Ink Master (2012–…): Season 13, Episode 2 - Clash of the Collages - full transcript

male announcer: On the last
episode of "Ink Master"...

the turf war began.

- You will form four teams

based solely on what region
of the country you call home.

- What?
[all speaking at once]

- Let's kick their ass
and their ass and their ass.

announcer:
Artists battle for safety

while tattooing
their home states.

- Do you need any sandpaper
to, like, take it off?

I have some.

- Why would I listen to you?
Get back to work.



- Each of your tattoos
have been ranked by the judges.

If you made it into the top 12,
you are safe.

- There's people sitting there

that have blowouts,
[bleep] up line work.

- You did a tattoo
that's not technically solid.

That is your fault, not mine.

- I 100% disagree.
- You can.

- And that's your right.

announcer:
The bottom seven artists

have one last chance
to prove their worth.

- I'm gonna show everyone
who they're [bleep] with.

- Judges, it is time
to determine who's going home.

- Jason has
the most problems technically.

- But he did
a competitive tattoo.



I see Emac struggled.

Nychelle struggled.

- It's probably
the one that shows

the least amount
of fundamentals.

- Nychelle, you do not
have what it takes

to be Ink Master.

[dramatic music]

¶ ¶

announcer: 18 artists remain,

but only one
will earn the $100,000 prize

and the title of Ink Master.

[rock music]

¶ ¶

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

¶ ¶

- I'm gonna be honest.

I definitely think
you should've went home.

- I definitely
hit the challenge.

- You needed everyone
on your team

to help you design
a tattoo that big.

- I follow
what my team told me.

- It's not a team.

- We're all gonna
stand together right now.

- But at the end of the day,

it's every man and woman
for himself.

I don't need help.

- [bleep] my team until
it's time to use my team

to get to the next place.
- Yeah.

- Patrick's been tattooing
for super a long time.

He's got a ego.
He thinks he's by himself.

We'll work him in.

- Y'all can pussyfoot around
it,

I'm man enough to say it.

There's only gonna be
one person on that stage

that claims that title.

- You've got one good critique

and now you're back
to acting like an asshole.

I mean, boom.

[rock music]

¶ ¶

- Congratulations.
You've survived the first week.

[all exclaim at once]

Stand united as a team
or divided you could fall.

- Tough for
some of these teams.

- Good luck with the South.

- One thing is certain,

only one of you
will earn $100,000,

a feature in "Inked" magazine,

and the title of Ink Master.

- Definitely gonna be
here in the West.

- For your first
flash challenge

you will win or lose as a team.

- We gotta work together, guys.
- Yup.

- This week we're testing
the fundamentals.

- That's good.

You need to be able
to use line

and you need to navigate color.

It's the foundation.

You can have a beautiful house,

but if it's built
on a bunch of shitty rocks

it's gonna collapse.

- Today you must
create a masterpiece

on the side of a 45-foot-long
tour bus using only

postcards.

- Oh-ho!
- Oh, man.

[dramatic music]

- Hell, nah.

It's not "Postcard Master,"
This is "Ink Master."

Man, you trippin'.

- Eh, [bleep] ain't gonna
be easy, [bleep].

Only four of us?

- It's a big [bleep] bus.

- We're looking for a mosaic.

You need to do something

that'll blend
to make one image

that we can see from far away.

- Be creative.
You can do art.

You can treat it
as a billboard.

You can treat it
as anything you want.

The image here
has to have an impact.

- Think big,
make something awesome.

- Win this challenge and
your team will have the power

to assign
all the human canvases

in the elimination tattoo.

- We're gonna have to shine
hard on this one, all right?

- You have six hours.

- Oh, [bleep].

- And your time starts...

now.

- Let's do it, go!

- Yeah, grab some pencils.

- This week
we are testing fundamentals

so we wanna see
a legible image.

- I'm thinking right now

that we make
an even bigger postcard.

- I think it would kinda cool

to do a giant,
half-peeled cob of corn.

- It's not a
abstract challenge.

We're not just looking for,
"Oh, there's a bunch of color."

We're looking for an image.

- I was thinking,
like, Wild West.

- Couple cactus?
- Yeah, yeah.

- You've gotta create
and tell a story out of a mess.

- We just gotta
get our idea down.

- Yeah, what are you ideas?

- [bleep], I don't know.

- We could do
a light hanging down

with the light coming out
from it and, like, a moth.

- I mean,
we've gotta think creative,

outside of the box,
no tattoo imagery.

- So we do a white limo.

We have two wheels.

They're gonna play in--

we incorporate those
in the design.

And to keep other people

from knowing
that we're using the wheels,

we can start from the top,
work our way down.

- Yeah.
- If we just go too simple,

I think it might
bite us in the ass.

I just wanna make sure
we're hitting

that challenge of fundamentals
and making sure it's--

- Okay, well, in my season,
every time I designed it I won.

