discriminated against because of his height. A contrast is made with the single-eye cyclops & the blindness of the country folk who can’t see past his appearance. In The Gauntlet, he sees the potential goodness of #Xena before anybody else. He tells #Hercules:
2/18

“She’s not as evil as you think she is. She’s got some heart!” Hercules is skeptical: “You’re serious?” Later, Sal tells #Xena she should be teaming up with Hercules against their common foe. BTW, Sal even tells us #Xena’s scent, in Unchained Heart: “Hyacinth & cinnamon”.
3/18

So his nose is perceptive, too! He does a number of eps related to blindness. In season 3’s Lost City, he’s blinded by a type of lotus leaf, & the same is true in All That Glitters. That saying, about gold, is also about not judging the worth of something by its appearance.
4/18

I used All That Glitters as an important source for my story, because I believe he meets his future wife on this show. Sal, a former toga salesman, shows off his latest custom-made toga in gaudy colors, & Herc responds: “Are you color-blind?”
5/18

Sal & Herc visit King Midas to see his new gambling casino, The Golden Touch. It turns out, the king lost his golden touch, & works as a greeter. He lost control of his kingdom to a couple of venture capitalist sharks, & now they’re running it into the ground,
6/18

with predatory lenders & gambling destroying its economy. At 1st, Sal is blinded by gold: he’s impressed they’re making money hand over fist, however unethical. The casino’s predatory queen, Voluptua (played with relish by Jennifer Ward-Lealand) catches Sal’s eye
6/18

with her dress & business sense: “What I could do with a partner like her!” Later, Sal is approached by Hispides, a bearded lady. If you’re wondering what the deal with that is, the casino has a distinct circus atmosphere, with flame throwers, trapeze artists, etc.
7/18

I suspect the reason has to do with an apocryphal phrase attributed to P.T. Barnum: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Barnum introduced the bearded lady at his circuses, & they were mostly the real thing. Bearded ladies have a genetic trait that is
8/18

distinct from intersex or transgender people. Hispides has a mustache & a beard, & approaches Sal with what sounds like a pick-up line: “I like your toga.” Given the established fact of his toga’s garishness, Sal definitely interprets this as a come-on, & focuses on his dice
9/18

She tries to approach Sal several times, after removing some of her facial hair, but he’s brushes her off each time. The action comes to a head when Hercules desperately needs a knife to cut the rope trapping King Midas & his daughter. Sal tries to find one.
10/18

Turns out, Hispides has a knife, presumably the one she’s been shaving with. Now coyly filing her nails with it, she agrees to sell it to Sal for a fair price. Sal agrees, & Herc is able to save the day. The kingdom gets its native economy restored, & the
11/18