"Special" was well received by critics. Chris Carabott of IGN called Michael's flashback "heart wrenching" and praised Perrineau's "brilliant performance" at "expressing the heartbreak that Michael is feeling." He rated "Special" with a score of 7.8 out of 10, an indication of a "good" episode. Kirthana Ramisetti from "Entertainment Weekly" called it the best episode since "Walkabout" because of Michael's character development. She said that one of her favorite scenes of the entire season "was Michael and Walt bonding over the letters and the drawing of the sunburned penguin. It was moving to see these two finally relating to each other as father and son after everything they've been through."