The Thing with Feathers

The episode was viewed by 4.45 million people in the US, earning a 1.3/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking third on its timeslot and sixth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind 20/20, Primetime: What Would You Do?, CSI: NY, Blue Bloods and Undercover Boss.[1] This was a 7% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.15 from an 1.2/4 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] This means that 1.3 percent of all US households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

"The Thing with Feathers" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B−" grade and wrote, "My bigger issue is that Grimm is stuck with a Hank Problem as well. He and Juliette are similarly nebulous in their relation to Nick. Hank is the unnecessary partner, the one that provides less guidance in comparison to Eddie Monroe, and whose connection to Nick is much more tenuous. Why do he and Nick have such a cohesive partnership? Why would his involvement with the Hexenbiest Adaline Schade be such a big plot point moving forward? Grimm has not done a good enough job establishing the police partnership as an integral relationship in the show on par with Nick's relationship to Eddie or to his girlfriend/potential fiancé. To me, they serve a similar purpose, and if the preview for next week is accurate, Hank is about to assume the damsel in distress position that Juliette occupied a few weeks ago, and he will also have no idea what the Wesen world has to do with his involvement in a case."[3]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.0 star rating out of 5, stating, "Getting to the episode, not much happened this week, and for the most part Grimm suffered because of it. Most of it is due to the unresolved obstacles between Nick and Juliette. I'm all for characters growing further apart as the secrets one or more of them harbor continue to pile on and on, but when it happens too quickly or things begin to get out of hand it's time to change things up or resolve it. Grimm has reached that point."[4]

Shilo Adams from TV Overmind wrote, "Grimm may have been about the birds tonight, but thankfully, it didn't lay an egg. (Har har.) 'The Thing with Feathers' felt like a strong balance between procedural and serial, Nick and his supporting cast, the human and Grimm sides of Nick Burkhardt. It's been tough for Grimm to strike that kind of harmony between all of its elements, with only a few episodes clicking on all cylinders. Last night may have featured a slightly rote case, but it was surrounded by a lot of good stuff and the way it was handled differentiated it from the dryer, less unique episodes earlier in the season. Grimm may have found a way to handle a solid supporting cast and two important sides of its storytelling, but it looks like Nick has to figure out just how much of his other life he'll let Juliette in on, if any at all."[5]