Writing

According to Fuller, the idea to have Abigail involved in her father's crimes came after David Fury said "Nobody's ever going to believe in a million years that Abigail Hobbs had anything to do with these murders, so we're kind of chasing a story that the audience isn't going to embrace, because they're going to know that Abigail Hobbs didn't help her father", to which Fuller responded "Unless she did."^[1]

Viewers

The episode was watched by 3.51 million viewers, earning a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking second on its timeslot and eleventh for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Wife Swap, a rerun of Person of Interest, two episodes of Parks and Recreation, Glee, a rerun of 2 Broke Girls, a rerun of Two and a Half Men, American Idol and two reruns of The Big Bang Theory.^[2] This is a 20% decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.38 million viewers with a 1.7/5 in the 18-49 demographics.^[3] This means that 1.4 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With DVR factored in, the episode was watched by 5.58 million viewers with a 2.4 in the 18-49 demographics.^[4]

Critical reviews

"Potage" received positive response from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.6 out of 10 and wrote, "This was the third episode of Hannibal and it's really gratifying to see how things are moving along, with the show not falling into a set formula. There was no new killer this week - the story was all about Abigail and what occurred in the first episode with her father. And while we still haven't actually seen Hannibal kill onscreen, his sudden attack on Alana gave us our first look at what a scary, physical threat he can be, behind that calm, soft spoken demeanor."^[5]

Molly Eichel of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" and wrote, "Is evil hereditary? Could Abigail Hobbs have caught crazy from her murderous father? That's an assumption — made by Jack Crawford, Abigail's neighbors, the relatives of a possible victim, even Abigail herself — but if Abigail has inherited a nasty case of nuts, what does that make Will Graham? The irony inherent in 'Potage' is that those who think they are the ones capable of real harm, who have caught it from others, are damaged by circumstance, but it's the sanest-seeming among them, Hannibal Lecter, who is the one harboring the true demons. 'Potage' is the episode where the demons are let out to play, if for only a little bit."^[6]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "'Potage' did a strong job of continuing to explore the themes of the series (what it means to kill someone, the emotional toll it takes, etc.), and the relationship between Lecter and Will, and it continued the story of Garrett Jacob Hobbs through the story of his daughter Abigail. Though we've had a standalone killer in last week's mushroom man, it's important for the series to depict the lingering aftermath of these horrific crimes."^[7] Laura Akers of Den of Geek wrote, "But the question that Hannibal has been asking approaches the problem from a slightly different angle: 'Is Abigail Hobbs capable of doing this terrible thing?' The show has clearly established the guilt of her father, a serial killer who took the lives of eight girls who resembled his daughter. But this week's Potage focuses on the possibility that Abigail was not just his victim, but his accomplice."^[8]