The episode's musical performances were generally well-received, though a few reviewers, including Benigno, chafed at the continued emphasis on Broadway showtunes. Both of the major dance numbers came in for considerable praise, and "Run the World (Girls)" garnered the most superlatives: Fallon wrote, "Brittany's performance of "Run the World (Girls)" was thrilling. It was the most adrenaline-pumping musical number the series has produced: intricately choreographed, expertly shot and edited, perfectly woven into the story, and performed exquisitely by Heather Morris." VanDerWerff "enjoyed the ginormous production number built around it quite a bit", and The Wall Street Journal Raymund Flandez called it a "stellar performance". Kubicek stated, "this was unbelievably superb, easily my favorite performance of the entire season". Futterman noted that "Brittany's vocals are nowhere near the power of Beyoncé's, but they're just fine for this performance, the real focus of which is the dancing."
