Character Sevens – Enneagram and Encaustic

LUCY LIU’S DR. WATSON, SEVEN

Joan’s a surgeon who quit after a patient died on the table. This is the doctor part of Elementary‘s Watson, and it’s good. However, if she’s serving as Holmes’ Sober Companion, why didn’t they make her a psychiatrist? Her medical background is acceptable at first, but as time ticks down and Sherlock’s father refuses to extend her employment, it’s harder to believe a surgeon would stay for Holmes’ own good. She starts to look codependent and she’s required to lie to him. Why can’t she admit she likes solving cases with him?

As the seasons continue, this misstep is resolved and Watson feels more solidly like a Seven. She’s competent and calm, professional and curious. Her abrupt change of career is very Seven. However, her costuming is problematic — those uber-high heels and cocktail waitress skirts. It doesn’t suit her and it pulls too much focus. What did she wear as a surgeon? Business casual seems closer to her personality and is probably what she’d already have in her closet.

With this Holmes and Watson we have Five/Seven, Strength and Weakness numbers. A lot of conflict and similarity is possible here. By Season Two the showrunners start to utilize this interplay. It’s no longer codependency, but cooperation. Joan’s firm boundaries for her personal life become established — very Seven. She’s more than Sherlock’s assistant, in her own mind and in reality.

The clothing, though, doesn’t change and it really bothers me. I see that Liu needs extreme heels so that the full shots have her at a comparable height to Miller, but they’re so ridiculous and ugly. How does a detective in four-inchers and a short skirt manage to investigate a crime scene? The costuming continues to contradict her practical and efficient character. It’s a silly complaint, but I refuse to give it up.

NEMO, SEVEN

An independent child, Nemo (as in Little Nemo from the classic cartoons of Winsor McCay) is left alone at the lighthouse with her father’s full trust. She loves stories and dreams, basically creating her real life into the tales her father tells her at bedtime.

I honestly don’t need to delve very far to see a Seven. Her competency and confidence, her imagination and lucid dreaming, and her determination to macgyver a way back to her father after she’s sent to live with Uncle Philip speak of an innovative Head Type. Fear will not stop her and despair will not rule her. Also, her lack of balance and reason, her willingness to go to the edge of safety and sanity, call out as the Seven’s dark side. She feels consistently written and is a pleasure to watch as our heroine.

We also have a sweetness in knowing that Nemo and Philip are both Head Types. Although the beginning of their relationship is tragic and painful, they will be fine together. They will come to understand each other. The Enneagram tells us so.

And one more thing I must mention. Nemo has a stuffed pig toy she sleeps with in the real world. In slumberland, the pig is alive and the animation is some of the most wonderful CG work. I am biased toward cuddly pigs, but this is an empirically adorable creature.

I will not, however, be checking its Enneagram.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.’S SHERLOCK HOLMES, SEVEN

One of my first character posts was a generic look at Sherlock Holmes. I’ve come a long way, lol. I assessed an unspecified Holmes as a Seven, and declared that RDJ would portray him well. Let’s dig in, though, and see what and who his Holmes is.

Downey’s Holmes really does dabble in it all. The drugs, the violin-plunking, the pugilism, the chaos — his Holmes tries everything. He even conducts, for research, a satanic ritual. Sometimes he envisions events many steps into the future, like his boxing technique, and sometimes he has to experience something to deduce it.

He’s brave. Indomitable and fearless, really. He’s either supremely confident or a lucky fool. He’s a mediocre friend to Watson. Loyal, yes, but selfish.

Not a One or Six. Rules are meaningless to him. Not a Two. All of that detective gear is too haphazard. Not a Five. He’s an intuitive thinker, not one to organize a problem. Not a Nine. He thrives on conflict.

So, we have Three, Four, Seven, or Eight remaining. Socially, he’s a fiasco. Not a Three or Four.

Seven. His fighting style comes from the head, not from the gut, as an Eight’s would. And I really like that Sherlock Holmes has an Enneagram type. I mean, we all knew he’d end up a Seven. The excessive edges of his personality and his success in that lifestyle are really only manageable by one number.

