Over a Cliff

In the United States, the episode received a 1.3/5 percent share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 1.3 percent of all households, and 5 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. It was watched by 5.46 million Americans.[2]

Joshua Alston of Vulture gave the episode a 4 out of 5 stars rating, stating that it is "pretty darn successful, moving briskly and offering a satisfying mix of resolutions, comeuppances, surprises, and pure fan service."[3] USA Today's Anika Reed praised the series in its entirety, not just the final episode, commenting the show "put a black woman as the lead of a primetime drama for the first time since 1974, with [Kerry] Washington as D.C. fixer Olivia Pope. The show arguably changed the makeup of the television landscape and created a space for shows with complicated black lead actors."[4] Brian Lowry, writing a positive review for CNN, stated that the episode "felt both ridiculous and wholly appropriate. Admittedly, this appraisal doesn't come from a 'gladiator,' an allusion to the show's die-hard loyalists, but rather somebody who thought it was bad in the early going, and tolerable once it adapted and embraced the crazy." He also commented on the series as a whole, affirming that Scandal "was less about politics (a lot of those flourishes were exaggerated to the point of not making much sense) than the corrupting influence of power, using Washington's corridors as the glamorous backdrop for a primetime soap, mixing its steamy relationships with wild deep-state conspiracies."[5]