Ink Master: Grudge Match (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Quitters and Outfitters - full transcript

[dramatic music]

male announcer:
In 12 jaw-dropping seasons

of "Ink Master,"

we've witnessed
amazing artistry...

- Shut the [bleep] up!
announcer: Insane rivalries,

- Mother [bleep].

announcer:
And wild personalities.

- Any [bleep] camera
follows me, I swear to God.

I don't give a [bleep].

I will break
that mother[bleep]!

announcer: Now, three iconic



"Ink Master" champions--

Ryan Ashley.
[cheers and applause]

DJ Tambe,

and Cleen Rock One--

have risen to judge status,

deciding grudges between

some of the competition's
most furious rivals.

- We gonna hash it out
like grown men,

or are you gonna
get in my face again?

- Let's tattoo.

announcer: These foes
will have the opportunity

to settle the score
once and for all.

- I can be in your face.
- I can be in your face too.

- Guys, guys, guys, guys.
- We can do it all day.



Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

I don't think
that grudge is over.

I think it just got worse.

♪ ♪

announcer: Tonight, two epic
feuds will come to a head.

It's two fashionistas
looking for a second shot,

and the dropout
versus the traitor.

The grudges
will be settled now.

In our first grudge match,

in season 11,
two fashion-forward friends...

- Oba, did you page me?
- Yes! [laughs]

- Oh, my God.
Is she a superhero?

announcer:
Oba Jackson and Tiara Gordon

were dealt unfortunate hands.

- You ready to [bleep]
this place up again?

- I am.

announcer:
Now they both want a chance

to show what they're made of.

- I think this is just
a great opportunity for me

to kick Tiara's ass.

- You're going down.

- All right, guys, well,

I think this is gonna
be an interesting one--

two people that you know,
Cleen.

- Oba was on Team Christian.
He's a great guy.

Tiara was on Team Cleen.
She's an amazing artist.

- You were visibly upset
when Tiara was eliminated.

- I just couldn't believe it.

You know, I thought for sure
Oba's was going home,

because it was just
so hard to look at.

- I'm just struggling with it

in terms of it being
a beautiful woman.

To me, it reads like someone
who got their skin ripped off.

- There's no way that
I'm not gonna be in the bottom.

The only person that might be
worse than mine might be Oba.

- 'Cause it looks
unfinished, or...

- It looks terrible.

- Tiara, you do not have
what it takes to be Ink Master.

- But Oba went home
the following week.

- The pressure
of the competition

had been making my heart
work extra hard,

so the doctor
is making me leave,

because at any point,

he feel like I could have
a heart attack.

- Oba is gonna come out
swinging for the fences

because this is his
second shot.

- Hell, yeah.

- And both of these guys
are extreme characters.

- Oh, yeah, eccentric isn't...
- I mean, extreme.

- If their tattoos are anything
like they dress, I'm into it.

[upbeat rock music]

How was your day?
Did you sleep all day?

My time on season 11
was short.

I feel like I have something
to prove to myself.

You know, my whole life
is trying to do better

than the tattoo
that I did before,

so this is for me to prove
to myself that I can do better.

Are you tired?

Do you want me
to carry you home?

I want to bring Oba
to this grudge match

because even though
we are friends,

I would still love
to kick his ass

in the most friendliest way.

♪ ♪

- Hi, Clay.
You look cute today.

- Thank you.

- Even though you don't
clean your bathroom

and you're a disgusting human

and you're mean
to children and dogs...

- True.

- I still love you.
- I love you too.

- I want to show my kid
that I am not a quitter,

and I do great tattoos.

I never won a challenge
during our season,

so it would be great
just to beat anybody's ass.

If Tiara has to be it,
I guess she is.

[twangy rock music]

I hope you guys are ready
for this jelly.

- Oh, my gosh!

- He came out posing.

- I guess it's time for me

to make "Ink Master"
look good again.

- Cleen, his pants
match your shirt.

- I should ask him
if I can borrow them.

- No. You'd look like
a putting green.

- Oh, snap.

- Oba, did you page me?

- Yes! [laughs]
Oh, my God!

And it seems like
you came from the '90s.

- Oh, my God.
Is she a superhero?

- Oh!

- You ready to [bleep]
this place up again?

- I am.

I went home and I completely
own up to that.

But when I came back here,

the only person I could think
of standing next to was you.

- I know we were
both gone too soon,

and, like,
they needed us in that house.

Who else was gonna be funny
and wear cute outfits?