ENOLA HOLMES, SEVEN

Here’s the question: In Enola’s first movie, how much of her character can I attribute to her own Enneagram? Her mother’s training dominates her young life. She even says something about her purpose — what she was made for — is to fight. Does Enola relish fighting, or does she pursue fighting because her mother relishes it?

Like her brother, Sherlock, she has a mind that solves puzzles. Her mother exposed her to word games, but she is also naturally good at it. This is a trait that genuinely belongs to her.

She is not, however, natural at physical pursuits. She’s willing to try anything, but she wobbles on the bicycle and can’t initially master the jiujitsu takedown maneuver. The tennis she and her mother play is more about luck than skill. Although she’s very active, Enola doesn’t seem a Body Type.

In the second movie she leans into her detective skills. She’s brave, unintimidated, and socially comfortable in awkward situations. Her mother makes a brief appearance (as a small-scale terrorist, actually), but doesn’t drive Enola’s behavior like she did in the first movie.

I’m tempted to say she’s a Seven. It’s very Holmesian to love the world of the mind, yet engage in so much of the physical and dangerous. Also, the showrunners and Cavill have made their Sherlock a not-Seven, which gives Enola breathing room.

At this point, Enola’s rebellions are her mother’s. I hope the series continues and we see Enola embrace her own countercultural instincts. As a Seven she should become more efficient, more focused, and more comfortable with her own beauty. Right now she manipulates her image to be more boy-like. When she matures, that will become less believable. A whole world of disguises awaits her, and the use of prosthetics is very Holmesian. I look forward to it!

TOM BRANSON, SEVEN

Chauffeur, socialist, Irish rebel. In the end he’s a reliable, beloved son-in-law who happily works for the Downton estate. What an arc!

He feels very strongly about things, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Part of his confrontational style is just writers stirring the pot and creating conflict, but it’s also baked into his character. When he becomes the backbone of the Crawley family, we believe it. All of his commitment has been redirected into loyalty to the people of Downton.

What number is this principled person? Well, he isn’t afraid to rock the boat or speak his mind. He can’t be intimidated. He’s as successful as a car mechanic as he is an estate manager.

Is Branson a Seven? He remakes himself more than once. His life is full of challenges: master the new automotive tech, woo an earl’s daughter, defy the family, raise a child, completely switch careers, and form a bond with the aristocracy. Sounds Seven-ish to me, lol.

But wait. It’s not his fault he was born a lowly Irishman. He rises and succeeds. Isn’t that Three-ish? His romance with Sybil has always been awkward to me. It feels very “author’s message” in that they’re supposed to be shipped, whether they fit together or not. What if they’re both Threes? That would explain why they seem forced as a couple.

Here’s why he’s a Seven, though: the other women. After Sybil passes, maids and revolutionaries are thrown in his path, tempting him. He’s just too nice to tell them to get lost. A Three wouldn’t put up with it. He would know how these women damage his reputation upstairs and downstairs, and he would stop them in their tracks. Sevens aren’t that ruthless, and they’re not that focused on presentation. Branson has too much sympathy for human foibles to be a Three. It’s not just the writers creating drama by making his character dither, lol. His spirit for adventure, regardless of cost, makes him a Seven.

LADY GRANTHAM, SEVEN

The genteel American with an abrasive mother, lol. Mostly I forget that Cora wasn’t born English. The aristocracy suits her.

She’s kind and easygoing. She does like to work, to get involved, and she’s good at it. Her role on the hospital board is a bone of contention in the family, but she’s insistent in a very mild way. Peace is important to her.

I want to say Nine, but that’s not possible. Robert is a Nine. Numbers don’t marry each other; it’s too much like marrying yourself. Also, Cora isn’t a Body Type. She doesn’t engage in the world physically. If anything, she’s social, although I can’t think of her showing envy.

She’s a Seven. It’s that calm effectualness. She has zero interest in drama. When trouble strikes, though — think of Mary and the Turkish diplomat — she gets the job done. (It’s possible that’s why she and O’Brien are a pair. They understand each other without trying.) Cora will go along, content to stay in the background, and then become super competent when the need arises. That’s quite Seven.

