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The Fire Down Below is another one of those eps that I have a soft spot for - not necessarily because it has all that terrific a storyline, but simply because I like the people in it. Of all of the Salmoneus eps, this one strikes home the most for me, because I can empathise so strongly with him - hey, the poor guy just wants to make a few bucks, have pretty women hang around him and have a good time! Plus, he invites Herc over to share in his good fortune - never let it be said that Sal forgets a pal!

Good teaser, with Herc pinned by Earthquake McGoon (Mark Nua - we'll see him again as one of the Argonauts in Once A Hero). Ayora shows up to lure him to Sal in Orestia, but naturally Herc is too gosh-darned noble to take the bait. Sal is at his Sal-iest, urging his workers on as he plunders Hera's treasure - Maybe the gods are trying to tell me something? No - theyve always been good to me - Im their boy! Lets move it!

This ep marks the appearance of Nemesis #2 (Teresa Hill) - she's probably the most physically attractive of the Nemesii, but I have to admit that her acting skills are the most journeymanlike of the three, something that struck me particularly strongly this time around. Checking her IMDB entry, I see credits for shows like Silk Stalkings, Baywatch and The Guiding Light, as well as such deathless movies as National Lampoon's Van Wilder and Cruel Intentions 2 - those sound about right for her. She moves nicely, but she doesn't project much menace for the Hitwoman of the Gods, and she's not exactly quick with the arrows, either - there's no denying her scenic value, though and she plays a good teasing game with her old flame Herc. Nemesis decides that she will judge herself on the guilt or innocence of her potential victims, rather than act blindly at the command of Hera or any other god - this may mark one of the few occasions where RenPics writers were actually thinking ahead, laying the foundations for future storylines. OTOH, perhaps they were just trying to make Nemesis more sympathetic than the average Mafia torpedo - your guess is as good as mine.

As for bad guys, I didn't pay much attention to Perseus since he gets offed in the first act - pretty creative way to go, though! Zandar was your typical H:TLJ Hera-worshipping scumball - no surprise that he gets flambeed by Pyro. I liked the concept of Pyro - he's definitely the kind of being that Hera or the other gods would find very handy. His realization was cheesy, of course (this is S2 Herc, after all) but I thought that making him the agent responsible for the deaths of Herc's family was a good nasty twist, and the effects crew did a very good job with the flames - it was a very vivid effect in a small set.

Fun little story that moves along nicely, with Herc, Sal, and Nemesis all as appealing protagonists - I give this one 7.5/10.