CurrentFilm.com and MovieFreak.com's Dennis Landmann qualified it as one of the best episodes of the season. "Seattle Post-Intelligencer"s Melanie McFarland said although it is "a fecund opportunity for cheap laughs", Shalhoub was able to keep the "balance between Monk's power and helplessness without caving into lower comedic impulses." McFarland praised its writing and Shalhoub, saying "It would begin to look like shoddy choreography" if they were not good. "A welcome return" was how it was described by Robert Lloyd from the "Los Angeles Times" who asserted its "pleasures are all in the predictable eccentricities of its characters, and the fact that it's clearly being staged for our benefit." Ted Cox of the Chicago-area "Daily Herald" praised the scene when Monk forgives Tennyson dubbing it "great TV." Chris Hicks of "Deseret News" deemed it as "a terrific example of how the writers come up with simple situations that throw Monk into turmoil but also allow us to identify with him: Monk in Manhattan. The crowds, the noise, the confusion. Perfect."