Let's hope today
that Patrick decides

that he wants to
be a team player.

- Let's [bleep] roll with it.

- Right now the South
is pretty down.

Actually, geographically
we are.

We gotta start getting some
wins underneath our belt

and bring this morale up.

- What's the plan here?

- Uh, it looks like
I'm sticking yellow rectangles.

- I just--I don't want to put
words in your mouth there.

My answer, if I did,
would be losing.

- Oh.
I tell you what, though.

See this?
It was a road flare.

Your team
needs some assistance.

- Ooh, look at that!
[laughs]

- You wanna come play, Frank,
come play hard.

I think everybody's
underestimating the South.

I mean, yeah, we
were in the bottom.

It's just the beginning
of the competition.

There's only one place
that we can go.

You guys think
you're at the top?

There's only one place
you can go.

- We have
the fastest drawer here.

- He's [bleep] jammin'.

- We have a good strategy here.

- Do you think we should do
something with these two tires?

Maybe utilizing that shape
for something.

- Nah.

- I think we should just focus
on, like, the image on the bus.

- Not only does my team
need this win,

but I need this win.

- We got it.
- That's it right there.

- Yes, we got it.

- I need to prove
to everyone else

don't second-guess me.

I'm here for a reason
and you're gonna see why.

That's too high.
Move.

- Wait, I'm looking
at the drawing.

- Yeah, I know,
and I see the drawing.

That top of the I
is at the bottom of the horn.

- Yeah, but it cannot be close.
Hey, no, no, no, no, no.

You need it to have
some separation here.

- It's literally just
everything I [bleep] say.

- Hey, hey, don't--hey.
- No.

- Don't [bleep] us up.
- It's cool.

I'm just, like,
I'm trying to help.

I can work a lot faster
than some of you

and no one's [bleep] listening.

- There's so much sass.

West Coast is the sass coast.

- Tryna keep everything kosher.
- Done, asshole.

- And we're over here like,

"Hey, you're doing
a great job!"

- I know, right?

- It's just, the Midwest
knows how to work together.

It's just how it is.

- You have four hours left.

Four hours left, everybody.

¶ ¶

- Have you seen East?

There's nothing up there.

- Which drawing
are we going off of?

'Cause we've got two.

Is this gonna be all black
in the background?

- I'm just gonna follow
what you wanna do, Jimmy.

- I don't want that
to be the case.

I'm trying to talk to you guys.

- I feel like whatever
I'm saying you don't like

and then we're both sort of

sticking with our own ideas
a little bit

and maybe that's [bleep] us up

so, like, I just wanna do this

in whatever way is gonna, like,
work best for us.

- I want it to work best
for us, also.

That's why we're doing
your idea, you know?

It's like every single word
out of my mouth

K seems to take personal.

Not trying
to work against her,

I'm trying to work together
as a team.

I don't want you to feel at all
like I'm steamrolling.

- Okay.
- Or whatever.

- Okay.

I feel like

we don't have
a finalized vision

and we're moving forward
anyway

and I don't feel confident
in that.

- What?
Nothing?

Not one postcard?

- Don't worry about us, man.

- Time's ticking.

- Jason's so full of shit, man.

- He's right though,
he's right.

We gotta boogie.

¶ ¶

- Let's do these.

Grab Dakota Hawaii--
all the way down to the bottom.

- I'm feeling pretty shaky
right now.

- Okay.
- It's not good.

- I have type 1 narcolepsy
with cataplexy.

It's [bleep] horrible,
and there's no cure.

Sometimes out of nowhere, like,

bright lights
will cause the cataplexy

to come up
and it's kinda bright

looking at the bus and stuff.

- Yeah, you got a lot
of shine off the bus

and it's gonna be
the same as, like,

a strobe light
or something like that to you.

- With any heightened emotion
I become useless.

I lose muscle tone.
I'm unable to speak.

It could last for,
like, a minute

and it could last
for 20 minutes.

I just feel really fatigued
right now.

My son has ADHD, OCD,
and he's autistic.

I see him straying away

from wanting
to participate in things.

And I want to show him
that it doesn't matter what--

whatever the [bleep] you have,
you know--

[sniffles]
it doesn't matter.

I don't want to let him down.

- I don't think Arlene
is feeling well.

- No, she's not doing good.

- Is the medic over there?
- Yeah, yeah. He's with her.

- This is your final hour.
One hour remaining.

¶ ¶

- It's looking good.
It's looking good.

- How are you feeling?
- Better, thanks.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

It just takes a minute
for it to go away.

- Know what I like
about those palm trees?

They look like money,
and we have this in the bag.

¶ ¶

- Five,

four,

three,

two,

one.

That is it. Time is up.

- Looks like
it could be a postcard.

- You're god damn right
it does.

- Good job.

¶ ¶

- Okay, it is time
to critique your work.

West, let's start with you.

Super impressive job.

You have so much
legibility going on

throughout this thing.

