At the time of its initial airing, the episode garnered mixed reactions from both critics and fans. It appeared on Zap2it's list of the worst series finales because "we never saw the end of the fight." E! News quoted another fan as saying, "Well, that was the best first half of a season finale ever...what happened to part two?" A different criticism came from essayist Roz Kaveney, who argued that this episode was a classic example of "'Superhero Exceptionalism', the idea that superheroes are exempt from normal considerations and entitled to ignore consequences." The characters' attempt at redemption via a "single gratuitous heroic act of defiance", Kaveney felt, was contrary to Angel's message that redemption was only earned "one day at a time, by slow increments".
