 Upon its release, "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was viewed in seven million households. However, the episode received mixed reviews from critics. David Kronke of the Los Angeles Daily News criticized the special as being a standard episode that has been padded out to an extra length, with the live action Patchy the Pirate segments not being that entertaining. In his review for the DVD Verdict, Bryan Pope criticized "The Sponge Who Could Fly" as a "misstep." Pope said "Season three remains the high point for the series, producing such classics as'No Weenies Allowed', 'SpongeBob Meets The Strangler', and 'Krusty Krab Training Video', a hilarious parody of industrial training videos. The one misstep is'The Lost Episode' ['The Sponge Who Could Fly'], which veers too far away from Bikini Bottom and into unfunny live action territory."
