General Henderson may be our favorite opposition character.
Share your thoughts on him here.

For me, it made sense to give Straker and Henderson history dating back to well before Straker was even born. That gave them both a little extra conflict in that the 'boy' Henderson watched grow up and who he regarded almost as family turned so difficult when given responsibilty, and Straker having to go against the man he considered an uncle and who now wasn't being very supportive.

The respect between the characters is well played by Bishop and Taylor. You know the two characters are very much alike but they are seeing different things and their reactions are based on that, not any real personal issues.

There is one OOC scene with Henderson (I call it OOC) that seems to color some people's perceptions of Henderson. In Mindbender, Henderson says 'I thought he was going to finish me.'

It makes Henderson sound like a coward even though we know he's not. He stood his ground in the office.

Nice analysis, Matt. 

For me, it's another example of the Andersons maybe making things up as they went along. I can see that there's great scope for drama and conflict <giggle> by having Straker and Henderson go head-to-head. It's even necessary. If you think about it, most tv series do have main characters in conflict with each other. UFO didn't have that with the SHADO lead characters - well, apart maybe from Jackson but I'd argue a) he's not a main character and b) even that wasn't consistent as Straker seemed quite comfortable with Jackson later in the series. I don't even recollect Foster being that rebellious in behaviour. I may be forgetting something but he pretty much did as he was told. Even when ordered to go and pick up girls in the course of duty.  Yes, Freeman criticised some of Straker's decisions but he was more playing the role of trusted confidant, not a peer challenging peer. His loyalty is never in question.

So I think Straker and Henderson supplied the much needed "conflict" but the Andersons never explicitly told us what had happened to transition the two men to that stage. Though the assumptions (Straker taking what Henderson expected to be his role; Straker being his own man and not looking at Henderson as a mentor - as far as we are shown) are obviously logical and believable.

Perhaps if there'd been a second series this would have been addressed in a script. I do like the idea of their relationship pre-dating the setting up of SHADO. It makes the potential for later strongly negative feelings greater.

ETA:
Librarian wrote on Apr 23^rd, 2011 at 8:52pm:

Interesting.  I interpreted that simply as Henderson in shock after seeing Straker behaving so violently and apparently irrationally. And being in fear of his life. I didn't think of it implying fear and cowardice on Henderson's part.

That's funny.  I also thought he was OOC in Mindbender, but not for that line.  It was the whole "Sheep! Baa!  Baa!" crap I found offensive.  And very out of character for the general.  That kind of stuff was childish in the extreme.  And then they played the damn line over and over in the following scene -- gak! 

Everything Henderson says (in those scenes) is Straker's hallucination. Sheep, baaa baaa baaa and all. It's the way Straker's unconscious mind sees Henderson. Thinking henderson sees his people as a bunch of sheep. Mindless yes men and women. There just might be jealousy in that, maybe Straker thinks Henderson is jealous of his ability to have people follow his leadership so he mocks it with the maaaaaahhh maaaaah.



What I found interesting was 'You don't care, you really don't care' That's interesting coming from Straker, a man who often is considered to be just as uncaring. That tells me the opposite. The 'somebody ought to (beat you to a crisp ) is something meaty for writers too. Henderson (in his head) responds with "You don't have the guts'
Does that label Straker as thinking he is or being a coward? Heck no.   Ed was acting like a Looney Tunes tornado due to the moon rock, of course Henderson would think he 'would finish me'  If I was in that office, I'd be under Straker's desk.      I didn't read anything into Foster's look except damn, Straker's alive there goes my promotion 

   Henderson is a bigger man than Straker, but it's the quick striking, skinny  younger Boston guys that can turn you into a hoagie if you don't watch out.  In Reflections, Straker is a decent hand-to-hand fighter. He crushed that fake Foster's throat bone with one hand, maybe the hyloid? Good arm and hand strength, muscle strength? Maybe paperweight lifting reps?  I always thought Straker didn't defend himself well in that ep. To my surprise a combat book I recently bought told me how wrong I was.

Thinking Henderson was a wuss  based on one sentence is on par with thinking Lake was Sleep Around Susie just because she had a thing for Craig and Foster. 

In the story The Island, I made it where Henderson was jealous of what Straker achieved, as being the motivation for the loss of friendship. (plus I added another factor to push him all the way over the edge ) Straker took what was Henderson's. I don't think Straker ever lost respect for him, however.

My question is, what on earth was a lamp from a BAR doing in Henderson's office? Was the art/set director on drugs? 

Henderson had an ugly office. imo

Librarian wrote on Apr 24^th, 2011 at 2:31am:

I think I agree with that, it makes the most sense, and as Amelia pointed out it could have been his subconscious mind acting out it's perceptions of how Straker saw Henderson.

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Right on! I've always felt that Straker had a deep sense of caring for each and every person under his command, even Ford, especially Ford. Straker saw untapped potential in him.

The Henderson/Straker dynamic was imo, one of the things that set UFO apart from many other sci-fi shows. It addressed a very real problem (financial woes) in a very believable way.