The Waking Dead

The episode was viewed by 5.36 million people, earning a 1.7/5 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking first on its timeslot and eighth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, a rerun of The Voice, New Girl, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS, and The Voice.[1] This was a 6% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 5.67 million viewers with a 1.8/5.[2] This means that 1.7 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 5 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With DVR factoring in, the episode was watched by 8.47 million viewers with a 3.0 ratings share in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"The Waking Dead" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "It's becoming a common occurrence for me to grow increasingly worried about the direction of an episode of Grimm up through the middle, only to have the back half wind together the various positive threads into something coherent. 'The Waking Dead' isn't much of a complete episode, and the pace doesn't set out to provide the same kind of payoffs as a typical case-of-the-week plot, but there's a simple reason for that: It's the first half of a two-part finale. The dramatic cliffhanger may be lacking intensity, instead inspiring a few questions, but it's a testament to the progress the show has made that even when the structure doesn't quite fit together or build properly, there are enough positive character moments to keep it from completely devolving. This is all setup for next week's finale, slowly building through longer scenes instead of cutting quickly and putting clues together at a healthy clip."[4]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.0 star rating out of 5, stating: "'The Walking Dead' was a difficult episode to judge. It's unfortunate NBC couldn't work out the scheduling to air this and next Tuesday's installment back to back since so much of hinges on what's coming next. Nevertheless, this was a step up from last week's underwhelming episode."[5]

Shilo Adams from TV Overmind, wrote: "Although the scene where Rosalee, Bud, and Monroe woge in front of Juliette was very strong and nicely balanced the comedy with the genre elements (Bud was especially great), that really should have happened earlier in the show."[6]