I mean...
- That's why we're here.

We're the best looking.
[upbeat rock music]

- I mean, it's either a fashion
contest or a tattoo contest.

Pick one.
- It's a grudge match.

- We can tell they're good
at dressing themselves.

But can they tattoo?

- Yeah.
- I don't know.

- We'll see.

- Let's go see what
they got to say.

- I know. I'm like,
"I want to go to this party."

- I know that you're gonna
come at me and try to...

- Oh, I'm gonna bring the--
- Chop me down at the knees.

- I'ma try to kick your ass.
- [whistles]

- What's up,
what's up, what's up?

- How you guys doing?
- Hiding.

- You guys look great.

- Can we critique this
and pick a winner

before we go into
the tattoos, or...

- Why don't we just
not even do ta--

we'll just critique outfits.
- Okay.

- Put my beeper away.

- So you guys do get along
all the time,

but this is still
a competition,

and one person's
coming out the winner.

- There's only two of us.
[chuckles]

- All right,
so what we're gonna do

is we're gonna
level the playing field.

You're gonna have to do
a 90-minute face-off tattoo

that we're gonna pick
what you guys are gonna do.

- Oh, man.

- Whoever wins this
face-off tattoo

also gets the advantage
of choosing either

the style or the subject matter
that the both of you have to do

moving into the six-hour
grudge match tattoo.

- And the winner of this
six-hour grudge match tattoo

ends the grudge.

- I think this is just
a great opportunity for me

to kick Tiara's ass.
- [gasps]

- What are we gonna
make these guys do?

- These two seem like
they think

a little bit
outside of the box.

- Screw it.
Let's do a box.

- A box?
What kind of box?

- Yeah, any kind of box.
- Like a shoebox?

- Whatever, any box.
- A fast food container.

- Food box.
- A ring box.

- A present for your birthday.
- Chinese food box.

A [bleep] box.
- Yeah.

- That's exactly
what was in my head.

- We just want to see
something creative...

- Yes.
- And that's it.

- In 90 minutes?
- In 90 minutes.

I'm ready to get
this party started.

- Yeah, get to work.
Let's go.

- I'm actually getting excited.
- Me too. I can't wait.

- Are you ready for me
to put your tattoo in a box?

- [gasps]
- And bury it.

- You can't even spell "box."

- I can't spell "box,"
but I can still draw one.

Watch.

♪ ♪

- That's dirty.

- Is it good,
even though I'm not looking?

- I think that's exactly
what you should tattoo.

You're going down.

[rock music]

announcer:
In our second grudge,

season eight's Sketchy Lawyer

felt Mike McAskill

was helping
a rival female alliance.

- Sketchy likes to believe

I was part
of the girl alliance,

but I just wasn't scared of it.

announcer: After letting the
competition get in his head,

Sketchy's looking
for a second shot.

- Why did you end up leaving?

- I felt like a samurai
that fell on his own sword.

- The honorable thing to do

would have just been
to stay to the end.

- That's how I feel about it.

- So we're bringing it back
to my season today.

Mike was on Team Peck with me

and Sketchy was on Team Nuñez.

Where this whole thing
kind of got convoluted was

the girls and I
became really good friends.

The word "alliance"
got thrown around.

Sketchy got really intimidated,

and Mike showed up
to bat for us all the time.

- I want to beat the shit
out of these boys.

- Why the boys?

- This is the eighth round
of this competition,

and there hasn't been a female
to win this yet.

- Yeah, you don't really know
what it's like.

- Dude, stop playing
the [bleep] vagina card.

- What?

- I'm not playing
the vagina card.

- Y'all are pulling
the vagina card.

I'm not cool with that.

[mockingly] "It's so hard for a
girl to be a [bleep] tattooer."

- You shouldn't say
shit like that.

- Well, I'm over
the [bleep] head games, man--

sitting in the house
full of people

that want to argue
about dumb shit.

I'm done with this
[bleep] game.

I'm over being shot at.

I'm going out like a [bleep] G.

Sketchy was doing really good
in the competition.

He gave that up voluntarily.

- It's an opportunity
of a lifetime for any tattooer,

and then just turn around
and just piss it away?

- And it wasn't even
over tattooing.

It was over the mental torture
he was putting himself through

trying to figure out
the dynamics in the house.

- In here, you know,
that's half the battle.

If you can't get a grip
on that, you're gone, man.

[heavy rock music]

- The reason
I'm going up against Mike

is because during
the competition,

he was, like,
going back to the girls

and saying what our weaknesses
and strategies were,

which left us
no point of attack.

