Here's what I find curious (not necessarily in direct response to
anything you said, but in general on this topic)...is that when Ivanova
makes her remark to Garibaldi about snapping his hands off at the
wrists, many people have assumed that she was insulting him, berating
him, being bitchy, truly disliking and threatening him.

But the same words, put in the mouth of another male, wouldn't have
drawn that reaction, and would've been classified under, "kidding
around" or affable sarcasm.

Which is exactly what it is in this case. In this place and this
time, they're comfortable enough to mess with each other without it being
taken seriously (among these characters, that is). There are times they
kinda like to phuque with each other a bit, just for the hell of it, as
comrades will sometimes do. ("Babylon Squared" has a great example of
Sinclair and Garibaldi messing with Ivanova.)

jms