The skull here
in the foreground,

the moon radiating light,

using the darks for
the shadows of the cactus

was a smart play
to bring out some contrast.

- What I really love
is the cactus

and the way that the card's
laid out, it shows the ridges.

It was a really smart move.

- [laughs quietly]

- Midwest, you're up.

- The corn stands out
super strong.

It's some of the most detail
that we've seen today.

But how the rest of that
blends in

is a little bit hard
to see what's going on.

- What are these shapes
on the left side?

- Mountains and,
you know, prairie.

Like the wheat.

- I see.

- It's very segmented.

That's the part for me
where you guys lose me.

- It's a fried egg,
it's bacon, and it's corn.

- Maybe that's what they eat
in the Midwest.

- And smoke and smoke.

- South, you're next.

- Using the wheels

to turn this into
a stretch limo--ingenious.

The tint on the windows
is perfect.

That's the way
they ride in Miami.

And I love the sunset.
I love the water.

- As far as fundamentals go
it's just straight up.

No questions what's going
on here, I like it.

- Whoo.
- Great idea, bro.

- East, you're up.

Clear as day.
Light bulb.

Nice gradation
from light to dark.

We get to the moth,

even the body of the moth
has texture and detail,

and then what the [bleep]
is happening here?

- Jimmy had the idea

of putting in
the geometric shapes.

- On paper I felt like
it needed more.

- What's the green thing?

- This?
- Yeah.

- Just a leaf.
- [chuckles]

'Cause there's always a leaf
right next to a moth

that's flying to a light bulb.

- At least you guys
didn't have mountains.

- Yeah.

- All right, guys.

Time to determine the winner
of this flash challenge.

- The two most complete
together scenes

are the South and the West.

- Today's a legibility day.
Our team brought it.

- There's nobody saying
it's a legibility day.

- But I think we can agree that
legibility is a fundamental.

- But it's not
the only fundamental.

'Cause I've never seen
the surface of the water

being light to the horizon
and then darker to the shore.

- We were just very,
very meticulous.

All of the cards are facing
the way we want them to

and that's, I think,
what edges it out.

- Well, I'm really pleased
out of the gate.

Everybody really worked
their asses off.

I'm a Miami guy.
You know where I'm going.

I'm staying South.

- Ooh.

- I would say that the
incorporation of the wheels--

didn't expect to see that.

My vote is for the South.

- Goin' South.

- Yes.
- Whoo!

- The judges have decided the
winner of this flash challenge

is the South.

[all exclaim]

- Yes!
- All right.

- Congratulations.

As a team,
you'll have the power to assign

all the human canvases
in the elimination tattoo.

- Absolutely coming for us.
- Don't worry. Bring it.

- Skull picks?
Man, that's where it's at.

It's the most fun thing
in this whole competition,

and I can't wait
to ruffle a few feathers.

- You can all
head back to the loft.

- Tomorrow's
gonna be interesting.

- What we gonna do?

- I got my eyes
on some people already.

- There's gonna be
some mad people today.

- There's gonna be
some real mad people.

- Yeah.
Lines drawn, man.

- In the beginning, we were
the weakest-looking group.

- Yeah.

- With three of us
in the bottom.

And one week later,
we hold the power.

- And that's
a damn good feeling, bro.

- We have grenades now--

live grenades
that we get to throw.

We're gonna clearly define
enemy lines today.

- I think everyone really
thought the South was a joke.

- I don't care about them,
like,

let them bicker
amongst each other.

This is--this is
South business right here.

- We gotta establish

that we are not a team
that they need to [bleep] with.

[rock music]

¶ ¶

- Welcome
to the elimination tattoo.

- [sighs]

- Every decision you make

could put you one step closer

to the title of Ink Master...

- All right.

- Mm, mm!

- Or send you packing.

- That's true.

- In any battle, you're only as
strong as your strongest ally.

- What's coming?

- After every
elimination tattoo

the team whose artists win
tattoo of the day

will select one other team
to form the jury of peers.

- Oh, wow.
- What?

- Together
both teams will deliberate

and put one artist
up for elimination.

- What?
- Wow.

- That might be a game-changer
right there.

- Mm-hmm.
- Oh, yeah.

- Better make some friends.
- Yeah.

- Today you must tattoo--
- Here it comes.

[dramatic music]

- A compass rose.

- Oh, shit.

A lot of circles,
a lot of tight lines.

- It's just a nightmare.

- On a vintage map,

the compass rose is
the part that shows you

which way is
north, south, east, and west.

It always consists
of straight lines and circles

every single time.

- There's gonna be
a lot of [bleep]-ups.

- This is to see who's
a technician and who's not.

Straight lines, good circles,
smooth shading.

It's the fundamentals.

- Just keep it super clean.

- There is one more thing
that you should know.

- [groans quietly]

- For the first time ever--

- That's scary. This is scary.
- That is very scary.

