Recap / Penny Dreadful S 2 E 5 Above The Vaulted Sky

Vanessa, Ethan, and Sir Malcolm strive to work together as a team to defend the old mansion from another attack; Caliban becomes increasingly impatient with Frankenstein; Hecate returns from her travels with a gift for her mother.

Tropes:

• But Not Too Gay: Averted with Dorian and Angelique.
• Character Death: Gladys Murray.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Gladys Murray is rendered insane by Evelyn's use of a Voodoo Doll. She hallucinates her children rising from their graves, and commits suicide with a straight razor.
• Dramatic Irony: During her talk with John Clare, Vanessa mentions her lunch with a friend who was with a woman whom he clearly loves but doesn't realize yet. John then talks about a woman he's fallen for but feels too awkward around to express his feelings. Neither realizes they're discussing the same woman, Lily.
• Driven to Suicide: Gladys Murray.
• Everybody Has Lots of Sex
• Fake Memories: The Creature/John Clare attempts this on Lily to get her to warm up to him but it fails.
• Right Through His Pants:
  • Lily and Victor.
  • Evelyn and Sir Malcolm as well.
• Shout-Out: Vanessa and The Creature/John Clare recite the poem "I Am" by the real-life poet John Clare.
• Shipper on Deck: Vanessa is implied to be one for Victor and Lily. She smiles watching them laughing and later tells John Clare she knows someone who's in love but doesn't know it yet.
• Ship Tease: Vanessa and Ethan are heavily teased in this episode: there's her sleeping in his bed for one night (though he sleeps on the couch). Late in the episode, Vanessa gently touches his face on her way downstairs.
• There Is Only One Bed: Twice!
  • Vanessa sleeps in Ethan's room after she (possibly) hallucinates the witches in her room. Ethan sleeps on the couch.
  • Lily gets scared by a thunderstorm and runs to Victor's bed. They have sex shortly after.
• Title Drop: Vanessa and The Creature/John Clare recite the poem "I Am" where the episode's title come from.
  I long for scenes where man hath never trod
  A place where woman never smiled or wept
  There to abide with my Creator, God,
  And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
  Untroubling and untroubled where I lie
  The grass below—above the vaulted sky.
• Voodoo Doll: The Creepy Dolls that Evelyn possesses, called a fetish, are revealed to be this.