Come on, Sarge.
[whistles]

Focusing on all of that

instead of focusing
on the grand prize--

that's where I went wrong.

I think now is a good time
to go back and, you know,

settle maybe some
unfinished business.

- What happened before,

I think that you're definitely
in a different mindset,

and I don't doubt you
for a second.

I think you're gonna kill it.

♪ ♪

[tattoo machine buzzing]

- I hear that Sketchy Lawyer
challenged you.

- I don't think
I have to worry too much.

[laughter]

Tattoo-wise, Sketchy and I
are very similar.

Personality-wise,
we're very, very different.

I don't get as excited
as he does over little things.

Sketchy quit.
I would never have quit.

When it comes to tattooing,

we can do the grudge match
and see who's better.

[upbeat rock music]

Oh, it's been a while.

- Out the jungle,
ready to rumble.

- This should be fun again.

- I love their first
walk-in reactions.

They're like, "Why am I here?

Ugh!"

Hello.
- Time warp.

- I obviously have some
unfinished business here,

starting with you.

You were kind of playing
both cards.

- The fact
that people were nervous

'cause a bunch of girls
got together and hung out--

I just thought it was dumb.

- You kept it close to them,
though.

- He's talking about you.

- Let's just go ask them
what the deal is.

- All right.
- Yeah. Let's do this.

- Why did you end up leaving?

- In the moment, dude,

you don't know how good
you're doing.

- What's going on?
- Hey, you two.

- Look at this G.
- Oh. [laughs]

- The G is back.

I mean, you did walk off,

and now you brought
yourself back.

- I felt like a samurai
that fell on his own sword,

and I took myself out,
and at the time,

I felt it was more honorable.

- The honorable thing to do

would have just been
to stay to the end.

- That's how I feel about it.

Sketchy likes to believe

that I was part
of the girl alliance,

but I just wasn't scared of it.

- It just got crazy.

I got in my own head and,
you know, here I am.

Let's pick up where I left off.

- Play the game, man.
- Yeah.

- It's all you can do: play the
game and swing for the fences.

- All right.
Let's get into it.

- So we're gonna
level the playing field

and give you guys
a 90-minute face-off tattoo,

and we're gonna pick
what you guys get to do.

- The winner of that
90-minute face-off tattoo

gets a huge advantage

for tomorrow's
six-hour grudge match tattoo.

- Cool.
- One of you guys

will get to determine
the style or subject

that both you guys
will be tattooing.

- Let's do it.

- Whoever wins that
settles this--ends it all.

- Okay.
100%.

- No more beef.
- Cool.

- These guys have never gone
head to head.

My season, you guys
were on separate teams

the entire time.

- I say we put them both
on the same boat

and see which one floats
and which one sinks.

- A boat any style.
- Any boat.

- Got you.
- Works for me.

- I'd be drawing right now.

- Yeah, get to work, man.
- Good luck, guys.

- I hope these guys
can float it.

- Up the creek without a paddle
one of them's gonna be.

- Definitely gonna
sink your ship, bro.

- It's just me versus you.
- One-on-one.

- Let's play Battleship.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Yeah, my little firecrackers.

Hopefully, your tattoos
are as clean as your outfits.

- Oba, you ready?
- [laughs] I'm ready, man.

- Tiara, you ready?
- I'm always ready.

- It's time to tattoo.
Your guys' time starts now.

- Stand right here for me.

- I'm gonna put this stencil
on your leg.

- Tiara and Oba
got to do a box tattoo.

I mean,
that's super difficult,

because you can
do almost anything.

- Got to make sure
my box is straight.

- We're gonna see how creative
these guys really are.

- Perfect.

- We're ready.
- Let's do it.

♪ ♪

- Are you excited
I put my box on your leg?

- Absolutely.

- Tiara,
could you grow up, please?

- [laughs]
I can't help it.

I got so many, man.

He almost kicked me
in the box too.

[upbeat rock music]

- I came to put
my best foot forward,

and I know Tiara's came
to put her best foot forward,

but my foot is way bigger.

My line work is, like...
♪ Crispy ♪

Look at this thing.
It's huge.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- You guys ready for battle?

Sketchy,
gonna stick this one out?

- Got you.

- Mike, you gonna
whup this dude?

- I'm gonna do it.

- Your 90-minute face-off
tattoo starts right now.

[grungy rock music]

- Cool.
It's gonna be perfect.

