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) and Emma in [the green reality], [Michael] has a fainting spell, and comes to in [the red reality]". Handlen claimed the episode "doesn't seem to fit everything else". Sepinwall complained that viewers went into "the episode already knowing that the Britten family's car crash was anything but". Sepinwall noted that "as it played not only with the structure of the show, but the emotions of our hero by showing us what happens if he stops going to sleep in one reality and waking up in the other". According to Sepinwall, "Say Hello to My Little Friend" was "effective" as it