Critical reviews
"Return of the King" received critical acclaim. Ahsan Haque of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.7 out of 10 and wrote, "With the path cleared for Ari to finally get back together with Vince, this episode definitely did a good job in moving the overall storyline forward. It's as good a way as any to get the crew back together, but it did feel a little abrupt in the end. It would have been nice to see Lloyd again, as he hasn't been seen in the last two episodes. Hopefully he'll make an appearance in the next episode."
Alan Sepinwall wrote, "Of the five episodes HBO sent out for review, this was by far the highlight, because it does what Entourage does best: put Ari in a situation where he has to make a deal under impossible circumstances." Adam Sternbergh of Vulture wrote, "the promising Yom Kippur, no-work-on-the-holiday plotline is completely undermined by an illogical plot point so glaring that we have to wonder if we slept through some important information during the first two minutes of the show." Trish Wethman of TV Guide wrote, "I found the story line with Johnny and the horse to be totally absurd. Someone commented last week that he is starting to come across like a bad sitcom character, and this week I have to agree with that assessment."
Paul Katz of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Oy, what an episode. If last week's lack of forward plot motion felt like airy, sweet filler then the delightfully sly resolution in Return of the King went down like a cold beer on a hot day: It quenched a long-lasting thirst." Jonathan Toomey of TV Squad wrote, "What a lousy way to utilize a great character and Turtle had to get folded into the mess too. I still think there's loads of untapped comedy gold in seeing Drama working on the set of Five Towns."
Adam Goldberg submitted this episode for consideration for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards.
