diff --git a/flow/.golangci.yml b/flow/.golangci.yml
index 9897773d62..eee69b73a1 100644
--- a/flow/.golangci.yml
+++ b/flow/.golangci.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ linters:
     - durationcheck
     - errcheck
     - forbidigo
+    - gocritic
     - gofumpt
     - gosec
     - gosimple
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ linters:
     - misspell
     - nakedret
     - nolintlint
+    - nonamedreturns
     - prealloc
     - staticcheck
     - stylecheck
@@ -28,6 +30,9 @@ linters:
     - wastedassign
     - whitespace
 linters-settings:
+  gocritic:
+    disabled-checks:
+      - ifElseChain
   stylecheck:
     checks:
       - all
diff --git a/flow/connectors/clickhouse/clickhouse.go b/flow/connectors/clickhouse/clickhouse.go
index de51b0feb9..59f58b1379 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/clickhouse/clickhouse.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/clickhouse/clickhouse.go
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ func NewClickhouseConnector(ctx context.Context,
 }
 
 func connect(ctx context.Context, config *protos.ClickhouseConfig) (*sql.DB, error) {
-	dsn := fmt.Sprintf("tcp://%s:%d?username=%s&password=%s", //&database=%s"
-		config.Host, config.Port, config.User, config.Password) //, config.Database
+	dsn := fmt.Sprintf("tcp://%s:%d?username=%s&password=%s", // TODO &database=%s"
+		config.Host, config.Port, config.User, config.Password) // TODO , config.Database
 
 	conn, err := sql.Open("clickhouse", dsn)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/flow/connectors/clickhouse/qrep.go b/flow/connectors/clickhouse/qrep.go
index 74ffe26524..77ca30035b 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/clickhouse/qrep.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/clickhouse/qrep.go
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func (c *ClickhouseConnector) isPartitionSynced(partitionID string) (bool, error
 }
 
 func (c *ClickhouseConnector) SetupQRepMetadataTables(config *protos.QRepConfig) error {
-	err := c.createQRepMetadataTable() //(createMetadataTablesTx)
+	err := c.createQRepMetadataTable()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func (c *ClickhouseConnector) SetupQRepMetadataTables(config *protos.QRepConfig)
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *ClickhouseConnector) createQRepMetadataTable() error { // createMetadataTableTx *sql.Tx
+func (c *ClickhouseConnector) createQRepMetadataTable() error {
 	// Define the schema
 	schemaStatement := `
 	CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS %s (
diff --git a/flow/connectors/postgres/client.go b/flow/connectors/postgres/client.go
index bf5bb98c46..51f5d025f5 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/postgres/client.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/postgres/client.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package connpostgres
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"log"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -557,12 +556,12 @@ func (c *PostgresConnector) getTableNametoUnchangedCols(flowJobName string, sync
 	for rows.Next() {
 		err := rows.Scan(&destinationTableName, &unchangedToastColumns)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("Failed to scan row: %v", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to scan row: %w", err)
 		}
 		resultMap[destinationTableName.String] = unchangedToastColumns
 	}
 	if err := rows.Err(); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Error iterating over rows: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error iterating over rows: %w", err)
 	}
 	return resultMap, nil
 }
diff --git a/flow/connectors/postgres/escape.go b/flow/connectors/postgres/escape.go
index 280d108338..783c0cd7c7 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/postgres/escape.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/postgres/escape.go
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ func QuoteLiteral(literal string) string {
 	// https://git.postgresql.org/gitweb/?p=postgresql.git;a=blob;f=src/interfaces/libpq/fe-exec.c
 	//
 	// substitute any single-quotes (') with two single-quotes ('')
-	literal = strings.Replace(literal, `'`, `''`, -1)
+	literal = strings.ReplaceAll(literal, `'`, `''`)
 	// determine if the string has any backslashes (\) in it.
 	// if it does, replace any backslashes (\) with two backslashes (\\)
 	// then, we need to wrap the entire string with a PostgreSQL
 	// C-style escape. Per how "PQEscapeStringInternal" handles this case, we
 	// also add a space before the "E"
 	if strings.Contains(literal, `\`) {
-		literal = strings.Replace(literal, `\`, `\\`, -1)
+		literal = strings.ReplaceAll(literal, `\`, `\\`)
 		literal = ` E'` + literal + `'`
 	} else {
 		// otherwise, we can just wrap the literal with a pair of single quotes
@@ -53,5 +53,5 @@ func QuoteIdentifier(name string) string {
 	if end > -1 {
 		name = name[:end]
 	}
-	return `"` + strings.Replace(name, `"`, `""`, -1) + `"`
+	return `"` + strings.ReplaceAll(name, `"`, `""`) + `"`
 }
diff --git a/flow/connectors/postgres/ssh_wrapped_pool.go b/flow/connectors/postgres/ssh_wrapped_pool.go
index a82356a721..9922c41675 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/postgres/ssh_wrapped_pool.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/postgres/ssh_wrapped_pool.go
@@ -137,18 +137,21 @@ func (swpp *SSHWrappedPostgresPool) Close() {
 
 type retryFunc func() error
 
-func retryWithBackoff(fn retryFunc, maxRetries int, backoff time.Duration) (err error) {
-	for i := 0; i < maxRetries; i++ {
-		err = fn()
+func retryWithBackoff(fn retryFunc, maxRetries int, backoff time.Duration) error {
+	i := 0
+	for {
+		err := fn()
 		if err == nil {
 			return nil
 		}
-		if i < maxRetries-1 {
+		i += 1
+		if i < maxRetries {
 			slog.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Attempt #%d failed, retrying in %s", i+1, backoff))
 			time.Sleep(backoff)
+		} else {
+			return err
 		}
 	}
-	return err
 }
 
