Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian also had praise for Lawrie who played "Krystal as hard as nails and as brittle as pressed flowers." Overall he called the opening instalment of the miniseries "nicely done". between morality and message, beauty and reality, in a picturesque postcard style that engages the heart and mind with a perfect cast and biting script." Ellen E Jones of The Independent the episode, and commended the episode, and noted that it did "better than either Broadchurch or Fortitude at wrangling a large ensemble into a coherent story." She also praised the ensemble cast, in particular Abigail Lawrie, and the director of the episode Jonny Campbell. Cameron K McEwan of Digital Spy said that it was "a cracking first instalment. The episode received positive reviews from critics. Upon airing on BBC One the episode received 6.6 million overnight viewers equating to a 27.5% share of the total television audience. The empty seat left on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest battle the village has yet seen. Pagford is seemingly an English idyll, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a community at war. The village of Pagford is left in shock when a local resident dies suddenly.