Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Crewman Nelson, a recurring character from TNG.
Nelson is an engineer who works in the operations division on Picard's Enterprise. He is seen in 57 total episodes and was in the script for a handful more, but some appearances in the background hit the cutting room floor. That puts Nelson in the top 10 for most prolific background characters in this iteration of Star Trek.
In most of these appearances, Nelson is seen in the corridors or in the background in engineering, typically only for one or two scenes. When not in engineering or in that department's meetings, he is often working in the shuttle bay or in the shuttlecraft. He is also seen in some episodes in off duty situations with friends, typically in Ten Forward. Indeed, he's seen more than most characters enjoying the company of crew mates and drinks in the lounge. Regardless, he is a lot like other regular TNG background characters we've previously profiled like Martinez, Russell, and Darien Wallace.
Some of Nelson's most notable appearances include the following. He has to dive through a side door in engineering to escape shots fired by some terrorists on board the ship in the episode The High Ground. He is given a name in dialogue in the episode Clues, where he works with Data on a sensor diagnostic before working with Geordi LaForge on some computer analysis, becoming one of the key crew members in solving the mystery of the crew blackout.
QUOTE (from Clues)
Geordi: Data, I'll take over from here. Nelson, I need your help with this computer.
Nelson had about 10 more appearances following this naming in Clues, but his character is not given any speaking lines or bigger roles. Often the naming of a long time background character is done as a farewell thanks, but in this case, that thanks came a lot earlier before this character stops appearing in the background. While such roles are perhaps not glamorous, they are important for showing consistency in the crew beyond just the main characters we see the most.
Crewman Nelson was played by Rachen Assapiomonwait. His most recent acting work was a couple of video shorts in 2007 and 2008, but he can also be seen in bit roles in the movies Monkeybone and Showdown in Little Tokyo. Unfortunately, no further information could be found about what he's been doing for the last 10 years, so he's faded into the background of life, ironically.
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