In preparation for the earlier series, Fielder and his team role-played scenarios to predict how real people reacted to his ridiculous suggestions, an exercise that often proved inaccurate.

The website's critics consensus reads, "The Rehearsal gives Nathan Fielder carte blanche to take his absurdist comedy to the limit, which he pushes even further past with deadpan aplomb in what might be his most uncomfortably funny feat yet.

"[21] Vox's Alissa Wilkinson likewise called the show "an excellent reminder that we know much less about others than we think we do," and compared it to the writings of Leslie Jamison and Martin Buber.

[22] The show's blurring of simulation and reality have drawn comparisons to the Charlie Kaufman film Synecdoche, New York and the Tom McCarthy novel Remainder.

Vulture described Fielder's "willingness to screw with people" and put them in situations that might embarrass them or cause them to do things that are out of character being the core thread of his work.

"[25] The series' central idea of rehearsing and performing social interactions resonated with many autistic viewers, who viewed it as an analogy for masking.