Make Your Own Kind of Music (Dexter)

In its original American broadcast, "Make Your Own Kind of Music" was seen by an estimated 2.28 million household viewers with a 1.1 in the 18–49 demographics. This means that 1.1 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.^[2] This was a 17% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by an estimated 1.94 million household viewers with a 0.9 in the 18–49 demographics.^[3]

"Make Your Own Kind of Music" received mixed reviews from critics. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.5 out of 10, and wrote, ""Make Your Own Kind of Music" finally put a face to the Brain Surgeon, and gave Dexter a "last mission"-style target, but it came at the expense of logic, suspense, and Evelyn Vogel. I do hope things get darker and harsher from here on out. No, I don't need things to be randomly perverse or needlessly dour, but I certainly don't want to spend the last three episodes trudging through Dexter territory that's already been explored. And most of all, I'd hate to think that this particular world is being held at a boring status quo so that Showtime - should they decide to - can have their Dexter spinoff series."^[4]

Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "D" grade and wrote, "The episode is a complete mess from the beginning, starting from the opening scene of Dexter and Hannah enjoying some cuddle time. Even the acting didn't seem right, and Michael C. Hall's performance is one of the few reliable aspects of this show. But when he does his quivering tone, mumble-mouthed speech to communicate how much he loves Hannah Dexter, I want to do to my television what Dexter wants to do to the Brain Surgeon. Speaking of the Brain Surgeon, surprise, he's someone no one cares about."^[5]

Richard Rys of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Of course, everyone's learning this now for the purposes of storytelling, not realism. That doesn't mean the story itself is great. Although this episode was a step up from last week (and the week before), the show still doesn't feel like it's ramping up to the epic finish it deserves."^[6] Kevin Fitzpatrick of ScreenCrush wrote, "Don't gets us wrong, we're glad to see the final season develop its ultimate trajectory at last, though three episodes to turn around our investment in the ending seems like a tall order for a series so uncertain of what it wants for its own main character."^[7]

James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "You know what would have given Dex a motive? If the brain surgeon had killed anybody meaningful on this show. That would be a motive, that would give this story some juice. But I'm starting to get the feeling the core cast isn't going anywhere (aside from, potentially, Dex and Harrison), with the whole spin-off idea brewing."^[8] Cory Barker of TV.com wrote, "Ultimately, what's weird about this season is that amid all the starts and stops, it just keeps building, only I have no clue to where or to what it's building to. I could guess, but that's gone very poorly thus far, and it's not even like there's mystery in the air. I've never experienced a final season that's so weirdly paced, simultaneously content to wait out the clock and to throw a slew of half-baked but interesting ideas at the audience. It's not even frustrating, it's mostly fascinating, or something."^[9]

Andrea Reiher of Zap2it wrote, "There are three episodes left, leaving plenty of time for Dexter's life to go down the tubes, which makes us very sad. But for now, we're keeping our eyes on the living-with-Hannah-and-Harrison-in-Argentina prize."^[10] Alan Danzis of BuddyTV wrote, "are those answers satisfying from a dramatic perspective? While it's always challenging to get the audience to care about new characters, it just seems like past seasons' bad guys have had more charisma and depth than the Brain Surgeon/Oliver Saxon does this season."^[11]

Nick Harley of Den of Geek gave the episode a 2 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "There's only three episodes left, and if this weren't the final season of Dexter, I think I would give up on it right now. I can no longer hope for this show to return to its former glory or even expect it to have passable moments. So much of “Make Your Own Kind of Music” was bad."^[12] Miranda Wicker of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 3.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It may not be clear to Dexter yet, but after tonight it's certainly clear to me how and why Dr. Vogel became so fascinated with psychopaths. And it's not because she's trying to cure them. Or even understand them."^[13]

Alex Moaba of HuffPost wrote, "All in all, "Make Your Own Kind Music" was a suspenseful episode that did a great job of setting up the series' final three hours. It gave me that excited feeling of watching a well-executed Dexter climax come together down the stretch. And at this point, for this show, that's all we can ask for."^[14] Television Without Pity gave the episode a "C" grade.^[15]

• "Make Your Own Kind of Music" at IMDb