Critical Response
"Chuck Versus the Ex" received positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave this episode a score of 8.5 out of 10, writing, "A much-discussed but never seen bit of Chuck history was attractively fleshed out this week, as we finally met Jill, Chuck's college girlfriend", calling Chuck's attempts to get close to Jill a "well done arc for the episode". Of the episode's conclusion, Goldman wrote, "Chuck's attempts to save the way led to some very funny situations, culminating when he had a would-be ingenious plan to use saliva to process the cure Jill had put within him, and kissed Casey. The fact that Chuck was totally wrong about his plan was great and a nice twist on 'the crazy plan that just might work!' idea."
Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, writing "This was a pretty terrific episode even by the high standards of this second season. The spy plot worked. The Buy More stuff worked. The Chuck-and-Sarah (or, more accurately, Chuck-without-Sarah) thread led to some interesting places. And we got hot Chuck-on-John action. That's a full hour of Chuck, all right. But there was one central element that didn't work for me at all. This is a story about Chuck's romantic life, past, present, and possible future." Unlike Goldman, Phipps found the character of Jill flatly-written and awkwardly-conceived.
Viewer response was also positive, with an 9/10 user rating at TV.com. The episode drew 6.338 million viewers.
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