- Each judge will have the
power to pardon one artist,

saving them from elimination.

- Oh, what?
- Holy shit.

- Shit.

- If an artist
receives a pardon,

they will immediately
reenter the competition.

- Wow.
That is a bomb, bro.

- In many seasons past,

we've seen people leave
on a technicality.

We now have the power to show
up and stop that elimination

while you're packing your gear.

- Wow.
- That's--that's a huge relief.

That could be huge.

That could be a saving grace
for any of us.

- Damn.

- I came here to win.

I didn't come here
to receive a [bleep] pardon.

But I'll take one...

if I [bleep] up.

- Let's meet your canvases.

[dramatic music]

¶ ¶

South,
you won the flash challenge.

You now have the power
to assign the human canvases.

- There's gonna be
some mad people today.

- There's gonna be
some real mad people.

- Remember, this is your chance
to take control of the game.

- We're targeting the West.

They're sittin' five strong

and they got some
pretty talented people.

What are you looking
to get, man?

- I'm looking to get
an American traditional

clipper ship on my sternum.

- Wow.
- Whoa.

- On your sternum?

- You know how painful
a sternum tattoo is?

There's no way.

- Compass rose
with a dragon on my chest.

- Oh, [bleep].

- A neo traditional
compass rose

on my stomach.

- What?
- Oh, shit.

- Circles on a stomach
is a terrible idea.

Stomachs can be loose, mushy.

You don't want
to deal with that.

- New-school compass rose
on my back.

- Oh, no.
- I could do that.

- Black and gray
realistic compass rose

with lace and pearls.

- With a compass, you're
already doing one big circle

and then you add in
35 tiny more circles?

You asking for
a mental breakdown.

- Trash polka.

- Um.
- [chuckles]

- Compass rose on my calf.

- Fundamentals
and trash polka,

it's just a [bleep]
nightmare to do.

- Really, none of them
are all that easy, so.

- A lot of people up there
want color work.

Then you got a lot
of black and gray ones.

- They're gonna throw
color, color, color, color.

And they're gonna throw me
black and gray.

- Stomach.

Today we're definitely

gathering information
on everyone.

- I'm trusting you.

- If they're bragging about

how good they are
at black and gray,

we're gonna throw 'em
a color piece.

- Color?
- Yeah, color.

- Here you go, man.

- If they're bragging about
how good they are at color,

we're gonna throw them
a black and gray piece.

You guys are gonna
[bleep] hate us.

- [bleep].

- Canvases, one by one,

please read the artist's name
on the bottom of your skull.

- Jake.

- Jordan.
- Hi.

- Emac.
- Oh, here.

- Jessa.

- What is that?
- New school.

- Hiram.
- Right here, boss.

My specialty
is black and gray realism.

New school--
I've never done that before.

Thank you, guys.

- You don't got what it takes.

- What's that?
- Sternum.

- Angel.
- What's up, man?

I kinda get excited whenever
I get a bad skull pick

because now I have
something to overcome.

[bleep] yeah.

- Raul.
- What up?

- Oh, you get the dragon.
- Dragon for you, sir.

- Oh, yes.

I hate fantasy art.

¶ ¶

- Bob.

- [claps]
Yeah.

The South knows
that the West is a threat.

They threw three of us
torso tattoos.

The stomach
and two on the chest.

That is a straight
kick in the nuts.

- Yeah.
Lines drawn, man.

- Jordi.
- How you doin'?

- Money.
- Whoa.

- Patrick.
- Right here, darlin'.

- What did he want?
- Trash polka.

- Jason.
- Got you, man.

- Oh.
- Oh.

- Really?
- Yeah, I was--

- Okay, not what I expected.

- Jason just picked
the hardest one for himself.

What a twist.

Trash polka and Jason?

It's like trash and garbage;
they go right together.

- Jimmy.
- Hey.

- K.
- That's me.

- And this one's the lace.
- Lace and pearls.

- Arlene.
- Hi.

Bring it on.

- Kelly.
- Yes, hey.

- Jerrel.
- How you doin', man?

- Frank.
- How's it goin'?

- We got this.

- You'll have six hours
to tattoo a compass rose.

Good luck.

- All right.

- What's up, brother?

- Up this way, let's go.

- A compass rose is very
straightforward tattooing.

But circles and straight lines
can be difficult

depending on
the subject matter

and where they want
to place the tattoo.

- You wanted to get it on
your stomach, you were saying?

- Yeah.

- So fundamentals on technical
application's gonna be key.

- American traditional.
That should be fun.

- Have you ever done
American traditional?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- I actually did it last week.

- Oh, wow.

So okay,
so you've had practice.

- Yeah, you can have a seat.

I'd rather not do
American traditional

but if that's what
she want, that's cool.

- You don't think the ship's
gonna look crooked, right?

Don't want it to look like
it's falling over.

