A double episode that once again addresses the question of whether and when a holographic projection becomes an independent and sentient being.
However, if you think about this question and what Star Trek does with it in the Voyager series for too long, then the house of cards collapses pretty quickly. When the group of escaped holograms on a liberation campaign free each hologram from the chains of their slave masters (from their perspective), as a viewer you have to ask yourself the question: Wouldn't every hologram that was created in some simulation on the holodeck also have to be freed? Leonardo Da Vinci, Chaotica and his henchmen, Lord Burleigh and his children, Michael Sullivan and all the residents of Fair Haven, all the guests and waiters at Neelix's Paxau Resort and all the Klingons from Torres' combat simulations as well as T'Pel, Tuvok's wife and his Pon Farr "treatment". All of these are AI-controlled photonic beings, which also do not just follow predetermined programming.
However, this question is not really asked or answered in the series. Janeway still treats the doctor like a piece of software, a program. The deep philosophical questions that surrounded commander Data in TNG are missing from the series. And Janeway, unlike Picard, is clearly not an advocate for artificial life forms.
Furthermore, one also has to ask what Starfleet or any other species would do with holograms that act so autonomously and can even be deadly to organics. Each ship would essentially be packed with holo emitters to unleash holographic soldiers on the attackers in the event of a boarding attack. In addition, most jobs would most likely be done by holograms in general. Who needs bartenders, police officers, teachers, musicians, street cleaners, etc. Or who needs all the engineers and scientists on board spaceships when holograms could do the job just as well - you just have to set up holo emitters.
Unfortunately, the episode ends up getting lost in the megalomania of a religiously motivated Bajoran fanatic and thus ultimately loses its deeper meaning. In the end it's all about the fact that holograms are no better than their creators and that the doctor has once again naively backed the wrong horse.
In addition: With all the accidents with and on Voyager's holodeck, it was foreseeable that this technology would also lead to a catastrophe for the Hirogen. Janeway also seems quite surprised that the Hirogen are now hunting holograms in artificially created worlds. Wasn't that the original plan? To dissuade them from hunting real creatures? And didn't Janeway have reservations about sharing technology in general at the start of the series? Because this technology would upset the balance of power in the delta quadrant? But after seven years, they have laid down quite a trail of Starfleet technology in the Delta quadrant.