- Dope.

All right.
Have a seat, man.

- You ready, bud?

[tattoo machine buzzing]

- Starting kind of fast.

Don't wipe
your stencil off, bro.

- Oh, it won't go nowhere.

- You're already
missing a sail.

[laughs]

I already know,
with Mike being

a California
traditional artist,

he's doing a clipper ship.

I need to do
something different,

so I'm choosing
to do this tugboat

because no matter
how heavy life gets,

man, you just keep tugging.

- Pretty big 90-minute.
- It is.

- [inhales, exhales]

- Nah.
- Some might say.

- Yeah.
You didn't go small.

- We'll finish.
Don't worry.

I know a lot of people were
disappointed in my decision,

and when people believe in you

and you let them down,
it sucks.

I'm back just to give myself
and everyone else closure.

- You only have
60 minutes left.

60 minutes left.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- I don't understand quitting.

If you quit, you'll never
get better at anything.

If I start something,
I'm gonna finish it.

[tattoo machine buzzing]
- [bleep]-A, man.

Shit!
You guys are both going huge.

- Clipper ship
is a classic tattoo design.

I'm simplifying it down
to the bare bones.

I do not want to have
an unfinished tattoo.

- You putting any color
in this thing?

- I keep going back and forth,

but I'll probably just
keep it black and gray.

- I mean, it looks like
you're pretty fast, man.

You might have time.

Sketchy's doing black and gray,
so color might edge him out.

I don't know.

- 30 minutes left.

30 minutes.

♪ ♪

- I'm gonna switch
from doing black and gray

to doing a color tattoo.

I'm second-guessing myself.

It's not something
I normally do,

and that's not
a good thing here.

[tattoo machine buzzing]

[heavy rock music]

♪ ♪

- Only 15 minutes left, guys.

There better not be any holes
in these boats.

They better be floating.

- Man, I still got all the time
for all the fixings.

Sike.
What the [bleep]?

[tattoo machine buzzing]

- Five, four,

three, two, one.

Time's up.
Put 'em down.

- All right.
You're all done.

- Yeah, that's amazing.

- That's my hour-and-a-half
tugboat.

- That's [bleep] dope.

- Did you [bleep] it up, Mike?

- Nope.
- Ah.

- You?
- Killed it.

Hour and a half, dude.
That's just [bleep] crazy.

- [laughing] I know.
Should be interesting.

- Come on down.
Let's do this.

- Time to see if you guys
sank or swim.

- Yep.
How do you guys think you did?

- All right
for a hour and a half.

- Crazy-ass tattoos
in 90 minutes.

- I chose a clipper ship 'cause
you could see it a mile away.

I just drew it
the simplest I could,

to where I thought
I could get it done.

I love the image
of a traditional clipper ship.

You got a lot of straight
lines in this thing--

a lot of clean lines.

I like your choice of colors
a lot.

But I was trying
to figure out what was holding

all these heavy sails up.

There's no definite, like,

heavy pole in the middle
to hold them up,

so it's a little confusing.

- The red in the boat
I'm not a fan of

since there's red
in the background,

because it kind of goes red,
red, red, all the way across.

- There's a lot of choices
you could've gone with it.

- I think there's always
this line that gets teetered.

Are you playing it safe,
or are you playing it smart?

And I think
you played it smart.

It's simple,
but I think you focused

on the things
that were most important,

and most of your fundamentals
you showed us are really nice.

- I felt like I took
a little bit of a risk

doing something
other than a clipper ship.

- Your tugboat is adorable.

All of the little details
that you added--

even the little three
life preservers in the front--

you made them look 3-D

even though
they were so teeny tiny.

- You got a couple lines
that get away from you

that kind of get
a little wobbly,

especially the ones that are,
like, parallel.

You know,
you had that top ring

around the boat
towards the back there.

It kind of does
a little dance.

- Some of those lines on
the window get away from you,

and it's kind of,
like, rubber door.

- It was an hour-and-30-minute
tattoo.

- It's just
little things like--

instead of the door
being swung open

and you having to figure out
what angle it's on,

just close the door.

You don't got to throw
the kitchen sink in there.

- This is a tough call because

I feel like both of you guys
turned in a good, solid tattoo.

- I really like that Sketchy
tried to push himself

a little bit with something

that I might not have
seen before.

My vote's for Sketchy.

- Thank you.

- If he would have nailed
the application,

then it would be a done deal.

