 Since airing , " Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts " has been well received by television critics . Hayden Childs of The A.V. Club gave this episode a " B " rating and commented that " The Simpsons episodes that strive to have a little heart without going overboard are generally going to work better than the random @-@ gag episodes , at least at this point in the storied history of The Simpsons , and ' Bart Stops To Smell The Roosevelts ' has enough wee little heart to see this episode through " , but further wrote that " there were a number of jokes that didn 't work , Milhouse 's final scene in particular , but the episode had a steady stream of gags to push through the lean times . And that 's all we can ask for . " Ology 's Josh Harrison was also positive and gave the episode a rating of seven out of ten , while commenting that he " thought this was a definite downgrade from the season premiere in terms of sheer comedic value , but the sincerity of Bart 's educational experience , combined with the enthusiasm of his mad quest for justice , definitely made this one a winner . " 
