well received by television critics. Ology writer Josh Harrison gave the episode a nine out of ten rating, and opined that the episode was a "home run episode" for the series. Harrison continued: "Its central conflict is intense, its action is solid, and its new arrivals are engaging characters in their own right. Light on the gore and heavy on the drama—just how I like my Sunday night zombie adventures." Scott Meslow from The Atlantic gave the episode a positive review, deeming it as an improvement from the previous episode, and appreciated that the episode had opened up new plot points for future episodes to come. Meslow wrote, "At the bare minimum, The Walking Dead should be exciting, and the final moments of "Bloodletting" provides more than enough action." Echoing similar sentiments, Catherine Gee of The Daily Telegraph gave the episode a 3.5 out of 5 stars, and compared it to the second season premiere, opining: "It may have been a calmer episode but there was no shortage of story to chew on." Joe Oesterle of Mania.com commended the opening sequence of the episode, and praised the performances of Lincoln and Bernthal. Oesterle wrote, "Andrew Lincoln and Jon Bernthal [...] gave a fine bit of acting, and I found it interesting how the character Rick started looking and walking a little bit zombish after giving blood. The scenes between the two men were moving, and if you listened close you could decipher the main differences between these two cowboy cops. Rick is bound and determined to get back to his wife and let her know their son is in mortal danger, without ever doubting his own ability to successfully complete the mission, while Shane on the other hand is not quite as automatically selfless and heroic." In conclusion, Oesterle gave "Bloodletting" a 'B' grade. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode an 8.5 out of ten, signaling a "great" response. Goldman stated that it was an improvement over the last episode, and that it had a great scare moment and cliffhanger. Similarly, Paste Josh Jackson gave the episode an 8.3 out of ten rating, signifying a "commendable" rating. Steve West of Cinema Blend expressed that "Bloodletting" was superior to the previous episode, opining that it was "a character strengthening episode." He continued: "Even those throwaway threads are immensely important to what’s about to go down at the Green farm." Some