Mother Knows Best (song) own gains. Falco continued, "The audience knows what Gothel wants with Rapunzel, but the fact that we are unable to protect the naïve princess results in further hatred for the witch." Falco also concluded that Gothel's "sinister reprise at the end of "Tangled" allows for these horrifying undertones to emerge, which makes 'Mother Knows Best' one of the most sinister villain songs in the Disney library." Similarly, Elissa Smith of Paper Droids wrote that while the audience is fully aware of Gothel's evil intentions, Rapunzel is denied "the outsider's point of view." Glen Chapman of Den of Geek wrote that
Mother Knows Best (song) the song itself but felt that it was unnecessary and melodramatic, writing, "The movie doesn't need [songs], for one thing. For another, their archness (Gothel sings with a forearm to her forehead) suggests that the filmmakers want to have it both ways — to be sincere and to sneer." James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" gave the song a negative review, feeling that it was equally as unmemorable as the other tracks and writing, "It's hard to imagine someone humming ... 'Mother Knows Best' when leaving the theater." Io9 ranked the song 11th on the website's list of "The 36 Greatest Supervillain