LT. UHURA, SEVEN

I’ve recently rewatched the original Star Trek series and wrote about episodes here at the blog. Immediately I think of Uhura singing in the crew lounge. Yes, she was an efficient and brave bridge officer, competent at her job. But that mischievous twinkle when she’d perform a duet with Mr. Spock! Mostly, she kept the light-hearted side of her personality under wraps.

Did Uhura get few of these break-out character moments because she was a Black woman? It’s probable, but also the triumvirate sucked most of the oxygen out of the plots. (And Kirk, even if the episode wasn’t his, would upstage everyone anyway, lol.) I can’t think of any episode that was solely hers. We don’t have much to judge her Enneagram number, but she’s delivered enough. For a supporting character, Uhura hit hard.

I immediately go to Seven. Her professionalism at comms, her cool head during a crisis, and her surprising love of fun are defining traits.

Someday I will do more Enneagram dives into the extended Star Trek universe, but for today I want to get this posted. RIP, Nichelle Nichols. Fair winds and following seas, ma’am.

O’BRIEN, SEVEN

She and Barrow are a team — my “evil smokers” — until they aren’t. She’s incredibly loyal. It’s only after Barrow spikes her nephew’s career that she turns against him. Her malignant twist against Cora is only because she thinks her loyalty has been spurned.

Is she, like Barrow, a Heart Type? She’s not particularly sociable. She connects downstairs with Barrow and upstairs with Cora. No one else has her friendship.

I’m leaning toward Seven. She’s extremely competent at her job, but she’s not a stickler for rules at all. Her interest in gossip, the thing she and Barrow conspire about, is mostly a desire to know things. She has a Head Type relationship to the world, and she doesn’t give a tinker’s dam whether or not anyone else likes her.

Have I also just described a Five? Wait, no. She likes to gather knowledge but she doesn’t like to share it. A Five is a bit of a know-it-all who can’t resist educating the world. Because the plot focuses on her machinations, it’s easy to forget that she’s incredibly efficient and thorough as a lady’s maid. We often see her mending and tailoring at the servants’ table. The rules, though, are malleable. She’s a Seven.

CATWOMAN (2022), SEVEN

My comments for this Catwoman and Batman will be very similar: there’s not much to work with, and it’s not the actors’ fault.

Alright. She’s athletic. We don’t see a lot of Catwoman acrobatics, but she can fight. Her undercover detective role is much more emphasized, though, than her physicality. Let’s say she’s not a Body Type.

Although she owns cats, they don’t dominate her persona. And her costume is sufficient, but nothing particularly noticeable. Her headpiece does have low, small feline ears, and her mouth is covered with a strip of cloth. Her outfit looks vaguely homemade, but mostly it’s just a black smudge with nothing to distinguish it. Her wigs and makeup for her undercover work show the most detail. Detecting carries much more interest for her than battle.

She’s a get-the-job-done Catwoman. When the mystery of how her friend died is solved, and revenge meted out, she moves on. She does ask Batman to come with her, but her heart isn’t in it. This is a very practical, no-drama Catwoman.

If I have to choose, I’ll say Seven.

PEGGY SCOTT, SEVEN

As Agnes surmises and appreciates, Peggy is a very determined person. She leaves her well-off family in Brooklyn, with whom she has a secret grievance, and takes a secretarial position with Agnes. She intends to write fiction, and she lands a second job at a Black-owned newspaper as a journalist.

Peggy knows her own mind, she knows what she wants, and she will pursue it. Meanwhile, she’s kind to people who are kind to her, and she stands as a solid friend to Marian. She’s no Mary Sue, though. This is a real character.

Her curiosity makes her a good journalist. She asks about what interests her, and ends up with an article that appeals to many. She has an energy and an industry, always engaging with the world. And she has an implacable temper. Her father has wronged her and she won’t forgive him.

Peggy is open to life and adventure, yet she has a cool head and won’t act impetuously. She has a steadiness that compliments her joie de vivre. I’m going to say Seven.