Stereogum referred to the opening scene of the episode as "Rudd generally being awesome." Cortney Martin, writing for the "Houston Chronicle", was mixed overall. While being complimentary towards Rudd's performance and Greenfield's reappearance, the reviewer disliked the mystery of Desmond's missing tapes, stating, "the mystery of the week turns out to be the lamest non-mystery of the show's entire run, I think." The reviewer opined that the subplot involving the Fitzpatricks was boring but that Marino's reappearance was a good surprise. Brian Raftery of Idolator believed that Rudd's character could have been based on a number of different real-life figures but guessed Courtney Love and Matthew Sweet as potential influences.