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r3n1 t1_j6dvn8j wrote

I was like WTF? When I started Babylon 5's S2.

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_Middlefinger_ t1_j6ea8mb wrote

Michael O'Hare wasnt really fired, he had mental health issues and stepped aside because it was a problem.

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davidreiss666 t1_j6ezjhy wrote

That was only made public after O'Hare passed away. So it was more than a decade after B5 wrapped up that the full story was made public. And so, a lot of people don't know unless they read online news about B5 years after it ended.

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TheElusiveFox t1_j6fz3c9 wrote

That being said fans must have known (at least I assumed) the decision was amicable, because he does appear in a handful of very late episodes IIRC, or maybe it was the movies?

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Marischka77 t1_j6hc2jq wrote

JMS, the writer always stated that the parting was amicable. Sinclair appeared in a cameo in S2 and in the two-part episode War Without End in S3, which closed Sinclair's story arc. In real life, the cameo for S2 was recorded before the actor got hospitalized to start treatment for his symptoms which were as severe as something alike schizophrenia and the two-parter was shot when his condition was stable enough for filming again, but the side effects of his meds were not all too obvious yet, although the viewers could feel something was wrong, he had some odd blinking at some scenes.

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Marischka77 t1_j6hcbob wrote

He was not fired per se but got ill and was not able to continue. A very strange and very sad story. It was kept secret up until his death, then made public for his request. "I'll take the secret to my grave. - No, take it to MY grave..." :( https://youtu.be/AwyAo_YjtdM

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