Sally

**Sally** is a young prostitute working at the Paresis Hall under the rough protection of Biff Ellison and Paul Kelly. A friend of the late Giorgio Santorelli, alias "Gloria," Sally provided useful information to both John Moore and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler.

## Character Overview

Sally is a young boy-prostitute, with an ephebic build, short and curly black hair, a fair complexion and green eyes. When working on the streets or at the Paresis Hall, Sally wears corsets and skirts, as well as feminine necklaces and chokers, embellished with costume jewelry.

Sally has shown coquetry and flirtatious manners when seducing clients, but she is also cynical and easily mistrustful of anyone meeting on the street. As Sally explained to Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, the harsh street life rendered her capable of distinguishing between harmless or dangerous potential customers.

## Biography

New York City, March 4th, 1896.  Sally walked across the street with other boys wearing women's clothes, holding their belongings under the surveillance of Biff Ellison, their pimp. Since Commissioner Roosevelt had ordered the closure of the Paresis Hall, Biff Ellison and Paul Kelly circumvented the eviction by moving their illicit business to another building, the "New Paresis Hall."

Sally introduced herself to John Moore when he visited the Paresis Hall. Having noticed that Biff had drugged Moore's drink, Sally proceeded to seduce him, claiming she could make all his dreams come true. Holding him by the hand, Sally took him to a room upstairs where the boy-prostitute was about to practice oral sex on the man. However, Moore refused it, offering money in exchange for any piece of information about Giorgio Santorelli instead. Sally, then, said that "Gloria" had lots of regulars and that some were very nice, other very rich. Although, she only talked about the one with the "silver smile."

Bored by Moore's persistent questions, Sally turned away to look out the window, watching the night street of the bleak ill-famed district. Moore continued his inquiries, asking if Gloria had left her room the night she was killed, but Sally replied that she and the other boys heard her in her room, but she never came out. Since they eventually got tired of waiting for Gloria to leave the room, they broke the lock and discovered that there was no sign of anybody. Moore pointed out that it would have been impossible to escape through the window, and accused Sally of lying. Sally shrugged and said that "even without wings, Gloria flew away" and that she will too, one day. As she spoke these words, Moore started to suffocate because of the effect of the drug. As the man collapsed in pain on the bed, Sally slipped out his wallet and stepped aside as Biff Ellison and Paul Kelly entered the room with a policeman. After ascertaining that Moore was an ally of Commissioner Roosevelt and the alienist, Kelly ordered some boys to rape Moore.

Around the beginning of April , Sally was working on a Tenderloin sidewalk after leaving the Paresis Hall. As soon as Sally spotted Moore walking toward her, Sally tried to escape but Moore was faster. Sally tried to wriggle, but Moore said that he was not interested in getting revenge for the stolen money. Instead, he introduced his friend, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler. The men again asked for information on Giorgio Santorelli, and his client with the "silver smile." Sally remained cautious and walked to a secluded alley where they could speak.

When the doctor asked why she was working at the brothel, Sally explained the difference between working on her own and working under the protection of a pimp; although they took a large part of their income, Ellison and Kelly offered protection from rough customers.

Staying cautiously at a safe distance, Sally answered the alien's other questions. They dressed like girls because unlike the "real girls," they were more sexually uninhibited, and that satisfied their customers much more. When Dr. Kreizler expressed concern about how Sally and her peers managed to avert the dangers, Sally answered that you learn who to trust after working in the business as long as she did. At that point, Dr. Kreizler thanked Sally for her time and gave her some money that the boy-prostitute willingly accepted. Hiding the banknote in the corset, Sally left the alley, whispering to Moore "see you around."

## Memorable Quotes

**Sally** (to Mr. Moore): "*Come on, don't be shy. My name is Sally, and I can make ­all your dreams come true.*"
**Sally** (to Mr. Moore): " *You're not very fun. In fact, you're no fun at all.*"
**Sally** (to Mr. Moore): " *Even without wings, Gloria flew away. And someday I will, too.*"
— A Fruitful Partnership

**Dr. Kreizler:** "*Do your clients always expect you to dress as girls?*"
**Sally:** "*We do things real girls don't do.*"
**Dr. Kreizler:** "*When you work out here, how do you know which ones won't hurt you?*"
**Sally:** "*When you've been working in this business as long as I have, you know who to trust.*"
— Silver Smile

## Appearances

The Alienist

* S1, Ep. 1: *The Boy on the Bridge*
* S1, Ep. 2: *A Fruitful Partnership*
* S1, Ep. 3: *Silver Smile*

## Trivia

* Sally appeared with her face and body horribly mutilated during one of the hallucinatory nightmares of John Moore, induced by the drugs given to him by Biff Ellison.

## References

1. ↑  Theodore Roosevelt ordered the shut down of Paresis Hall the day after Giorgio Santorelli's murder, revealed to have happened on March 3rd, 1896 in *Hildebrandt’s Starling*.
2. ↑ Hossein Amini (writer) & Jakob Verbruggen (director); (January 22, 2018); "The Boy on the Bridge". Episode 1. *The Alienist*. TNT
3. ↑ Hossein Amini & E. Max Frye (writers) & Jakob Verbruggen (director); (January 29, 2018); "A Fruitful Partnership". Episode 2.*The Alienist*. TNT
4. ↑ Ali ibn-Ghazi was killed on April 3rd, 1896.
5. ↑  Gina Gionfriddo (writer) & Jakob Verbruggen (director); (February 5, 2018); "Silver Smile". Episode 3.*The Alienist*. TNT