Discovering Smiths grotesque taxidermy stash
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Doctor and Ace investigate the attic, discovering taxidermy materials and preservative agents. They discuss the use of these chemicals and their connection to evolutionary theory.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Cautiously alarmed with an outward veneer of amused control, masking underlying dread of exposure and failure
The Doctor initially flips from dry taxonomic observation into protective urgency, snatching the antique telephone from Ace’s hands and cutting short her call attempt with a sharp warning about Newgate Prison. His tone is half-teasing, half-panic, with a performer’s knack for underscoring danger with levity.
- • Protect Ace from revealing their presence to Josiah Samuel Smith
- • Prevent their unauthorized presence from becoming known to the attic’s unseen occupant
- • Detection by Smith would catalyze immediate and potentially lethal consequences
- • Modern idioms—including prison references—carry weight in Victorian settings and can distract opponents
Brash curiosity shading into playful defiance, punctuated by sudden unease at the Doctor’s intensity
Ace flips rapidly from casual inventorying of noxious Victorian chemicals to playful initiative, then to frustrated rebellion as the Doctor vetoes her call for help. Her disgust at taxidermy chemicals turns to self-directed mockery, and her curiosity nearly betrays them.
- • Explore the attic’s contents thoroughly
- • Make contact with the outside world for assistance
- • That conventional tools—like phones—will work in this setting
- • That trespass is a trivial concern compared to the chemical horrors
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The candlestick telephone moves from a quaint museum piece to a live conduit for danger when Ace lifts its cold receiver and begins to dial, only for Josiah Smith’s voice to pierce the attempt, turning a mundane device into an instrument of supernatural detection and interruption.
Borax is pointed out by Ace alongside other preservatives, its presence normalizing the scene until the Doctor and Smith weaponize language around unauthorized access, transforming the chemical list into a lexicon of threat.
Carbon tetrachloride is identified by Ace in the cupboard’s contents, signaling the mundane roots of Smith’s gruesome work and later colliding with the urgency of communication when the telephone becomes the vector for detection.
Benzine figures in the Doctor’s offhand catalog of preservatives, subtly implicating every chemical in the room as potential instruments of Smith’s twisted science, even as the call for help via telephone takes center stage.
Arsenic completes the Doctor’s chemical litany, its notorious lethality blending with the preservatives to foreshadow the lethal stakes beneath the attic’s innocent surface, culminating in the supernatural detection via the candlestick telephone.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The attic of Gabriel Chase shifts from dust-choked storage to a liminal laboratory of the uncanny, its rafters and dormers shrouding unnatural experiments while the candlestick telephone becomes the accidental microphone for an otherworldly occupant. The chemical stench and sagging timbers amplify every moment of tension.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
Across episodes
"The Doctor’s protective instincts and prioritization of companions’ safety over artifacts or power (seen in surrendering Excalibur to save Ace and Shou in Episode 4) directly informs his immediate defensive posture toward Ace in Episode 5 when investigating the attic of Gabriel Chase."
Doctor reunites with allies in shattered hotel"The Doctor's earlier inventory of taxidermy chemicals and tools in the attic (Episode 5) is thematically echoed when Josiah re-emerges in the attic (Episode 6) fully formed and commanding — both scenes occur in the attic and reveal Josiah's mastery over transformation and creation."
Josiah asserts command over the attic battle"The Doctor's discovery of Josiah's grotesque taxidermy stash in Episode 5 (attic attic exploration) directly informs his suspicion of Josiah's unnatural experiments, motivating him to seize Josiah's Geiger counter and take decisive action in Episode 6."
Alarm triggers mansion break-in plan"The Doctor's discovery of Josiah's taxidermy stash (a precursor to his experiments) directly informs their confrontation in the cellar where Josiah's experiments with the ancient spaceship are revealed."
Confrontation erupts in the cellar