"El Cuegle" is the 4th episode of season 6 of the supernatural drama television seriesGrimm and the 114th episode overall, which premiered on January 27, 2017, on the cable networkNBC. The episode was written by Brenna Kouf and was directed by Carlos Avila. In the episode, Nick and Hank investigate the kidnapping of a baby that happened because of a creature named Cuegle. Meanwhile, Rosalee and Monroe discover something about the baby while Renard is haunted by Meisner's hallucinations. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the Renard storyline and the case of the week.
Plot
Opening quote: "Foretold our fate; but, by the god's decree, all heard, and none believed the prophecy." Renard is shocked to find Meisner in his house and touches him in order to find if he's real. He's called by Grossante, who's angry for the incident at the conference. When he hangs up, he finds Meisner gone. Back in the spice shop, Adalind tells Diana that they will move with Nick for a while. Diana then checks on Rosalee and discovers that she's pregnant with more than one baby. After being reinstated, Nick and Hank have to investigate the kidnapping of a baby boy. The kidnapper turns out to be a Wesen of the Cuegle type, that claims he has visions of the babies' futures, and only eats those who will grow up to do truly terrible things. Meanwhile, Renard keeps having discussions with his Meisner hallucination.
Reception
Viewers
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. This was a slight decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.29 million viewers with a 0.8/3. 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.
Critical reviews
"El Cuegle" received positive reviews. Les Chappell from The A.V. Club gave the episode a "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 Grimms 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." 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." 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 Grimms final season." 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." 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."
