Headscratchers / Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E25 "In Theory"

• Jenna D'Sosa is so timid, insecure and sensitive that you really have to wonder how she ever became a Starfleet security officer of all things. At least Barclay had an excuse about being a bookish science expert. Can you imagine Jenna having to fight a Klingon?
  • I really think you’re exaggerating just how timid and insecure she is. She seems somewhat anxious but certainly not on the level of Barclay. She was outgoing enough to take the lead in pursuing a relationship with Data and seemed quite comfortable being sociable with Miles and Keiko. She was even capable of yelling at Data (both her boyfriend and a superior officer) reasonably forcefully during their argument. She expressed a bit of doubt in herself but it’s not like she felt the need to hide away from people or was constantly bursting into tears. There was no reason to think she would be so timid that she wouldn’t be able to engage in combat, for which she’d presumably been trained, if needed. Certainly the standard security duties of a Starfleet security officer (such as performing security sweeps or guarding prisoners) seemed entirely within her abilities.
• It's an interesting bit of discontinuity for Data to perform in a woodwind quintet in this episode. This is the only episode in which Data plays or is even shown with an oboe. In all other episodes where Data plays an instrument, it's his violin. Further, Miles was previously established to play the cello and perform with Data. In this episode, Keiko is the one performing (with a clarinet), and Miles merely listens. Perhaps first-time director Patrick Stewart decided that string instruments were too difficult to match to the soundtrack.
  • I’m not sure if this really counts as discontinuity. Many humans play multiple instruments, there’s no reason to think Data would be incapable of doing so, even if he normally favours the violon. There’s also nothing contradictory in the idea that Miles could play the cello while Keiko played the clarinet. It’s not unheard of for two different people in a couple to both play instruments (indeed, sometimes one person will get the other into music). Given different pieces of music may demand different instruments and different musical styles, there's no reason the band wouldn't require Miles and his cello other times and Keiko and her clarinet this time.