I'm gonna go with Mike
on this one

'cause I feel like it's a more
fundamentally-sound tattoo.

It's readable
from a block away.

- Man, I was hoping
it didn't come down to me.

- It's the worst.

- I'm gonna go in the direction

of swinging for the fences.

[tense music]

Sketchy, my vote is for you.

- Thank you.
I appreciate that.

- The reason
that Sketchy got you

is just if you're
gonna go that simple,

you just have to make sure
that it's perfection.

- Cool.

- Congratulations, Sketchy.

That means
you have the advantage

to pick the style or subject

in tomorrow's six-hour
grudge match tattoo.

- Nice.

- What's it gonna be?
Think hard, man.

- Yeah, man.

It's got to be something that's
fun for me and hard for him.

- Oh, that's the route
he's going.

- Yeah.
- [laughs]

- Yeah, we've had
all different.

- You know, for someone
that wasn't interested

in playing the game,

sounds like you're about
to play a game, huh?

- No, no.

Actually, I--I want us both
to do something rad.

Let's do a tiger head.

- I love that.
It'll be awesome.

- Remember,
whoever wins this tomorrow...

- [vocalizes excitedly]
Done with the grudge.

- Hell, yeah.
- All right, well, get going.

- Cool.
- Get to drawing.

- Thanks, guys.
- All right, thank you.

- Gonna see some cat heads
tomorrow, huh?

- Man, that was tough.

- Had me nervous for a second.

- I guess I got to get
a little wilder.

- This next round, I'ma have
to lick the envelope, bro.

Seal this deal.

[dramatic music]

[heavy rock music]

♪ ♪

- How's it feeling, Steve?

- You're extremely
light-handed.

- Thanks.
Touched by an angel.

I'm doing a lemon
in a glass box

because I want to show
that I can color pack

a super bright yellow

and outline it perfectly
in 90 minutes.

That's a pretty
nice-looking box.

I'm actually really nervous.

The time limit for me
has always been a problem.

I don't like to be rushed.

I know that fully saturating
this lemon yellow,

and then I have
the leaves to do,

and the stem is gonna
take me a long time,

but I feel like,
in this competition,

you have to take risks.

- Tiara.
- Yeah?

- 90 minutes is a lot shorter
than you think it is, ain't it?

- Oh, my God.
Seriously.

- I designed a man
with a big, full, dark beard

and a box fade cut.

I was thinking, like,
Abraham Lincoln on the penny,

but, like,
hip-hop from the '90s.

Now that I think of it,
it's kind of looking

a little familiar.

- Oba and Tiara,
you got 60 minutes left.

60 minutes.

- [laughs awkwardly]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[tattoo machine buzzing]
- Whoa.

- So we got no box,
so what are we, uh...

- We got a box.
He got a box fade.

- You didn't say in a box.

You just said
it had to have a box.

- Oba is tattooing himself
onto his canvas,

and creatively,

the box haircut idea
is pretty cool,

but the problem is
that hair is just solid black.

That being said,
Tiara needs to think about

what sort of tricks
she can pull out to show

that it's not just a black
cube around a lemon tattoo.

I don't know if these guys
thought outside of the box,

inside of the box,
threw the box away--

the box aspect of this
is definitely debatable.

- [sighs]
[softly] No.

[combative rock music]

♪ ♪

- These tattoos are boxing,

'cause you got 15 minutes.

15 minutes to go.

- You should get back here
and help me.

- You got it.

- You know, it's all right
to be a little weird.

- No.
That's what my dad tells me.

- And the people in my head.

[both chuckle]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Five, four, three,

two, one.

Tattoos done.

- I like it.
It came out nice, man.

You did real good work.

- Now you get to go
explain to your wife

why you got a black guy
on your leg.

- [laughs]
- Have fun with that.

- Would you like to look at it?
Look back like a mermaid.

- Nice.

- You like it?
- Absolutely.

- Tiara, they were like,
"Where's the box?"

And I was like,
"It's on his head."

- Yeah, they said,
"Just do a box."

So my thing is...
- Yeah, so, like--

- Mine was a [bleep]
invisible, clear box.

- Mine was a box fade.
- No, that was creative.

I just put a lemon
in a box, okay?

- Decorators been doing
that shit for years.

- All right, all right.
- What's going on, guys?

How did that feel?
90 minutes.

It goes by so fast.

- It was so fast.
- It felt like three minutes.

If I had a couple more minutes
just to polish things up, like,

I was gonna do a bold outline
around the outside.

