said that he wasn't disappointed. Brett Berk of Vanity Fair reacted positively, and noted that by "focusing on what makes these lovable dorks, well, lovable dorks—and not pop, or high-school, superstars—tonight's episode, if a bit tidily, reminded us that these are supposed to be kids". Matt Zoller Seitz of Salon thought that "Born This Way" was "the show's best episode to date", and "an epic about a hero returning from a long journey, walking serenely through halls that once scared him, and performing with such skill and sincerity that his friends stared at him with love and awe." Aly Semigran of MTV had mixed emotions. She criticized the abrupt changes of the storylines in the episode, and thought that the episode "was a noble effort" but "it didn't quite work the way it was supposed to." Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal stated that the episode "sounded just the perfect notes" and called it "the best episode yet". He continued: "The night held wonderful gems: A clear message. Witty repartee (…). Great character build up. And tailored songs that carried emotional heft." Several critics praised the development of Santana. Hankinson wrote, "My goodness, Santana. It's as if all the writers sat around a room, identified the best lines of tonight's episode and then decided to give them all to Santana. Fantastic." VanDerWerff called Santana the highlight of the episode: "The best thing about this episode is Naya Rivera's work as Santana and the story the three writers have cooked up for her. Rivera's really come into her own this season, going from just a generic bitchy cheerleader to an actual character who has motivations and might be a better villain for the show than Sue." She added, "the storyline of Santana realizing she was in love with Brittany and, thus, is probably a lesbian has been nicely plotted and surprisingly deep. The reveal about Santana hasn't washed away her less savory qualities; indeed, it's heightened them, to a degree, as she struggles to be true to herself and still maintain her status as the hottest girl in school." Jenna Mullins of E! Online wrote of Santana, "This episode just cemented my love for her. The insult spew in the beginning of the episode was awesomely mean." She also said that Santana's "inner monologue is often more entertaining than other characters' outer monologues". CNN Lisa Respers France considered Santana the