- The ship is like this
because it's moving,

moving forward,
it's on the water;

it's actually going somewhere.

I'm afraid she's gonna leave.

I need to stay
in this competition.

- It still looks to me
like the ship is crooked.

[dramatic music]

¶ ¶

- How's yours coming?
The color?

- Yeah.
It's just traditional.

- Okay, sweet.
Nice!

- How you want me to do it?

- That's not even new school.

- Wait,
wait until we get there.

- That's why I gave it to you.

'Cause I don't think
you can draw it.

And apparently you can't.

- You got it right, then.

- I don't know
who he's trying to eliminate

with that skull pick.

He kinda wasted it, honestly.

- Traditional is fine.
I like it.

- Put that flag the other way.

- Yeah, you're right.

- That's, like,
such an easy mistake to make.

- Okay.

She likes the concept.

She just doesn't like
that the boat is tilted.

- I mean, they're supposed
to be a little crooked there.

It's a clipper ship.

- I understand,

but she wants
the boat straight.

- You're just gonna have
to redraw it a little bit,

which I don't know
if you have much time for.

I wanna keep my team intact,

but I also need
to focus on myself.

So what are you gonna do, Emac?

- Okay.

Artists, you have six hours
to tattoo a compass rose,

and your time starts now.

- It's away!
- All right, let's do this.

- Let's get the stencil on.

- I think
the placement's perfect.

- There are varying forms
of compass roses.

Some are super simple, some
are really, really elaborate.

- That's money.

- This is the day
to think simple

and remember we're testing
the fundamentals.

- Ready to win this thing?

- Absolutely, are you?
- Yeah.

[suspenseful music]

¶ ¶

Just as I suspected,

Jason kicked all of us
right in the gut.

I knew somebody was gonna be
like,

"I'll give Angel
the [bleep] clipper ship."

Joke's on you, Jason.

Give me a skull and I'm gonna

hit it out of the park
every single time.

¶ ¶

- I'm sure
everybody else knows

that I'm struggling
with the environment

and having to prove myself.

I wanna showcase my abilities

and that I deserve to be here

and that I do
have a shot at this.

The rest of the teams
are hating on us right now

'cause they know
we got a good team.

The hardest part about
this tattoo is the pearls

and all that lace
in the background.

Straight lines,
perfect circles.

It's a lot.

¶ ¶

- Four hours to go.

Four hours to go, guys.

¶ ¶

- The goal is to be the best,

but it's a journey,
not a destination.

My canvas saw what I drew up,
and he wanted it on his thigh

so he can have
a bigger, better tattoo.

This is turning out sick.

But I'm the only one
in the West

that predominantly does color.

And of course,
they're gonna throw me

a black and gray piece

so that I can't even
use my strongest suit.

- Bob, lemme see this shit.

That's a [bleep] cool tattoo.

- Well, you know, we're doing
the best pieces out here.

- Everybody is cruising
on our side.

¶ ¶

I really thrive
under pressure.

When people are antagonizing
me,

that's when my art
flourish.

Don't sleep on me.

That punch
that you don't see coming,

it's the one
that'll knock you out.

- Yeah?

- Oh, yeah.

[dramatic music]

- Oh, [bleep], yeah, dude.

You're killin' it, man.

- Yup.
It's pretty clean.

- [chuckles]

- I'm taking a lot of risks
with this tattoo.

This style is meant
to take up the whole body part.

And when you're working
with circles

it could be something
that's a little tricky.

You know,
I'ma surprise people here.

- Three hours to go, guys.

Three hours to go.

- Now?

- I think it looks great.

- Okay, cool.
[chuckles]

I have the biggest tattoo
in the room.

Time is not
what I have right now.

- Oh, my gosh.
I'm so nervous.

[laughs]

- All I need is you to work
with me and I'll work with you.

¶ ¶

- Did I move?

- It's all right.
It's nothing I can't fix.

- It's tough staying still.

¶ ¶

- Today's fundamental day,
and line work

is one of the biggest
fundamentals in tattooing,

so that's what
we're focusing on.

I chose the mandala
because there's lines

every-[bleep]-where.

This is for my family,
you know?

Hopefully they would
never have to live

like I did
when I was a kid.

When I was 17 years old,
you know, we were homeless,

and I've built my way up,

and I know that sometimes
I can be too passionate.

But it's only because

I continue to set my mind
and my goals so high

that I will never stop.

[tattoo machine buzzing]

- Goin' good so far.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

I honestly never thought that
I would be a tattoo artist.

I kinda think that, like, when
you get tattooed by someone

you kinda, like, take on
a little bit of their energy.

I spent about ten years
as a oil painter.

You can make great work and
maybe nobody gives a [bleep].

I love tattooing so much,

and I get to work
with people every single day

and create things
that change their lives,

and that's just
really fulfilling for me.

- This is your final hour.

One hour left.

¶ ¶

- I'm about to start my red.

