Author Phil Farrand rated the episode as the sixth-best episode of the first four seasons in his book "The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes". A writer from the "Vancouver Sun" listed "Beyond the Sea" as one of the best stand alone episodes of the show, saying that Brad Dourif's acting was "remarkably chilling". They noted that this episode was the first to center around Gillian Anderson's character, and showed signs of Scully's vulnerability. Connie Ogle from PopMatters ranked the episode amongst her "best" monster-of-the-week episodes. Ogle felt that Luther Lee Boggs was one of the "greatest" monster-of-the-week characters of the show, saying: "Spend a few minutes in Luther's skeevy presence, and alien abduction seems like a blessing". Writers for IGN named the episode their second favourite stand alone episode of the show, noting favourably how it "flips" the established dynamic between Mulder and Scully. In "The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy", Gary Westfahl described the episode as one of the most "highly regarded" stand alone episodes.