No.7 is the type of scene viewers take for granted when deep in the thick of the film.
Positioned inside The Interview, it takes a deeper look into the Torrance’s dynamic and life.
We hear where Tony came from, why Danny isn’t in school, how Danny got injured when he was playing around Jack’s workspace.
We realize Wendy is stuck at home without transportation and depends on a house call from the Dr., we hear Wendy justify Jack’s drinking due to his bad mood, Jack’s aggression with their son, we hear Wendy justify Danny’s dislocated shoulder in exchange for Jack’s sobriety.
On a conceptual and metaphorical level, this scene plays into the Fatalism and False Fatalism aspects, as well as the Semiotic Splice where things are both true and false depending on the attributes and contexts you follow and focus on.
On a structural level, it occurs after we learn about Grady, how he was assumed to be a perfectly normal individual, the cost and consequences of being isolated for long periods of time, and a symbolic collage about why Tony doesn’t want to go to the hotel. It is No.7 that we learn that Jack is not a perfectly normal individual.
On a thematic level, the Dr’s reaction to Wendy’s story is the same as Jack’s in response to hearing Ullman talk about Grady. Both Wendy and Ullman use mitigating speech when talking through their respective incidents.
Kubrick is yet again an unreliable narrator, but in this regard it deals with time, how long Danny has been out of school, and Jack’s promise of sobriety for 5 months.