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 Gothel cast as Gothel", continuing, "her 'Mother Knows Best' is a knockout". Simon Reynolds of "Digital Spy "felt that "Donna Murphy steals the show". Similarly dubbing Murphy a scene-stealer, Canoe.ca's Lindsey Ward wrote that "Murphy ... turns into a giant spectacle with her voice, a powerful force to be reckoned with". David Edelstein of Vulture.com hailed Murphy as "Broadway's gift to animated movies", praising in particular the actress' delivery of "the movie's best line: "Oh, so I'm the bad guy now?” Quickflix deemed Murphy "wonderful", while Stephen Witty of "The Star-Ledger" called her "terrific". Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media