- To be honest with you,
that thin outline

on the outside of the tattoo
was one of my favorite parts.

You pulled it off.
It's single-pass.

It's laid in really nicely.

I love all of the softness
you were able to achieve

in that teeny tiny
little face.

- Where it felt a little short
was in technique.

We could see
all the directional lines

in your solid fill.

You pack all that black
in there--

it almost looked like you
covered up something with it.

But I do like that
you're an artist at heart.

- Thank you.

- But bro, I mean,
where's the box, dude?

- It was a box challenge.

I feel like you tippy-toed

around the box challenge
on this one.

- It may not be, like,
a technical box,

but it was, like, a box fade.

- Tiara, I see the box,

but it also kind of lends
itself to almost, like,

a little steel cage because
of the lack of shading in it.

- I really liked your design.

You've got these traditional
qualities to it that I love--

really punched-in lines,
and it's heavy.

You have different
line weights in it.

- The little seeds
that you got on the inside,

all those little details
looked great.

All in all, killer.

- Neither tattoo
lacked personality.

That's for sure.
- Yeah.

- We got a lot of that.
- Absolutely.

- The challenge was "box."

When I look at Tiara's,
I definitely see a box.

Oba, I'm not seeing a box.
My vote's for Tiara.

- Thank you.
[laughs softly]

- It's been a little while
since I've seen a tattoo

clean enough to believe
it would be a sticker.

Tiara, my vote's for you.

- Man!
- Thank you.

- That thing is super clean.
My vote's for Tiara.

- It's okay.
You won.

[laughs]
- I feel great.

I didn't get kicked off
and I don't have to go home.

[laughter]

- Good shit.

You guys both made
good tattoos.

- Congratulations, Tiara.

You just won this face-off,
and with that,

you get the advantage
of choosing either

the subject matter or the style

that you both have to tattoo
tomorrow in your grudge match.

- Kay.

- What's it gonna be?

- My subject matter

that I would like to do
tomorrow would be bugs.

- I like bugs.
- That's rad!

- This is the opportunity
to shine,

and that's what we want to see.

We want to judge
two amazing tattoos.

So get at it.

- You only got tonight to draw.
- Yeah.

- Good luck, guys.
- Get to work!

- Yeah, don't focus
on your outfits tonight.

- All right.
- Focus on the drawing.

- I love bug tats.
- Me too!

- So what are you gonna
draw for tomorrow?

- I have no idea.

Now I need to do research
about bugs.

- You can draw
any bug you want.

- Oh, my God.
- It can be made up or pretend.

- I think I'm gonna do
the most beautiful bug.

- Is it gonna have
your face on it again?

- It probably will.

What about a butterfly
with a beard?

- You should do that. [laughs]
- I'm definitely--that's it.

- Game on.
[laughter]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- All right, Sketchy, Mike,
you guys have six hours

to do a fierce tiger tattoo.

Are you ready?
- Yeah.

- Are you ready?
- I'm ready.

- Let's tattoo!

- Six hours.
It's got to be perfect.

- Turn towards me--all the way.

There we go.

- Sketchy called out
tiger head.

There are so many details--

the teeth, the mouth, the eyes.

These things are
full of texture--

the fur, whiskers, even.

What's not to love
about a tough,

fierce tiger head tattoo?

- Ready?

- Yeah.
- Cool.

[tattoo machine buzzing]

♪ ♪

- Dang.
Tiger is loose.

- When I competed
the first time,

I didn't get to show
what I can do.

- Cool design, dude.
- Thanks.

This is how I like
to draw tigers.

My tiger's breaking
through a chain

'cause it's a strong animal.

I want this tattoo
to look tough

with a strong line weight,

solid blacks, solid colors.

It's gonna look the same
in 30 years.

I'm not trying
to stress too much.

- You never look like
you're stressing.

[woman laughs]
- I'll tell you that.

♪ ♪

What has this thing
got going on?

Daggers and flames and tiger...

- Oh, yeah.
- Kitchen sink.

- I told you.
I'm not playing this time.

My first two designs
were just tiger heads,

but I was like, "What's gonna
give it that extra punch?

What's gonna be the [bleep]
nail in the coffin?"

Like, I wanted
to [bleep] crush it.

- How's the time going?

I mean, you're not even done
with this outline.

You got enough time?

- Yeah, yeah.
Plenty of time, man.

Once the linework's done,
then it's smooth sailing.

- Yeah, they always say
that "no rush" thing.

- Until you're rushing.

