El Cuegle

The episode was viewed by 4.28 million people, earning a 0.8/3 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking second on its timeslot and ninth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind a rerun of Blue Bloods, a rerun of Hawaii Five-0, 20/20, Dr. Ken, a rerun of Shark Tank, Dateline NBC, Last Man Standing, and Shark Tank.^[1] This was a slight decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.29 million viewers with a 0.8/3.^[2] This means that 0.8 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 3 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With DVR factoring in, the finale was watched by 6.29 million viewers and had a 1.5 ratings share in the 18-49 demographics.^[3]

"El Cuegle" received positive reviews. Les Chappell from The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A−" rating and wrote, "For that reason, 'El Cuegle' is exactly the episode we needed at this juncture. It's a monster-of-the-week episode, but it's also one of the best monster-of-the-week episodes that Grimm's had in recent memory, a reminder of the virtues of the format. And while it brushes over some of the recent developments to get us where we need to be, it also doesn't forget the more important developments and retains the feeling that we're still heading to some form of conclusion."^[4]

Kathleen Wiedel from TV Fanatic, gave a 4 star rating out of 5, stating: "As monster of the week stories go, this one was actually rather interesting to me and evoked some potentially intriguing philosophical questions. Though it almost certainly would have been better if someone actually asked the questions."^[5]

Sara Netzley from EW gave the episode an "A" rating and wrote, "Was this not one of the best stand-alone monsters Grimm has ever showcased? The 'We won... didn't we?' vibe felt like a classic X-Files episode — which is the highest compliment you can pay a television show. It's sophisticated storytelling and continues a streak of knockout episodes in Grimm's final season."^[6]

TV.com, wrote, "So 'El Cuegle' was pretty much the same basic Grimm episode that we know and love. Or at least the writers think we do, because they keep dragging it out. It feels like we've seen it about 167 times. And it keeps getting funnier every time we see it! Sorry, Beetlejuice moment."^[7]

Christine Horton of Den of Geek wrote, "From its preview, next week's episode appears to be more of the same. This inevitability leads to the question of how the writers are pacing this shorter final season. Perhaps they think it would be too much to keep for viewers to keep the action ramped up across the 13 episodes? Black Claw is still a threat so there's plenty left to fight for. Or maybe this is the calm before the storm? Let's hope so."^[8]

• "El Cuegle" at IMDb