Some silliness is expected from a series about fairy tales, but that wasn't the issue. The delivery and flow all felt a little off. We can see how Emma is slowly succumbing to becoming the Dark One and it's great to see Merlin is already free, but the scenes between Henry and Violet were a distraction and a spell being cured with love is something we've seen before." Ratcliffe gave the episode a 6.5 rating out of 10. In a review from "Rickey.org", Nick Roman said, ""Once Upon a Time" thrived for four seasons on the notion that Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) was the be all, end all hero of the storybook worlds, and ours. Season 5, however, is an exploration into what happens when the best of heroes turn evil, even if the intentions behind the turn were good. To this end, “Dreamcatcher” is a compelling depiction of the corruption of a hero. After all, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Gwen Ihnat of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode positive review, giving it a B-. While she liked the episode, she left some reservations: "Ultimately, depending on what you want from your Once, “Dreamcatcher” was a bit of a let down. It moved the plot along, but at a feverish pace and with built in leaps in faith and storyline that just haven't been explained enough. (How, for instance, did Emma learn that she could capture memories in dreamcatchers? [Emma learns from Mr. Gold how to use a Dreamcatcher in Season 2, using Pongo's memories to see what happened between Archie & Regina.] And why is that the craft she chose now that she doesn't need to sleep? [It's a reference to Neal, who was mentioned throughout the episode.]) Maybe all those assumptions and conclusions will be eventually explained in one of those “ohhhhh, I get it now” summations a couple of episodes down the road, but maybe not. Once's writers and creators have a tendency to play fast and loose with their storylines, knowing their audience will just kind of accept it and move on. Thus, these kinds of leaps aren't really out of the question for them. (You can't blame them, really. We’re already watching a show about fairy tales, for crying out loud.) But I didn't really get “Dreamcatcher.” I'm not sure that I'm supposed to yet, and down the road I might change my mind and say, “you know, that was the episode I need to go back and watch now that I know what I know.”