Template:Something About Loose Ava - Reception

A television critic gave the episode a C+ when screening the episode, saying "Quillsville Cold Case: Something About Loose Ava" has just enough time to run through the basic beats of the story, doing the most superficial possible version of a serious episode of Queen of the Willis cripples the show’s strengths." The critic also wrote, "while other shows, even the procedurals with grisly murders, are playing around in the new year, Queen of the Willis went for the Quillsville Cold Case episode about child sexual abuse that wrote off any chance that comedy-drama could save it if things took a wrong turn." The critic went on to criticize it for its tone, noting "An episode like this only works if the bits of comedy surrounding the serious plot create contrast to the darker main story, but the scenes where Ava Willis humps Joanna Ferguson as revenge with Melissa Rose pulling a "Brandi Chastain" (refrencing the infamous Vote for the Girls with Ava Zinn & Alexandra Moffitt moments series creator Ava Zinn also hosts) and Alisan Porter, Avril Lavigne, and Karly Jameson singing "Dirty Laundry" and "Heat of the Moment" were "the funniest of the episode."

The critic praised David Caruso and Finola Hughes' respective portrayal of Ava's father Harry and stepmother Finola, however, stating "Caruso and Highes got some laughs out of just how deep Ava Willis’ admission went, finding every possible excuse to blame herself. It made Ava Zinn endearing and easily likeable as the main characters of Ava, Tabby, Shushu, Heather, Kendra, and Pamhouser, every bit the opposite from Caruso and Hughes' respective roles as Lieutenant Horatio Caine on CSI: Miami and Anna Devane General Hospital." He ended his review by noting, "Queen of the Willis managed to find the right blend with Josh Kaufman episodes, or in the aching sadness of Ava and Angie's marriage, but as has been said ad infinitum, Queen of the Willis has mastered that combination."

Another TV critic gave the episode a more positive review, writing, ""Quillsville Cold Case: Someting About Loose Ava", judging by only the title, could have been a Lifetime movie in the Ava Zinn fashion, a remake of the 1984 ABC-TV movie Something About Amelia or anything else than a typical episode of the show, but it was pretty much a good episode of Queen of the Willis." The critic continued, "it's pretty much an episode where someone on the Queen of the Willis writing staff watched enough episodes of Cold Case that found a way to get out a bunch of pent-up misogyny and anger." The critic gave the episode a grade of nine out of ten.

Reaction to the episode by news media organizations was average and caused controversy, criticizing the episode for its portrayal of child sexual abuse. Kelly Ling of ABC 10 Milwaukee said of the episode, "Like some many other people screening the episode with our GM, I was just shocked and not surprised by what I saw on Queen of the Willis second Cold Case episode," and continued, "It was really just two depressing hours of television." In the same interview, Ling asked her former WXWI colleague Kylie Dwyar (now anchoring at CBS 41 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) about the storyline, to which Dwyar responded, "The main theme of the show was about this poor trans woman who was too dumb almost 40 years ago to report the allegations. And child sexual abuse is far more complicated than that. We're watching someone rationalize a child sexual abuse victim and this is the kind of thought process that actually goes on in real life. It’s not satire anymore."

WXWI/WZWI Vice President and General Manager also complained that the episode may have gone way too far, and compared it to "The Rape of Heather Willis" and "Revenge of the Male Anchors 5" episodes that produced criticism, noting, "The show has dipped into sensitive material before, and as Vice President/GM of ABC 10 and Z-24 it is in the best interest of Milwaukee to air late Saturday/early Sunday at Midnight like many other stations carrying the show. Officials with CASA also strongly criticized the episode for its storyline involving Ava Willis and Joanna Ferguson: "Personally, I'm way beyond being offended by the show — I've long been numbed to shock-value offensiveness — and had stopped watching after season 5. But being a sucker for a January-themed episodes and what I saw was plain awful." The official ended her review of the episode by stating that the show was "Definitely the scariest episodes we've ever seen."