graded the episode as C+. Terron R. Moore of Ology gave the episode a slightly more positive review, writing, ""The Story Of Brenda Q", judging by only the title, could have been a Lifetime movie in the Seth MacFarlane fashion or anything else than a typical episode of the show, but it was pretty much a typical episode of the show." He continued, "it's pretty much an episode where someone on the Family Guy writing staff needed a new way to get out a bunch of pent-up misogyny and anger." He gave the episode a grade of seven out of ten. Reaction to the episode by news media organizations was extremely negative and caused controversy, criticizing the episode for its portrayal of domestic violence. A. J. Hammer of Showbiz Tonight said of the episode, "Like so many other people, I was just shocked by what I saw on Family Guy last night," and continued, "It was really just a depressing half hour of television." In the same interview, Hammer asked television host Wendy Walsh of The Doctors about the storyline, to which she responded, "The main theme of the show was about this poor 'stupid' woman who was too dumb to leave her relationship. And domestic violence is far more complicated than that. We're watching someone rationalize a domestic violence relationship and this is the kind of thought process that actually goes on in real life. It’s not satire anymore." Nando Di Fino of Mediaite also complained that the episode may have gone too far, and compared it to previous episodes in the series that had been banned from airing on television, noting, "The show has dipped into sensitive material before, and Fox has actually refused to air two episodes — one dealing with abortion, the other with heavy Jewish themes. Sunday night's episode, if reaction to it can be used as a good measure, may have been better joining those two episodes in exile." Whitney Jefferson of Jezebel, a website centered on women's issues, also strongly criticized the episode for its storyline involving Brenda and her boyfriend, Jeff: "Personally, I'm way beyond being offended by the show — I've long been numbed to shock-value offensiveness — and had stopped watching years ago anyhow. But being a sucker for a Halloween-themed episodes, I tuned in to Fox's "Animation Domination" comedy block last night. What I saw was seriously awful." Jefferson