 " Vatos " attained general acclaim from television critics . James Poniewozik of TIME asserted that the episode successfully made the viewers experience the daily life of the show 's characters , and HitFix 's Alan Sepinwall felt that " Vatos " was the strongest episode since the series ' pilot episode . In his 7 @.@ 9 out of 10 star review , Josh Jackson of Paste wrote : " The whole spectrum of human nature is on view when civilization is stripped away — the bigger the immediate threat , the more varied the response . And it ’ s this balance between action / horror and personal drama that makes The Walking Dead so compelling . " Los Angeles Times writer Gina McIntyre felt that Kirkman " seemed right at home adapting his characters for the screen . " 
