My thing with Nilsson boils down to that I like all of the bridge crew. I wish they got more screen time. They're in every episode.
Ariam was the most interesting of them, and she was a Lt. Commander. So when they replaced her with Nilsson, using the same actress, it just kind of felt like a continuity of the original character. It also seems like a genuinely nice thing that the production staff did. The actor could not continue in that role, so they accommodated her.
Honestly, I wanted Owo as the XO.
The bridge crew are the people whom we see the most of in the show. I want to learn more about them.