Question about a few B5 Characters.

[Jan]

Sheridan's short fuse is quite apparent in how he tries to deal with Garibaldi during the civil war. He starts out reasonable in his first couple of conversations with him after Garibaldi resigned, then becomes upset and almost hostile way to easily for someone in his position.

I don't disagree with this but Sheridan made a good point when he accused Garibaldi of giving aid and comfort to the enemy by giving the ISN interview that he did. It's clear to see that both men came back from their ordeals very changed men. Even before that, I think that Sheridan would react badly to what he would see as disloyalty.

When Franklin tells Sheridan about his promotion and that he'll be leaving, Sheridan's reaction is hostile. Being upset is one thing, but he was genuinely angry at Franklin for having made the decision to accept the new job.

While I agree that he was gruff, I don't think Sheridan was angry. What you saw was the reaction of a man who's taken on a job he's had no training or preparation for learning that he's about to lose a key cabinet member. Naturally, there's a moment of panic but he does recover and wish Franklin well.

I do agree about Sheridan's hostility towards Garibaldi. It seemed a little out of character to me too. However, I put it down to JMS wanting to show us that Sheridan had, indeed, changed since returning from Za'Ha'dum. He was definately a little colder and harder. This, I think, was quite deliberate.

He'd accepted his death at Z'ha'dum and resigned himself to the fight going on without him. But when he came back, he must have realized that if he was going to do the job, he was going to have to be somewhat ruthless in order to end it quickly and with as little loss of life on both sides as possible. Franklin was right - the Sheridan he knew before Z'ha'dum would never have used non-combatants the way that Sheridan did the frozen teeps. But by using, sacrificing them, he minimized the losses. One teep disabling an entire ship might have saved the entire crew plus the possible losses to Sheridan's fleet. Just like the choice to defend Coriana 6 instead of Centauri Prime, it came down to the cold, hard numbers.

Jan

[Bonehead]

I do agree about Sheridan's hostility towards Garibaldi. It seemed a little out of character to me too. However, I put it down to JMS wanting to show us that Sheridan had, indeed, changed since returning from Za'Ha'dum. He was definately a little colder and harder. This, I think, was quite deliberate.

[trimotor]

Sheridan's short fuse is quite apparent in how he tries to deal with Garibaldi during the civil war. He starts out reasonable in his first couple of conversations with him after Garibaldi resigned, then becomes upset and almost hostile way to easily for someone in his position. When Franklin tells Sheridan about his promotion and that he'll be leaving, Sheridan's reaction is hostile. Being upset is one thing, but he was genuinely angry at Franklin for having made the decision to accept the new job.

[Bonehead]

seem to have had problems in their personality development. Fatal flaws if you will...............
..........Delenn somehow goes from being slightly mysterious and quite wise to being really over dramatic where Sheridan is concerned.

Fatal flaws? or deliberately written changes in her behaviour?
Personally, I would think changing your entire being into a new hybrid alien species, would play havok on your emotions.
Clearly Minbari emotions are more restrained, so imagine waking up one day with totally new human feelings and emotions to deal with.

Sheridan, on the other hand, seemed pretty consistent to me.

[Jan]

Hello, Trimotor, welcome.

Before I talk about your points, I need to point out that JMS doesn't post here or even read here so no criticism posted here will reach him.

That said, without actual examples of what you mean, it's hard to respond. One thing of note, though is that you said:

After having watched seasons 4 and 5 a few times, I almost laugh at the unnecessary cuts to Delenn where she whispers Sheridans name during a crucial action scene.

I think you're missing a key point - when Delenn is aware of Sheridan's danger, it's not a matter of simple dramatics, it's because she's got a slight telepathic connection to him. If she didn't, it's unlikely she'd be murmuring his name at a particular moment from light years away. Nor would she have known when Sheridan died, as was made clear when she hugged his pillow in pain just as he went 'beyond the rim'.

I'm not able to see your point when it comes to Sheridan so any examples you'd care to point out would be welcome.

Jan

[trimotor]

First off, I'm new here and I'd like to say Hello to everyone.

I tried searching for the answer to my question but didn't find anything. Hopefully someone may be able to at least shed some light on things.

Why do Sheridan and Delenn behave so strangely?

I absolutely love the show and own the whole thing on DVD. That said, perhaps some constructive criticism of some of the characters might be helpful to JMS in any future projects occurring in the B5 universe. The Characters are all very well written, and most of them develop quite nicely over the 5 seasons. Two seem to have had problems in their personality development. Fatal flaws if you will. Those two characters are Sheridan and Delenn. Sheridan seems to only have two states of behavior. He is either acting very reserved or he is displaying hostility. I know that there are some actual people who act like that but they're few and far between. They almost never get the kind of respect and friendship that Sheridan did. Delenn somehow goes from being slightly mysterious and quite wise to being really over dramatic where Sheridan is concerned. After having watched seasons 4 and 5 a few times, I almost laugh at the unnecessary cuts to Delenn where she whispers Sheridans name during a crucial action scene. I apologize if this seems harsh. That's not my intent. I just wanted to share my observations.