of 17.2 with a 29 share, meaning that it was seen by 17.2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 29% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast; this made the episode the highest-rated episode in the series' run. The episode was viewed by over 29.1 million people, making it the most-watched episode of the series. David Lavery, in his book The Essential Cult Reader, argues that the Super Bowl switch that the series made with "Leonard Betts" in order to make the episode more appealing to non-viewers was instrumental in the trend that favored programs being aired sequentially later on during syndication. Reviews The episode received largely positive reviews from critics. The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, with critic Emily VanDerWerff noting that "'Leonard Betts' deserves to be remembered [...] There's very little in this episode that doesn't work. 'Leonard Betts' isn't the best episode of The X-Files, but it signifies that we're moving into one of the show's very best periods, and it does so with a confidence and verve that the series didn't always display." Many critics praised the tenacity of the writers for airing an episode featuring such a creepy character after the Super Bowl. Writing for Den of Geek, John Moore listed Betts as one of his "Top 10 X-Files Baddies", writing that "Fox had the Superbowl[sic], the Superbowl happens on a Sunday, Fox decides to run the show in the prime slot after the big game... [...] So, did, they soft-pedal things in order to grab a wider audience? Er... no. Instead they decided to feature a cancer-eating living tumour that could re-grow his own limbs at will. That's why I love the X-Files." Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four. Vitaris praised the episode's balance of humor and horror, noting "Although 'Leonard Betts' is not a comedy, the three writers take such pleasure in the story that you buy the situation. There's a lot of situational (and scary) humor in the script." Furthermore, she noted that the ending revelation that Scully has cancer and the following conversation between Mulder and Scully was "one of the season's best scenes." Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars