Keith DeCandido, in a review of "Q-Less" for Tor.com, praised the relationship between Vash and Quark and thought that it should have been explored further. Like Handlen, DeCandido also felt that Q did not quite fit in "DS9", but acknowledged that his performance in this episode was an improvement over his later appearances in "". DeCandido described the boxing scene where Sisko punches Q as "wonderful" and "spectacular". However, he thought that aspects of the plot had too much technobabble; for example, the embryo plotline could have been resolved by a form of Customs procedure. "Ultimately", DeCandido concludes, "none of this matters, because it comes down to one great moment of Sisko decking Q. Bliss."