Where I Died" was seen by 19.85 million viewers on first broadcast. Reviews "The Field Where I Died" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave "The Field Where I Died" a "B+". He felt that it worked "pretty well", but felt that "the episode isn't quite good enough for the conclusion to be as devastating as it should be". He also felt that it was not believable that Mulder quickly accepts his past lives and Melissa's part in it, and thought it would have worked better if he eased into believing it. Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it three-and-a-half stars out of four. She called the entry "unabashedly emotional episode" that is "unafraid to plumb the depths of human loss and grief". Furthermore, Vitaris praised Cloke's acting; she called her "a truly gifted actor, slipping faultlessly into the skin of all of Melissa's personalities." She was, however, more critical of Duchovny, noting that his hypnosis scene was underacted. Sarah Stegall, in The Munchkyn Zone, gave the episode a 5 out 5 rating. Stegall wrote that while the episode is "drowned in tears and soaked in muted sunlight, [and] teeters on the brink of sentimentality", it manages "to stay just this side of it for a dynamite, gripping episode that showcases some fine actors". 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 three-a-half stars out of five, and wrote that, while the episode "stumbles around a lot", it gives the viewer "the impression there's nothing else on TV quite like it". The two felt that the idea that Mulder and Scully were friends throughout their various lives was "one of the best things about the story". They also wrote that the fact that Melissa and Mulder were somehow soul mates also prevented the story from being "obvious and pat". However, Shearman and Pearson felt that Morgan and Wong added "a few too many ingredients" which yielded an uneven episode. Entertainment Weekly, on the other hand, was negative, giving the episode an "F" and describing it as "stultifyingly awful". The episode is a favorite of Anderson's, who said she "loved the script" and that it made her cry. Series creator Chris Carter received angry calls after the Heaven's Gate, a