While cutting the final sequence, Kusama and editor Rob Komatsu consulted playlists that the music supervisors had prepared for the fourth season, and decided to try out "Solsbury Hill". Cantwell said the song "electrified the final sequence of the show in such an amazing way that we loved it as soon as we saw it". The original broadcast of the two episodes was watched by 394,000 viewers and received a 0.12 rating in the 18–49 age demographic. The series finale was acclaimed by critics. In a five-star review, Kathryn VanArendonk of "Vulture" called the Phoenix scene "one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a long, long time" and said, "the vision of the two women at the end of this series, committed to each other and the desire to make something together, is the most optimistic thing I can imagine for right now." Dennis Perkins of "The A.V. Club" rated the two episodes an "A" collectively, saying, "The series has become such a deeply human thing itself over the years that every development in 'Search' lands with an inevitable and affecting grace." Perkins called the scene in "Ten of Swords" in which Bosworth reassures Cameron a "breathtakingly warm interlude" and said the second half of the episode features "a series of huge swings, and creators and episode writers Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers connect on all of them". James Poniewozik of "The New York Times" said the Phoenix sequence was a "remarkably staged scene, unusually theater-like for a series that operates in the language of cinematic realism". He praised the decision to leave Donna's idea ambiguous, saying: "The point is the inspiration, the work, the act of creation. The idea will be whatever it is. It'll probably end up a failure. It'll be great." Alison Herman of "The Ringer" said: "Rather than offer a happily-ever-after guarantee, what "Halt and Catch Fire" instead offers is a benevolent, open-ended sense of confident ambiguity... We sense that Donna and Cameron can endure, even if their latest business venture doesn't, and we sense that Joe has finally found some measure of inner peace." Ben Travers of "IndieWire" gave the episode an "A", praising a line from Donna's gala speech ("The one constant is you. It's us. The project gets us to the people.") by saying: "What an incredible line to deliver for a series that's become such an honest, meditative look at people more than their product.