What Kate Does doesn't quite know how to write a woman of action who's also in love … many of the show's Kate flashbacks are just plain silly … there have been a lot of pretty dire Kate episodes." Whitney Matheson of "USA Today" said that she "wanted to stab Kate with a hot poker" after watching "What Kate Does". Josh Holloway's supporting performance as a grieving Sawyer was commended by Carabott of IGN, who said that his acting on the dock as he cried and revealed to Kate that he was going to ask Juliet to marry him was "one of Josh
What Kate Does Does", stating that "Episodes like this one can make real "Lost" fans feel like dopes. Already, you're taking heaps of abuse from friends who accuse you of slavishly following a series which makes no sense—then along comes a 60-minute workout like this one which proves their point all too well." Daniel of TMZ, who gave the episode a "D" grade, reacted uniquely with "The only thing in the history of "Lost" that has seemed more out of place than the part in Jack's hair was Nikki and Paulo. I can't take anything he says seriously." Ryan McGee of Zap2it stated