Jeffrey Sinclair

Character
Name:	Jeffrey Sinclair
Occupation:
Relationships:
Fandom:	Babylon 5
Other:
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Jeffrey Sinclair is a fictional character from Babylon 5.

a 1995 flyer for Michael O'Hare's fan club

He was portrayed by Michael O'Hare.

Very Brief Canon Description

Sinclair was the original commander of the space station in the first season of the show and was succeeded by Captain John Sheridan.

Departure from the Show

Sinclair's abrupt departure from Babylon 5 was the topic of fannish discussion, much of it divisive.

Straczynski announced O'Hare's departure posted to GEnie on May 20, 1994:

This is a mutual, amicable, and friendly separation. This isn't a Tasha Yar situation. Moreover, we will be handling this in such a way that, down the road, Sinclair could potentially return to the story. ...I take pains to mention this because both Michael [O'Hare] and I want it clear that we both believe in the show, and want this in no way to interfere with the series. He has asked me to convey for him his encouragement, his best wishes, and to emphasize that this is, again, an amicable and friendly separation.

J. Michael Straczynski, the show's creator, was often pressured to explain the actor's absence, and this led to much heated strife in fan discussions, as fans sensed there was more going on than stated. This led to some of the more vocal and strident fans to suggest all sorts of conspiracy theories.

After Michael O'Hare's death in 2012, J. Michael Straczynski stated at Phoenix Comicon in May 2013 that he had been keeping a secret and a promise to O'Hare for a long time. Straczynski explained that O'Hare had been battling mental illness for many years. During the filming of the first season of Babylon 5, O'Hare began having paranoid delusions, and halfway through, his hallucinations worsened. This made it hard for O'Hare to do his job, and caused tension with his colleagues. Straczynski offered to suspend production of Babylon 5 for several months so that O'Hare could seek treatment. O'Hare declined as he was afraid this would jeopardize the show. Straczynski agreed to keep O'Hare's condition secret to protect O'Hare's career and that of his co-workers. O'Hare agreed to complete the first season, but would be written out of the second season.

Fandom

Pairings

• Sinclair/Garibaldi

Meta

• Sinclair Leaving by marko and others (Mar 9, 2001)
• The Great War of Rastb5: How a cabal of trolls in the Babylon 5 newsgroup led the show’s creator to flouncing from the newsgroup, ultimately causing the most responded to RFD in Usenet history and the creation of a 2nd Babylon 5 newsgroup by 3eyedgiraffe (2021)

Fan Comments

1994

None of the characters really appealed to me, and Commander Sinclair must have done something terribly heroic he doesn't remember to stop the war with the people with the funny thing on their heads whose name escapes me. And the very thought of it turns my stomach. I can't trust the series that it will reveal a secret less trite and more complex. I am, however, attempting to see more episodes...

Babylon 5, I agree with all your reasons to like it, and I would add the excellent continuity. But I'm put of by the awkward and ham-handed dialogue, the dumb plots, and the wooden acting. (Commander Sinclair will speak with normal inflection the day Ambassador Sarek has a giggling fit on the bridge.)

O'Hare's acting — we’ll probably nave to 'agree to disagree' on this one, since I think Sinclair is one of the more accurate portrayals of the kind of person he's supposed to he. He's also one of my favourite characters, and I happen to like the way he puts on the professional face with he's doing his job, & lets it go when he's with friends. I think O'Hare portrayed the haunted warrior that Sinclair is very, very well.