- Yeah, get in there.
I'm worried about you.

- [exhales deeply]
I'm worried too.

- I don't think he has time
to be walking around right now.

You've gotta [bleep] finish.

Otherwise you're out
automatically, pretty much.

- There's a line
that came a little off.

I can't fix that line
unless I bold the whole thing.

Whenever you get the chance.

- I probably won't
get the chance

'cause I'm running
super behind.

Holy shit!

I don't know what Emac did,

but we're gonna need
a miracle here.

¶ ¶

- Oh, it's starting
to hurt real bad.

Oh--[squeals]

The outline is taking
a long time.

I gotta get it done.

¶ ¶

- Five,

four,

three,

two,

one,

time is up, machines down.

No more ink.

- Icy clean.

- It was rough for a minute,
I'll tell ya.

- Ta-da!

- I can't believe that's
on my body, man.

That is so good.

- Mac attack,
down to the [bleep] wire.

- The wire, dude.
Literal seconds.

- The literal last minute.

- Was it his decision
to make it that big?

Or what--what happened there?

- I don't know.

- Man, you just did
a traditional tattoo.

That's pretty [bleep] easy.

- I feel really bad

that I wasn't there to
help him more, you know?

- You had to do
what you had to do.

- I know.

¶ ¶

- We're a team.

- I don't trust you, and I
think you're a [bleep] liar.

- It is just a nightmare.

- You're shackled.

If you get punched
when you're rigid,

you're probably
getting knocked out.

- We didn't shy away

from any challenge
that you threw at us, man.

- We did color.

- Color, everybody did
what you threw.

- Whether we feel that we won,

each tattoo is the best,
we can argue that all day.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- After someone wins
tattoo of the day,

we've got this whole
jury of peers to get through.

- I don't know who
I'm taking with me but I know

who I'm not taking
with me, guys.

I'm sorry, that's you guys.

I'm not taking the South
to the jury of peers.

- I mean,
you just aimed at us big time.

- We didn't aim for anybody,

we gave everybody
an opportunity to excel.

- I see you, Jason.
You're [bleep] smart.

I see you.

- It's a game.

We have to play the game.

- We're gonna see, you know,

who got tattoo of the day.

You guys better have it

because just know,
we're going at you.

[rock music]

¶ ¶

[suspenseful music]

¶ ¶

- Today, you had to execute
flawless fundamentals,

tattooing a compass rose.

West, let's start with you.

Hiram.

- Get it.

- Hi, guys.

- Creatively,

the fact that you
took the ship,

put it in a bottle
in a new-school way

and then you took
the compass rose

and made that
an element of another subject

a really clever job, man.

- If you're able
to do drawings like this

then you're definitely gonna
have a strong shot here.

- Thank you.

- Raul.
- All right.

- Your colors do look bright

because there is
a lot of black,

so the contrast
helps you out a lot.

But the wing silhouette thing
above,

drastically unfinished look.

It's not really
doing you any favors.

- All right.

- Bob.

- Man, I like
your illustration.

You do have
some smooth technique.

The shading in the leaves
is really smooth.

But it's just way too crammed.

It becomes just one blur.

- If this tattoo was color,
it'd be legible all day.

- Yeah.

- Arlene.
- Hi.

- The first thing I get

when I look at this tattoo
is not lace.

- These different rays
on the compass rose,

they don't really line up.

- And you're kind of
missing one here.

- Your east-northeast
is missing.

- If somebody had to find
their way home,

it could get tricky.

¶ ¶

- [bleep], man.

- Angel.

¶ ¶

- Very, very clean tattoo.

- It's what a strong
black outline can do.

And it pops, and it's strong,
and it's a sticker.

- Is the flag
going the wrong way?

- Yes.
- What?

- I had it the other way
and then Arlene was like,

"Uh, it's backwards."

- The wind is pushing the sail

so the sails
are bowed this way.

But then the flag
is going the opposite way.

- I will not forget.

- East, you're next.

Emac.

¶ ¶

- It's pretty simple;
you can tell what's going on;

and you've got a really
doubled-up thick outline here.

Some of 'em
look solid and clean;

some of 'em do not.

A lot of inconsistencies.

If you're gonna make
thick lines,

they should all be
the same thickness.

You don't have
the same thickness.

- Jimmy.

¶ ¶

- [exhales deeply]

- The outline's clean,

and the blue and the orange
look saturated really nice.

But, man, we gotta talk
about the compass rose part.

Your red doesn't
look like you did it.

- I'm trying to race
with the clock,

and I put it
all in with my liner.

- It really hurts
the whole tattoo.

¶ ¶

- That was rough.

- Jessa.

- Hey, guys.

- Let's talk about
the scenery.

- [bleep].

- Those three peaks.

They're the same size,
the same shape,

and they abruptly stop
at the edge of the circle.

It does anything but show what
it is that you're going for.

- Why give us questions?

- [whispers]
I don't know.

