Things you notice when you watch again...and again...

[Joansie]

Personally I think it was just right for the scene. It was like he was afraid to touch her for fear he wouldn't be able to leave, just like when he walked away from her but never turned back. His touch looked tender as if to say he was sorry for causing her so much pain. I could be way out in left field. But, isn't that what makes B5 so good. We all come away with feeling something different.

[Jan]

If you were to touch your loved one for the last time, wouldn't you feel VERY awkward too?

Been there, done that. That's the last thing on your mind at a time like that, trust me. Perhaps awkward was the wrong word but I can't think of another to fit. It's not a matter of embarrassment, it's just that the gesture wasn't one I recognized as being natural for Sheridan to make.

Or... is it that you are embarassed by touching and you are simply transferring the feeling?

Not even the slightest bit.

Actually, it may have been awkward for Bruce because he has to be very careful not to mess up Mira's make-up. Who'd want that to happen in a scene as intense as that? Can you imagine the flack he'd get?

Possible, I suppose. In fact, after hearing JMS's commentary it's a wonder that the actors can wring such emotion from their performances if they have to remember to do things like crinkle Delenn's appliance.

No, the awkwardness I percieved was simply that I didn't recognize Sheridan's gesture as being anything I'd seen him do before. I'd seen Delenn reach out for and touch people's faces any number of times-it was a natural gesture for her. I can't think of any time that Sheridan did so, though. There may have been some, but I don't recall them.

Jan

[DeMonk]

I'd always thought the gesture was slightly awkward for Sheridan...
Jan

If you were to touch your loved one for the last time, wouldn't you feel VERY awkward too?

Actually, it may have been awkward for Bruce because he has to be very careful not to mess up Mira's make-up. Who'd want that to happen in a scene as intense as that? Can you imagine the flack he'd get?

Or... is it that you are embarassed by touching and you are simply transferring the feeling?

[Jan]

I was just watching 'Confessions and Lamentations' last night and had the darnedest moment of Deja-Vu...in mirror image!

Remember in 'Sleeping in Light' how the last thing John does before turning away from Delenn is to stroke her cheek? Delenn did *exactly the same thing* in C&L when she told Sheridan that she'd see him again in the place where no Shadows fall. Arguably, since just after that was when Sheridan told her to call him 'John' in the future, that was the very beginning of their true relationship.

The same gesture exchanged decades apart. I'd always thought the gesture was slightly awkward for Sheridan in SiL but now I understand that he was saying the same thing to her without the words.

Symmetry....

Jan