Traylor Howard, who replaced Schram as Monk's assistant in the middle of the third season, elected it as her favorite episode along with "Mr. Monk vs. the Cobra". In The Futon Critic's Brian Ford Sullivan ranking of the fifty best episodes of 2002, it was placed 17th. David Bianculli, a writer for "New York Daily News", said the pilot "not only establishes the character of Monk, it establishes the perfect tone for the show, a delicate but deft blend of wry humor and tender drama." United Feature Syndicate's critic Kevin McDonough praised the "whimsical" direction, and added ""Monk" is not easy to love, but shines as a funny and fresh alternative to summer reruns." It was also called "fresh and funny" by "Entertainment Weekly"s Bruce Fretts, and an "invigorating" "fresh spring breeze in the middle of summer" by "The Washington Post"s Tom Shales. "Variety"s Phil Gallo praised the "breezy gait of the storytelling, the nicely explained quirks of a brilliant mind and Tony Shalhoub's sterling characterization" in his review. Tom Gliatto, a "People"s critic, declared "This is probably not a clinically accurate portrayal of an OCD sufferer, but Shalhoub's gentle earnestness keeps it from being gimmicky." "San Francisco Chronicle"s Tim Goodman praised how OCD was used "creatively from humor to sadness." Chris Hicks of "Deseret News" declared, "this pilot episode is good enough to be a theatrical film; in fact, it's "better" than most features — funny, warm, character-driven and loaded with hilarious vignettes."