Template:QOTW - The Rape of Heather Willis/Reception

This episode received mixed critical reviews. One critic wrote of the episode before it aired, "The chilling serious episode of Queen of the Willis cripples the show’s strengths." Other shows, even the procedurals with rape and incest, are playing around during prom season, Queen of the Willis went for an episode about rape that wrote off any chance that comedy could save it if things took a wrong turn." The critic praised Ava Zinn's performance Ava Willis and Heather Willis like we never saw them before. It made Ava Zinn endearing every bit the opposite from from a typical episode, and I applaud Zinn for taking part in the #MeToo movement"

Another critic gave the episode a slightly more positive review, writing, ""The Rape of Heather Willis", judging by only the title, could have been a Lifetime movie or a made for TV film in the Ava Zinn fashion or anything else than a typical episode of the show, but it was pretty much a typical episode of the show." He continued, "it's pretty much that episode where someone on the Queen of the Willis writing staff needed a new way to get out of its comfort zone and this episode saw a family dealing with rape."