 Other reviews were more mixed. Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it two-and-a-half stars out of four. Vitaris called the episode "an absorbing hour of entertainment." She did, however, identify the red herring in which Scully suspects Mulder as the weakest part of the story, noting that Mulder "would [never] throw in with terrorists". John Keegan from Critical Myth awarded the episode a 6 out of 10. He wrote that, while the episode "brings to light some interesting aspects of the latter half of the fifth season" the "internal logic of the story is often suspect." He concluded that, despite "a number of scenes that presage the feature film and point out important character dynamics", there are an equal number of "plot contrivances and conveniences" that bog the episode down.
