Wesen Nacht

The episode was viewed by 3.64 million people, earning a 0.9/3 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking third on its timeslot and tenth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Dateline NBC, 20/20, The Amazing Race, Hawaii Five-0, Dr. Ken, Blue Bloods, MasterChef Junior, Last Man Standing, and Shark Tank.[1] This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 3.69 million viewers with a 0.8/3.[2] This means that 0.9 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 episode was watched by 6.34 million viewers and had a 1.8 ratings share in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"Wesen Nacht" received positive reviews. Les Chappell from The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" rating and wrote, "Grimm isn't a show that you normally think of when you think of big dramatic twists. There have been plenty of cliffhangers deployed over four seasons, and plenty of things that were surprising as they've occurred, but it's not a show that relies on huge narrative twists to keep going in the way that shows like Scandal or Empire do on a weekly basis. By contrast, Grimm is an almost leisurely paced show, one that lays the groundwork for its reveals so what happens feels like the natural order of things. If anything, its problem is that it lays too much groundwork for too many things, to the point that events get subsumed by the weight of plot or mythology and the payoff gets muted."[4]

Kathleen Wiedel from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.8 star rating out of 5, stating: "Um, yeah, so, that happened. I confess, I did not see that one coming. And by 'that one' I mean the sudden apparent resurrection of Juliette. Wow. Grimm Season 5 Episode 6 was quite a strong entry, especially as a lead-in to the winter break. It featured the first public signs of the Occultatem Libera Wesen uprising with a night of vandalism targeting Wesen shops, with one storekeep murdered and another kidnapped. The great thing was that the Case of the Week actually directly dealt with the long-term story arc, so there was no feeling of disconnect, as happened with Grimm Season 5 Episode 5."[5]

Liz Prugh from EW wrote, "What exactly is going on, here? We totally called it in the season's premiere that Juliette may have been resurrected and locked in one of Meisner's dungeon-cells. Recall when Meisner was speaking with Chavez, saying that they had to 'play with fire' — what exactly did they do to her?"[6]

MaryAnn Sleasman from TV.com, wrote, "Can we keep up this pattern of not sucking when you return in 2016, Grimm? I would love it so much because I missed this. I missed watching an episode and not wondering where my life went so wrong for its duration. I missed Monroesalie being perfect. I missed Nick being relatively stable for a guy with secret folklore superpowers. I even missed Trubel. And can we talk about this awesome, badass, capable and confident Trubel that the super secret Grimm + Wesen government taskforce has molded for us during her time globetrotting around doing Grimm stuff? Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, you guys."[7]

Christine Horton of Den of Geek wrote, "Maybe we should all ask Santa for the show to keep to this path upon its return in January? (And maybe a little stocking filler of Meisner?) Grimm is at its best when it gathers its fantastic ensemble cast together in big, action-filled storylines that peel away a little more of the curtain between the human world and Wesen. Let’s hope for more in 2016."[8]