 Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.3 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "'The Ball of Mud and Meanness' was really mostly about Bruce coming face to face with Matches, and the clunky ways of driving him toward that confrontation.Though, once there, the moment with Matches was very well done.And even though some things played out as expected, there were still enough smaller nuances that helped make it great."