Schedeen opined that the soup kitchen storyline had potential but ultimately said it lacked humour. He and Eames criticized the lack of message for viewers about being thankful or generous and said that Howard's selfishness is instead rewarded by meeting Elon Musk. Preece was critical of the subplot saying Howard was "misused" by "providing lazy comedic relief to compensate for some of the more dramatic things" the show has done in "The Platonic Permutation" and the wider season.