Hopefully,
it don't work out that way.

♪ ♪

- Four hours remain, guys.
Four more hours.

♪ ♪

- I got a lot of work to do,
and it's my own [bleep] fault.

I probably shouldn't have done
all this extra shit.

I'm just hoping that
it doesn't backfire.

I'm balls-deep.

[soft tapping]

I don't hear you.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- All right,
in this booth, we got Oba,

"The Chocolate Dynamite"
Jackson,

and in this booth,
we got Tiara,

"The Pink Thundercracker"

Gordon!
- [snorts]

- You guys have six hours
to complete an insect tattoo.

Are you guys ready?
- I'm ready.

- Oh, I'm ready.

- Let's tattoo!

- Hell, yeah.

- Tiara called insect tattoos,
and I'm bugging out!

Oh, look at that tooth.

It's just like
the one I lost in '64.

[whistles through teeth]

- Bug tattoos can be
super difficult

because there's tons
of little details

and if you mess
those details up,

well, you got a shitty tattoo.

[tattoo machine buzzing]
- Ready?

- Yep.

♪ ♪

- Is this gonna be your
favorite tattoo?

- It's definitely gonna
be up there.

- I'm feeling kind
of confident.

I'm getting to do exactly
what I wanted to do.

- What the hell
kind of bug is that?

- You know,
I'm going with the lemon theme.

I even got to put
a tooth into my design,

and I collect teeth also,
and bugs.

I don't know why, really,
I collect them.

I just find it fascinating.

- I think your designs
are cool.

They really, like,
fit you, you know?

And I'm, like,
just noticing that, like,

this might be, like,
the outside of a lemon too.

- It is.
It's a lemon peel.

- Yeah, like, if it shuts
and the wings go in,

it's like a lemon.
- Yeah.

- You thought about that
while you were drawing it.

- Yeah.

- That's cool that people
think about that stuff.

- I do.
I think about it all day.

- It's good.
It's good.

- I think about bugs
and lemons. [laughs]

I think I've been
sometimes underestimated

throughout my career.

Maybe it's because
I'm a little weird.

I like to be creative.

I think my stuff
is not ordinary.

It's not something
that you would see every day.

It's something that's a little
weird and makes you think.

- All right.
We are at the halfway point.

Three hours down.
Three hours to go.

- What made you want
to do a praying mantis?

- I don't know.
I just liked it

with all the textures
and spikes and shit.

A praying mantis' proportions
are really cool.

Like, the size of its arms

versus its body and head
look very chic.

If somebody put it
on a Paris runway,

it would just go right along
with everything else.

- I'm really glad you could
come back to do this tattoo.

When you left, we didn't even
know really what was going on.

- When I went to my doctor,

it was basically environmental
stress on my heart.

- The environment definitely
puts a lot of stress on you

that people don't realize.

- I wish I hadn't
had left the competition,

but then I think everything
works out in a certain way.

I started taking care
of myself a lot better.

I don't have
type 2 diabetes anymore.

I lost 37 pounds,

so now I get even more outfits.

I'm, like,
super excited about that.

Tiara,
are you taking dance breaks?

- Is that a challenge?

- I mean, it could be.

I don't know shit about bugs,
but I came to win.

Tiara may be my friend,

but I did not come here
to lose.

♪ ♪

Loser does not look good on me.

♪ ♪

[tattoo machines buzzing]

♪ ♪

- We're down to two hours.

You better sharpen up
those claws.

Two hours left.

Ryan said,
"Sharpen up those claws."

- Yeah.

- I didn't put any claws
in mine.

- I didn't either.

- I think you should add claws
to yours last-minute.

- Definitely not gonna do that.

♪ ♪

- Are you thickening your line
or fixing your mistakes?

- Thickening my line--
different line weights.

- Mm-hmm.

Man, you couldn't
just do a tiger head.

You had to throw everything
else in that you've ever done.

- Yeah.
I wanted to frame it out.

♪ ♪

- It took Sketchy almost two
hours to outline that thing.

- It's got a lot of lines
in it.

- They're all
built up unevenly.

He's got to fix those.

- If he can pull it off,
it's dope.

- I really like Mike's design.
- Man, I love Mike's design.

It's solid.
It's simple.

- You know what I think
it does need?

A big, heavy,
punched-in outline.

- That's true.

♪ ♪

- All right.
I'm counting it down, guys.

Five, four, three,

two, one.

That's it.
This grudge match is over.

- Just in time.

- I am stoked.
Definitely.

