As the second part of "Space Race" commenced, Carp asserted that Drake's opening dialogue was nostalgic of a villainous character from the James Bond film series, particularly Hugo Drax. "'SR:P2' tried to clear up this flimsy plot point from 'P1' during the opening 'Bond villain' like speech from Drake," the Cinema Blend writer iterated, "where he proclaims in a Thank You For Smoking–esque throwaway line that Lana was the perfect and only candidate for the project." In one of Barry's first appearances on the space station, he is taunting "Archer, come out to play", while banging beer bottles together, directly referencing David Patrick Kelly's Luthor in The Warriors. The design of the spaceship emulates the iconic designs of aircraft from varying films; the trash compactors were modeled after the Star Wars universe, while the robots were reminiscent to those in the 1986 film Aliens. As Cheryl declares herself as the "Martian queen", she creates and sports a costumes that closely resembles Björk's swan dress. Reception Ratings "Space Race: Part I" was originally broadcast on March 16, 2012 in the United States on FX. Upon airing, the episode attained 1.157 million viewers and a 0.7 rating in the 18–49 demographic, indicating that 0.7% of spectators between ages 18 and 49 who watched television viewed the episode. It garnered the twentieth highest ratings among the 18–49 group out of any cable program of the day, according to the Nielsen Media Research, tying with television programs such as The Daily Show on Comedy Central and Family Guy on Adult Swim. Ratings and total viewership for the episode showed significant increases from the previous installment, "Skin Game", which acquired 1.04 million viewers and a 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic. "Space Race: Part II" aired the following week on March 23, 2012. Ratings and total viewership considerable increased from its predecessor; 1.326 million spectators watched the episode during its initial airing. Concurrently, it obtained a 0.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, thereby becoming the eighth highest-rated cable program of the night. Critical response Commentators commended the first half of "Space Race". The A.V. Club columnist Emily VanDerWerff approved of several aspects of the episode—mainly its animation, character development, and dialogue. In her A grade review, VanDerWerff felt that the producers were playful with the concepts of space. "Archer, of course, takes place in a weird blend of past and present," he professed, "but 'Space