Viewers

The episode was broadcast on Thursday December 8, instead of Friday. It was viewed by 4.09 million people, earning a 1.6/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, marking a 25% decrease in viewership and ranking second in its timeslot and twelfth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Parks and Recreation, Whitney, America's Funniest Home Videos, Wipeout, Bones, The Mentalist, Person of Interest, The Office, The X Factor, Rules of Engagement and The Big Bang Theory.^[1] This means that 1.6 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews

"Danse Macabre" received mixed-to-positive reviews. Amy Ratcliffe of IGN gave the episode a "okay" 6.0 out of 10 and wrote "I like this digging into traditional fairytales and turning them on their heads. It definitely makes me think about the darker side of all those familiar bedtime stories, but something is still off. I can't place it, but they're missing beats. I think Grimm is a bit like the kid who has infinite potential but can't seem to apply him/herself. It's still an entertaining show, but it could be so much more."^[2]

The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "Even though I'm warming up to Grimm and laughing at some nice one-liners while I enjoy the fairy tale retellings, those big questions from the pilot are still floating somewhere in the back of my mind. Personally, I find it easy to disregard the overarching questions when Nick and Hank are investigating a case on their own, or whenever Eddie Monroe shows up. But whenever Captain Renard slinks in (and he was in the background of a few scenes tonight), it always highlights that there is a glass ceiling on this show that feels impenetrable at the moment because the show continues to ignore the lingering big questions inherent in the premise and pilot episode. No matter how compellingly the fractured fairy tales unfold, there was a lot of backstory in that first hour that has only reappeared in flashes. 'Beeware,' the best episode of the series so far, managed to tell a story related to the creature world Nick was discovering while he and Hank investigated a case, but no other episode has struck the right blend since."^[3]

TV Overmind's Shilo Adams wrote, "When talking about Grimm's last original episode (which aired in mid-November), I mentioned how badly I wanted the show to fully embrace its dark side, which features a lot of horror movie instincts. What has made Grimm such an interesting show to watch is how visually distinctive it is from (almost) everything else on TV and the show really asserts itself as something different when it piles on the dingy lighting, unique make-up/CGI, and intricately creepy details that keep its other worldly feel alive and kickin'. Simply, allowing Grimm to become a sort-of monster-movie-of-the-week could make for some fun TV."^[4]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 3.9 star rating out of 5, stating: "After what feels like months off the air, Grimm gave us 'Danse Macabre' this week, which brought the Pied Piper into the picture. And, while it was awesome to see this original, deadmaus-esque take, I was left, once again, wanting more. However, there was some improvement from 'Lonelyhearts,' in that there was less sprinkling of overarching plot and a much greater effort in working the overall story go forward. Even if that means it has to involve the forever boring Juliette."^[5]