television critics were less enthusiastic about the episode. Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club felt that the episode was inferior to the previous episode, deeming it tedious. He wrote, "'Bloodletting' was a step down from last week's première, mostly because it focused more on conversations than scares. Much as I want this show to find some way to do its characters right, those conversations were bland, providing no new information beyond, hey, it would suck to have your son get shot in front of you, huh?" Concluding his review, Handlen gave the episode a 'B−' grade. In concurrence, Nate Rawlings of Time stated: "For an episode titled 'Bloodletting' there was surprisingly little of it last night. What we got instead were outpourings of emotion and frustration. Two entries in, and it's already clear that the show wants to strike a balance between gore and humanity." Andrew Conrad of the Chicago Tribune was unhappy with the episode; he expressed disappointment with the low number of zombie sequences, writing, "It must be a bit of a relief for the show's make-up department, but I'd like to see at least one walker every ten minutes or so." References External links "Bloodletting" at AMC 2011 American television episodes The Walking Dead (season 2) episodes Television episodes directed by Ernest Dickerson