 // see: https://github.com/jackc/pgx/issues/382#issuecomment-1496586216
diff --git a/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go b/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go
index d2fc3a477d..29f41d5995 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"log"
 	"log/slog"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
@@ -383,12 +382,12 @@ func (c *SnowflakeConnector) getTableNametoUnchangedCols(flowJobName string, syn
 		var r UnchangedToastColumnResult
 		err := rows.Scan(&r.TableName, &r.UnchangedToastColumns)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("Failed to scan row: %v", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to scan row: %w", err)
 		}
 		resultMap[r.TableName] = r.UnchangedToastColumns
 	}
 	if err := rows.Err(); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Error iterating over rows: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error iterating over rows: %w", err)
 	}
 	return resultMap, nil
 }
diff --git a/flow/connectors/utils/partition/partition.go b/flow/connectors/utils/partition/partition.go
index cb2f326a66..37ecd15f37 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/utils/partition/partition.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/utils/partition/partition.go
@@ -45,14 +45,12 @@ func compareValues(prevEnd interface{}, start interface{}) int {
 			return -1
 		} else if pe.BlockNumber > v.BlockNumber {
 			return 1
+		} else if pe.OffsetNumber < v.OffsetNumber {
+			return -1
+		} else if pe.OffsetNumber > v.OffsetNumber {
+			return 1
 		} else {
-			if pe.OffsetNumber < v.OffsetNumber {
-				return -1
-			} else if pe.OffsetNumber > v.OffsetNumber {
-				return 1
-			} else {
-				return 0
-			}
+			return 0
 		}
 	case uint32: // xmin
 		if prevEnd.(uint32) < v {
diff --git a/flow/e2e/bigquery/bigquery_helper.go b/flow/e2e/bigquery/bigquery_helper.go
index 445488266e..7d2c5bce6b 100644
--- a/flow/e2e/bigquery/bigquery_helper.go
+++ b/flow/e2e/bigquery/bigquery_helper.go
@@ -382,11 +382,11 @@ func (b *BigQueryTestHelper) ExecuteAndProcessQuery(query string) (*model.QRecor
 }
 
 // returns whether the function errors or there are nulls
-func (b *BigQueryTestHelper) CheckNull(tableName string, ColName []string) (bool, error) {
-	if len(ColName) == 0 {
+func (b *BigQueryTestHelper) CheckNull(tableName string, colName []string) (bool, error) {
+	if len(colName) == 0 {
 		return true, nil
 	}
-	joinedString := strings.Join(ColName, " is null or ") + " is null"
+	joinedString := strings.Join(colName, " is null or ") + " is null"
 	command := fmt.Sprintf("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM `%s.%s` WHERE %s",
 		b.Config.DatasetId, tableName, joinedString)
 	q := b.client.Query(command)
@@ -419,8 +419,8 @@ func (b *BigQueryTestHelper) CheckNull(tableName string, ColName []string) (bool
 }
 
 // check if NaN, Inf double values are null
-func (b *BigQueryTestHelper) CheckDoubleValues(tableName string, ColName []string) (bool, error) {
-	csep := strings.Join(ColName, ",")
+func (b *BigQueryTestHelper) CheckDoubleValues(tableName string, colName []string) (bool, error) {
+	csep := strings.Join(colName, ",")
 	command := fmt.Sprintf("SELECT %s FROM `%s.%s`",
 		csep, b.Config.DatasetId, tableName)
 	q := b.client.Query(command)
diff --git a/flow/hstore/hstore.go b/flow/hstore/hstore.go
index 0253fef2b1..cbb7d60c8a 100644
--- a/flow/hstore/hstore.go
+++ b/flow/hstore/hstore.go
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ func (p *hstoreParser) atEnd() bool {
 }
 
 // consume returns the next byte of the string, or end if the string is done.
-func (p *hstoreParser) consume() (b byte, end bool) {
+func (p *hstoreParser) consume() (byte, bool) {
 	if p.pos >= len(p.str) {
 		return 0, true
 	}
-	b = p.str[p.pos]
+	b := p.str[p.pos]
 	p.pos++
 	return b, false
 }
diff --git a/flow/shared/signals.go b/flow/shared/signals.go
index 2097ba95c5..5e441d0110 100644
--- a/flow/shared/signals.go
+++ b/flow/shared/signals.go
@@ -7,16 +7,17 @@ import (
 func FlowSignalHandler(activeSignal CDCFlowSignal,
 	v CDCFlowSignal, logger log.Logger,
 ) CDCFlowSignal {
-	if v == ShutdownSignal {
+	switch v {
+	case ShutdownSignal:
 		logger.Info("received shutdown signal")
 		return v
-	} else if v == PauseSignal {
+	case PauseSignal:
 		logger.Info("received pause signal")
 		if activeSignal == NoopSignal {
 			logger.Info("workflow was running, pausing it")
 			return v
 		}
-	} else if v == NoopSignal {
+	case NoopSignal:
 		logger.Info("received resume signal")
 		if activeSignal == PauseSignal {
 			logger.Info("workflow was paused, resuming it")