concerning the comedic elements of "the harrowing", "sunday times" critics said that "comedy doesn't come blacker than this". jack seale, of the "radio times", said that viewers would "marvel at how [the writers could] pepper the elegant script with gags without breaking the spell". dessau also felt that the script was "great", and commented on a "particularly pithy" joke, "just when you least expect it". nick rutherford and keith watson, writing for the "metro", downplayed the comedy of the episode, saying that "the odd defiantly bad joke ... pierced the darkness". they felt that "the harrowing" was a weak instalment of "inside no. 9", giving it three out of five stars. the ending, these critics suggested, was "a bit of a cop out" rather than "daring". for them, unlike in other "inside no. 9" scripts, there was no twist. alex hoskins, writing for the "cheddar valley gazette", acknowledged that the "ending will most likely have sparked an online outcry", but felt that "it was fantastic, fearless and a perfect end to [the] series". dessau shared a positive view, saying that the series ended "on an absolute high", with one of his favourite episodes.