- K.

- It definitely
seems unfinished.

You just take
a light pale yellow

and try to color
a big area with it.

Just not the best choice

to stand alone
against a thin outline.

And obviously, the center
of the four-pointed star

has a cock to it.

You're gonna have
to get a tattoo

that's more solid,
more finished.

- Okay.

[exhales deeply]

- Midwest, you're up.

Frank.

¶ ¶

- Judges.

- The design of this thing
I really love.

The circle on the globe
is beautiful.

The little details you get
in this tattoo are great.

- Jordan.

- The eye stands out strong.

I just wish that it had
some tone variance.

It's just monotone throughout.

- Kelly.
- Hi, guys.

- Your circle and your rose,
very clean.

Your lettering in the banner
all matches.

Technically you stand out.

- Thank you.

- Jerrel.
- How's it goin'?

- You have a lot of really
crisp, straight lines

and your circles
are a lot better

than some of the others
in the room.

- Thank you.

- Jake.
- Hello, judges.

- Selling me on this
being a map is a stretch.

- Design-wise,
it falls pretty flat.

- South, let's see how you did.

Patrick.

- Excuse me, guys.

What's up, fellas?

- Big tattoo--
when you get in close,

you definitely see a lot
of problems with the outlines.

- Around the edge
of this circle,

that's where it stuck out
the most.

- Where you do solid fills
of a lighter wash,

it does look pretty smooth,
though.

- Thank you, guys, man.

- Money Mike.

¶ ¶

- This snake is unappealing.

- You do one style belly
beneath the compass

and you do one style belly
above.

What this tattoo suffers
from the most

is gonna be this anatomy.

¶ ¶

- Jordi.

- Your blue saturation
and your purple colors--

it's solid; it's smooth.

But what happened
to your circles?

- It wasn't
a whole circle around,

I kinda wanted to do
a little loop between inches,

kinda change it up.

- I mean,
it looks pretty wonky.

¶ ¶

- Jason.

¶ ¶

- These circles and the
straight lines really are nice.

The black is really strong,

and that red
is punched in so bright.

I'm not a fan of trash polka,
but you make this design cool.

- Good job, buddy.
- Killed it, man.

- Judges,
it is time to determine

who had the best tattoo
of the day.

- Well, I like Hiram's tattoo.
- Me too.

- Putting something together

that is cohesive,
that all has a rhythm.

- Angel's tattoo really
stands out strong.

Clean line work,
smooth shading,

solid black and bright color.

- What about Jason?

- Jason definitely has some
shining moments, for sure.

- Final decision?

- For all of the
technical output--

the straightest lines,

the most perfect
against-the-field circles,

I will go with Jason today.

- Ooh.

- Sick.

- I'm voting for Angel.

- It's not the best drawing.

- I can settle this
pretty easily.

- All right.

- My vote's for Jason.

- Yes!
- God damn.

- The judges have decided

that the best tattoo
of the day goes to Jason.

That means the South
will form a jury of peers

with one other team.

Jason, which team
do you choose?

- [clicks tongue]
Uh...

I've been
in this competition before,

and I competed against Frank,
and I trust Frank.

So I'ma go with Midwest.

- All right.

- The South and Midwest
will form the jury of peers.

You must deliberate and put
one artist up for elimination.

You can all head back
to the loft.

¶ ¶

- Super awesome effort today.

We almost took tattoo
of the day but we didn't.

- It also doesn't help

when you throw your teammates
under the bus.

Your flag being backwards?

- I don't think
anybody's at fault.

- Well, clearly you do,
because you outed me.

- Okay, hold on a second.
- You said "Arlene suggested."

- I didn't think
it was a big deal because--

- Of course you didn't think
it was a big deal,

'cause it's not on you--
it's Arlene's fault.

- You're my teammate and I--
- Exactly.

- Stop interrupting me, okay?
- Or what?

- We're a team.

Don't you wanna [bleep] hear
me,

or do you wanna
just yell at me?

- The reason why the South won

was because they
utilized the tires

and they filled up the sky.
- They won because--

- Both things that
I told you we should do.

You axed the tire idea.

It's not fair that you guys
aren't acknowledging

the shit that I'm saying.

- I acknowledged you today.
What happened?

- One time.

- You're being
super passive-aggressive.

- Let her talk. Let her talk.

- I'm not being
passive-aggressive.

First of all, get a dictionary.

- That was passive-aggressive
right there.

- All I'm saying is
I don't trust you

and I think
you're a [bleep] liar.

[dramatic music]

¶ ¶

- We are here to form
the first jury of peers

to decide who we're gonna
send up for elimination.

- To me, I think
the worst one was Emac.

It doesn't have
any good shading,

and it doesn't have
any good lines.

- But Emac's lines
are better than Patrick's.

- Wait, I-- wait, wait, wait.
- They're in there.

- What?
- They're solid.

- They're in there.
- Absolutely not.

