Ratings In its original broadcast, "Not Pictured" received 2.42 million viewers, ranking 98th of 109 in the weekly rankings. This marked a decrease in viewers from the second season premiere, "
Normal Is the Watchword", which received 3.29 million viewers and the first season finale, "
Leave It to Beaver", which received 2.99 million viewers.
Reviews 's performance in the episode was praised by critics. The episode was critically acclaimed. Jesse Hassenger of
PopMatters wrote that "the season finale showcased the series at its surprising and funny best, not its rushed and convoluted worst." Eric Goldman of
IGN gave a glowing review, giving the episode a 9 out of 10, indicating that it was "amazing". In a review of the whole second season, Goldman wrote that there were "some complaints that the season finale was a bit too rushed, with a lot of information offered all at once. Yet while that's a bit valid, it's also an exciting and surprising finale, that actually offers some bigger shocks than season 1." Rowan Kaiser of
The A.V. Club gave a mostly positive review, praising the reveal of Beaver as the murderer while being slightly critical of his reveal as Veronica's rapist. He wrote that "as twists go, this was a good one" and that "Kyle Gallner makes the transition from goofy, kind of pathetic little brother to insane mastermind quite well—the circles under his eyes, specifically, which seemed to indicate anxiety before suddenly indicated darkness and insanity when seen in a new light." Price Peterson, writing for
TV.com, gave a glowing review, calling it "the best-yet episode of
Veronica Mars". He elaborated by stating, This episode was just a total triumph for how it brought together SO MUCH from the past 22 episodes and beyond. I loved the Aaron Echolls assassination. I loved that last image of Duncan enjoying his victory in a perpetual magic hour on some Australian beach. I especially loved the ''
It's a Wonderful Life''-esque dream sequence. This episode was so good that even though I knew Beaver was the bad guy, I still came away shocked by many of the reveals. That's just good writing right there. Amy Ratcliffe, writing for IGN, ranked the episode as the fifth best episode of
Veronica Mars, writing, "the Season 2 finale had head-twisting reveals, heartbreaking moments…tragedy, and so many jumps in crime-solving that Sherlock might not have been able to keep up."
BuzzFeed called the episode the best episode of the series, stating, "It's extremely violent, extremely scary, and extremely moving. If you don't cry watching this episode, there's a tiny little rock where your heart should be." On a similar list,
TVLine ranked the episode third, only behind "
A Trip to the Dentist" and "
Pilot". Give Me My Remote also ranked the episode as the best of the series, writing, "If I had to pick a single episode to represent the show, this would be it. The actual plot of this episode was compelling, fast-paced, and the twist at the end was shocking." The reviewer went on to praise Kristen Bell's performance and the less action-heavy parts of the episode.
Digital Spy listed the episode on an unranked list of the five best
Veronica Mars episodes, writing that it "has its issues" but that "the rooftop sequence with Veronica, Cassidy (Kyle Gallner) and Logan is pure, gorgeous melodrama, and Keith's fake-out death feels devastating instead of cheap thanks to Kristen Bell's gut-wrenching performance." In a list of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time,
Empire noted "Not Pictured" as the best episode of the series. Reviewer
Alan Sepinwall wrote that he was "very pleased with how things turned out" and that the twist fit with the evidence. However, he was more critical of Keith's near-death, writing, "What did feel like piling on, however, was Beaver 'killing' Keith. Kristen Bell tried her best to sell it, but I wasn't buying." == References ==