Al Pacino in "Kramer vs. Kramer"—a role that Pacino had declined. During the 1970s, Pacino had four Oscar nominations for Best Actor, for his performances in "Serpico", "The Godfather Part II", "Dog Day Afternoon", and "...And Justice for All". Pacino's career slumped in the early 1980s; his appearances in the controversial "Cruising", a film that provoked protests from New York's gay community, and the comedy-drama "Author! Author!", were critically panned. However, his performance in "Scarface" (1983), directed by Brian De Palma, proved to be a career highlight and a defining role. Upon its initial release, the film was critically panned due to
Say Hello to My Little Friend (Awake) Hawkins. "The A.V. Club" also thought that Hawkins was the reasoning for the second episode's name. Writing for HitFix, Alan Sepinwall observed that the episode came from Michael's perspective. According to Sepinwall, "Say Hello to My Little Friend" showed Hannah and Rex together for the first time in the flashback shortly before the crash. He opined that the only people who currently watch the series are "the ones who can quickly identify the red filter from the green filter and figure things out accordingly". Maggie Furlong from "The Huffington Post" thought that "Say Hello to My Little Friend" "surfaces some