Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly and Aly Semigran of MTV both deemed it the best episode of the show thus far, and the Houston Chronicle's Bobby Hankinson called it potentially "the most-enjoyable hour of television of all time.

Club criticizing the increasing number of musical performances for disrupting the tonal balance of the show, and IGN's Eric Goldman questioning the series' writing.

When Will observes the Cheerios performing a routine with stilts to "Ray of Light", he is inspired to set a Madonna-themed assignment to restore the girls to equal status.

When Will ridicules Sue's fashion sense, Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Mercedes (Amber Riley) give her a makeover, recreating Madonna's "Vogue" video.

Jesse transfers to William McKinley High School, leaving the Vocal Adrenaline glee club to join New Directions, so that he and Rachel can be openly together.

[8] Before the episode's track listing was announced, Morrison hoped that his character, glee club director Will Schuester, would sing "Like a Virgin", believing it befit Will's relationship with guidance counsellor Emma Pillsbury.

[9] TV Guide's William Keck later confirmed that Emma would be involved in the staging of "Like a Virgin", with Mays' agreement that the song is "very appropriate and fitting" for her character.

Its track list encompasses "Express Yourself", a mash-up of "Borderline" and "Open Your Heart", "Vogue", "Like a Virgin", "4 Minutes", "What it Feels Like for a Girl", and "Like a Prayer".

[11] Although they were not performed by the show's cast, Madonna's "Ray of Light",[3] "Burning Up",[12] "Justify My Love",[13] and "Frozen" were also used as backing tracks in the episode.

Competing against the Glee episode "Hairography", Stacey K. Black, Mary G. Stultz, Roxanne N. Sutphen and Gina Bonacquisti were nominated for "Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series", and competing against the episode "Theatricality", Eryn Krueger Mekash, Kelley Mitchell, Jennifer Greenberg, Robin Neal-Luce, Kelcey Fry and Zoe Haywas were nominated for "Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)".

[28] Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle went further in his praise, calling "The Power of Madonna" potentially "the most-enjoyable hour of television of all time.

"[1] Kevin Coll of Fused Film felt that the episode redeemed the series following its "dismal comeback" with "Hell-O", calling it "a great story that explored the characters of Glee in much better depth than they ever have.

While she stated that the musical numbers were "among the best things the show has ever done", she felt that "just about everything else around them gets short shrift", criticizing the increase in performances on the first half of the season for upsetting the balance of the series.

[30] Eric Goldman of IGN rated the episode 8/10, observing that while he was in the minority of reviewers for not "absolutely loving it", he found "The Power of Madonna" to be "a bit messy in the writing department, even while it delivered several really great scenes and moments along the way.