 Bomer received plaudits from most reviewers. Crystal Bell of the Huffington Post called his appearance "perfect casting" and Bomer as one of her favorite guest stars. Strecker and VanDerWerff praised the "hilariously bad acting advice" in Cooper's master class, and VanDerWerff said that the storyline of Blaine being "overshadowed by his charismatic older brother" worked "because the actors were so damn committed to it". Houston Chronicle's Bobby Hankinson was not fond of Cooper's appearance, and described it as "an old-school sitcom cliche to introduce long-lost or oft-neglected family members". Dodge noted that Bomer's role "didn 't overshadow everyone else, like some guest stars do".
