In a retrospective of the first season in "Entertainment Weekly", "Roland" was rated a B+, with guest star Željko Ivanek's portrayal of the eponymous Roland being called "astonishing (and convincing)", and the episode's "excellent death scenes" noted as highlights. Zack Handlen, writing for "The A.V. Club", had mixed feelings about the episode, feeling that its plot was too similar to the previous episode "Born Again", though rating Ivanek's acting as "authentic" and "uncontrived"; ultimately calling the episode "well-built enough to be enjoyable despite its familiarity". Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt negatively about the episode, again finding it too similar to other episodes of the season, finding it to be "nothing incredibly exciting", noting that it "follows pretty much the same template as many of the other episodes".