"Mercy Point" has received mixed critical feedback. Prior to the show's premiere, a writer from SouthCoastToday.com wrote that it would appeal to "Star Trek" fans through its use of "portentous dialogue and plenty of gross-out imagery". David Bianculli of "The New York Daily News" praised "Mercy Point" as an improvement over "UPN's watch-me-please gimmick shows", and commended the way the show focused on its characters and medical cases while it "relegat the futuristic elements to the background". "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"'s Joanne Weintraub favorably compared the show to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", writing that "both series take their special effects seriously and their often tongue-in-cheek dialogue lightly". "Variety"'s Laura Fries wrote that the series had potential if it adhered to its own rules and focused on real drama. Fries highlighted Michael Katleman's directing as "crisp" and praised the show's technical credits.