The Sixth Sense.

In the film, we follow the story of child psychologist Malcom Crowe, whose life is altered drastically by an ex-patient who confronts the doctor, shooting Crowe in the stomach and then killing himself. Some time later, Crowe takes on the case of Cole Sear, a nine-year old boy who sees the spirits of dead people who are not aware that they are deceased. In this case, Crowe seeks redemption for his perceived “failure” with his ex-patient, and looks to help this boy with his malady.

As the story continues, however, Crowe slowly begins to believe the boy, spending more and more time with Cole in order to better understand this unbelievable phenomenon. The time spent away from his wife, however, seems to be putting a definite strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by the depressing, almost heartbreaking scenes where Malcolm eventually just leaves her alone.

But in spending time with the boy, Malcolm and Cole discover that there may, in fact, be a purpose for Cole to fulfill. Perhaps there is a reason that this boy can see the spirits of the dead. Each of the “dead people” that Cole is visited by seems to have some amount of unfinished business that needs to be resolved, culminating in a visit to the funeral reception of a young girl.

Though Cole and Malcolm definitely do not belong, Cole walks right into the late girl’s room. The girl appears, and offers Cole a box, in which the boy finds a videotape. He walks quietly into the main room, and hands the tape to the girl’s father. The man puts the tape on. The tape is from a hidden camera, which shows the dead girl’s mother pouring Pine Sol into the sick girl’s food, keeping her sick, and fatally poisoning her after too much exposure to the chemicals, which resolves the death of the girl, and allows her to move on.

Cole finally confesses the truth of the situation to his mother, convincing her with personal details about her relationship to her own mother, and allowing him to come to grips with his own lot in life. The boy then offers some advice to Malcolm, suggesting to the psychologist that he try speaking to his wife while she is asleep.

And now comes the twist: During this brief conversation, Malcolm finally realizes that he is, in fact, no longer living. The gunshot wound that his ex-patient had inflicted was unknowingly fatal, and it wasn’t Cole who sought out Malcolm, but instead it was the doctor who, unwittingly, sought out the child. Malcolm was finally able to rectify his failure to understand his ex-patient, which allows him to “move on.” He then speaks to his wife, expressing his love for her and releasing her to go on living her own life.

The key to this twist is that while everything is leading up to it, and all the pieces are in place for the audience to realize it, there is nothing blatant. In this case, the seventh sequence is only a few minutes long, encompassing just the reveal that Malcolm is no longer alive, and that he was another spirit that the boy helped to “move on.”

All the loose ends are tied up, and while there is still some things to ponder, the story itself is now complete. The seventh sequence is a tricky one to “nail down” in a story, simply because it, along with the eighth, are usually short, and sometimes even barely present in a film. However, they are present, and that makes them important to recognize.

Summary

- The seventh sequence begins at the conclusion of the climax.

- Because the climactic “choice” is irreversible, it is in the seventh sequence that we see the consequence of that choice.

- The seventh sequence is the place for the “unexpected twist” ending.

- All loose ends should be resolved, and the protagonist(s) should be placed into a new homeostasis.

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