- Bullshit.

- Every line is hollow.
I mean just integrity-wise.

Regardless of how shitty the
ship is, his lines are black;

they're not hollow;
and there's no streaks in 'em.

- They are so
all over the place.

- We're looking
at all aspects here.

- There are some hiccups in it,

but I damn sure do not think

that that compares anything
to what Emac or Arlene did.

- Well, let's talk
about Arlene's, then.

If black's supposed
to be black,

we can see
every line that she made,

and every time
she tried to fill it in,

and they still don't meet.

- You lose the lace, for sure.

- Arlene and Emac
are definitely in the running

for the bottom.

- Here we are,

testing fundamentals
with compass roses.

- Lot of people just made
bad choices on designs.

- People forced themselves

to do things that
they were already scared of.

- A perfect storm was K.

- It just looks unfinished.

- She's making decisions
to just do a thin outline

and then a solid field
of light yellow.

That's not
a good decision to make.

- Between Emac and K,
K's looks unfinished.

Whereas Emac's
at least has some weight

and finished look to it.

- But when you get into
any part of it technically,

it is just a nightmare.

- Another artist
that really seemed to have

a tough time with it
was Arlene.

She definitely struggled with
the placement of the beads.

- Does kinda look
like a fishnet,

which does go
with the nautical theme.

- Well, the jury
is deliberating right now

to put one artist
up for elimination

and it is
the South and the Midwest.

I'm really curious
how that's going to go.

- Yeah.

- Definitely a tough day.

[door handle clicks]

¶ ¶

- All right, jury of peers.

Which artist are you
sitting down for elimination?

- The jury of peers has decided

to put Arlene
up for elimination.

- All right, in the bottom
I see Arlene, Emac...

and K.

See y'all downstairs.

- I'm a fighter.

I just gotta
throw some punches.

Hopefully they land.

- That's what I wanna hear,
man.

- Let's get this over with.

- Good luck, guys.
- [exhales deeply] Thanks.

- You got it, you got it.

- Good luck, guys.
- Good luck.

¶ ¶

- Today you were being tested
on the fundamentals.

Based on your work, one of you
will be packing your machines.

Jason,

why did the jury of peers
vote Arlene to the bottom?

- We felt like that hers had
the most line work issues.

We really couldn't find
any straight lines,

so for those reasons,

we decided
to put her at the bottom.

- I was actually gonna nominate
myself to come down here.

- But I mean,
you're sitting pretty.

What are you talking about?

- Eh, not when
your own teammate

throws you at the bottom.

Telling me that Emac's line
work was better than mine?

- I didn't say anything about
putting you in the bottom.

I said that I--
- No, I mean,

you pulled my name up there.

- Can I just say something?
- Yeah.

- I have narcolepsy
with cataplexy.

I have to stay super calm

because if I don't,
I become paralyzed,

which then means I can't
tattoo.

But, you know,
I didn't come all the way

the [bleep] over here
to go home.

- Who do you see as going home?

- Emac.

I don't think it was necessary
to put the compass rose

covering the whole bottom
of the ship.

I feel like that was a cop out.

- When you look at this,

you know exactly what it is.

- All across the board,
all three of these

tattoos have shortcomings.

- Where I've really failed is
because I was too worried

about staying inside the box,

and I've spent my entire life
not worrying

what kind of box
I should fit in.

- You're shackled.

Because you're not expressing
yourself

the way you would if you were
home.

You have to release.

If you get punched when you're
rigid,

you're probably getting knocked
out.

- All right, judges.

It is time to determine
who is going home.

[dramatic music]

- As far as the most solid
foundation of an idea

and of a design,

I like K's.

But as far as the most finished
look overall,

I think Arlene has it.

- In Emac's tattoo,

there's areas where your lines
don't connect.

There's areas that are not
showing me

that you put the
color in solid.

¶ ¶

I'm gonna go with Emac.

¶ ¶

- Gotta be Emac.

- The judges have decided,
Emac, you do not

have what it takes
to be Ink Master.

- I think you do have a lot
of potential.

Hopefully this experience will
be a springboard to get

to your potential.

- Please pack your machines
and close shop.

- Thank you, everyone.

[whispers]
Thank you.

[sniffs]

This is a experience that

most people dream for.

All I can do is soak up
all the knowledge

that I can and come back
a better artist.

¶ ¶

announcer: On the next episode
of "Ink Master"...

- Today we are moving directly
into a tattoo marathon.

- Oh, shit.
- It never stops.

- You want me
to put the red in?

- I want you guys to leave me
alone.

- Less of a team's better

'cause there's not so many
opinions.

- Opinions are like assholes.
Everyone has one.

- She's in agony.

- It's like bad sushi on a
Tuesday,

you just don't want it.

- A lot of problems here with
trauma with the skin.

- I think this is utter
bullshit.

- [bleep] this.

- This is gonna get gnarly.