Portrait of a Character – Dash Nolan
Dash Nolan serves several purposes.
Origins
In Shell Shock, Malcolm needed a lawyer. Plus I wanted Gina and Gabrielle Nolan to have an ancestor, and a connection to the In Between Days series.
Portrayal
Judge Advocate General of the Navy Rear Admiral meets the cast of JAG
I like David James Elliott for this role. That’s Elliott all the way on the left in this photograph. Plus the actress I have playing Melissa, Catherine Bell, is in the picture.
Elliott’s presence is not only an acknowledgement of his role on JAG, but it’s also another shout-out to his costar in that series, the actor Steven Culp.
Personality
Smart, detail-oriented, and driven, Dash doesn’t fool around. He opens with a bit of a family joke – his twin sister is named Dorothy. For Dash (Dashiell), the twins were, of course, Dot and Dash. This joke family name is actually not original – I got it from a story told by Dash Crofts of Seals and Crofts, who really does have a sister named Dorothy (although he is actually named Darrell).
But that’s his only moment of levity. Then he gets down to the business of clearing Malcolm’s name, in the sexual assault and near-murder of Ruby Brannagh. Dash asks the tough questions of Malcolm and demands the whole truth – no matter how embarrassing that is to the ultra-reserved Brit.
Mirror Universe
Mirror Dash
Dash could absolutely exist in the Mirror. There are no impediments.
I see him as being smart, to be sure, but also as being as driven by justice as his Prime Universe counterpart. This could make him a fugitive and an expatriate in Empress Hoshi‘s Terran Empire. The idea intrigues. I should write this some day.
Quote
“I want you to understand something. I am in fact-finding mode right now. But I am also in the process of starting your prep. Because they are gonna ask you things like that. So I ask you again – do personal confrontations bother you?”
Upshot
Oh, I like this character, but he’s been a bit lost in the shuffle of so many original characters. I’d like to bring him back, but I’m not so sure where I’d put him. Malcolm certainly doesn’t want anything else to do with him, not really, as he’s a reminder of too many bad things.
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