- We're done.

- It's awesome.

- You dig it?
- It's bad-ass.

- Well, it was
a tiger head challenge.

- Put my heart into it, man.

Put my heart into it.
[laughs]

- It's very clean.
- I tried to make it dynamic.

- You could have just
went with the tiger.

- They wanted a catfight,
so now they got it.

- These guys came swinging.

- I knew that these guys
were two heavy hitters

from when I competed
against them.

- This is a fight.

- Watching Sketchy compete,
it's obvious

that he made a crazy choice
leaving this competition.

- The wrong decision.
- I mean, if anything else,

he definitely came
and proved that.

- Oh, here we go.
- Hey, guys.

- What's up, guys?
- Let's get into this.

- Pretty good run today, huh?

- Yeah.
- Yeah, it was fun.

Mike gave us a more
traditional tattoo

and I did more than
just a tiger head.

- I think the heart takes away
from it a little bit.

Tiger head was a challenge.

I thought mine was clean.

- Mike, I love tiger heads
like this.

I love that clean, simple,
traditional chain you have

that this tiger's
busting out of.

- You think that little chain
would hold that big-ass tiger?

- If it was trained properly.

- That tiger looks
mean as [bleep].

- He's just fighting to win.
- He ain't trained.

- I really like the chain.

Your outline is stunning--

teeny tiny individual
parallel lines.

Every single
one of those lines

looks exactly like
the line right next to it.

- You've got good saturation
throughout the whole thing.

The little brown
that you put in the hair

really just makes it where

it's not just
one flat plane of orange.

- It's interesting
the two different takes

that you guys took on this one.

Mike, you know, you showed us
a beautiful, simple tattoo.

Sketchy, you showed us all
kinds of shit in this tattoo.

The design is crazy.

Your color palette
is beautiful.

- You've got a lot
of pastel-y colors

and then there's
some pops here and there

and I really dig it.

- But you've got
a couple little fine lines

that get away from you.

On the daggers, you know,

you've got some thicks and
thins running here and there,

and a couple of the thin ones
are just a little shaky,

and when I look at your tattoo,

I see a sacred heart.
I wish there was more tiger.

- I guess I was just trying to
frame it out a little bit more.

- Didn't you learn your lesson
yesterday, Sketch?

- [laughing] Apparently not.
No risk, no reward.

- It's a tough one for me

because I like all
the little bells and whistles.

Then again, when you look
at the overall drawing,

the first thing you think is,
"Oh, that's a heart."

- But he put a tiger in there

and then he worked
some other stuff with it.

- These guys both laid out
super sick tattoos.

Mike laid a super clean
tiger head,

and Sketchy fell short
a little bit more

on the application side,

and my vote's
gonna be for Mike.

- I mean, I like Mike's a lot.

It's super solid.
And I like Sketchy's.

You know,
it's super dope and bold,

and there's a little bit more
to the design.

♪ ♪

My vote's for Sketchy.
- Thank you.

- Obviously, I'm the one that
cleans up all the messes here.

- What's that supposed to mean?

- I had to choose yesterday
as well.

You guys left a split vote.

♪ ♪

[sighs]
Yeah, this one's tough.

[dramatic music]

- Sketchy, I love your design.

It's everything I look for
in a tattoo.

- I dig it.
- Mike, in the face-off tattoo,

I told you that
if you were going to give us

a simple design,
it needed to be perfect.

- Mm-hmm.

- Today,
you provided us, again,

with the more simple design.

It was perfect.
Mike, my vote is for you.

[rock music]
- Thank you.

- Mike, congratulations.
You won the grudge match.

♪ ♪

- Grats, man.
- Thank you.

- Good battle.
- It was a good battle.

- Last time,

I took the challenges
a little too serious.

- Next time, you should call

sacred hearts
or something first.

And then put a tiger
in the sacred heart.

- This time,
maybe I took some risks

that weren't so rewarding,
but you know what, dude?

Win or lose, I'm proud
of my tattoos that I did.

- All right.
You guys take care.

- See you.
- Oh, that was good, man.

[dramatic music]

[tattoo machine buzzing]

♪ ♪

- Hopefully you guys
aren't bugging out

because you only have
two more hours left

on these insect tattoos.

- How are you gonna
approach this oval?

- It's gonna kind of be soft
all the way around,

but, like,
more of a circle at the bottom.

- Those backgrounds
could be killer.

You just never want
your background

to really overpower
your tattoo.

That's what it is.

- So I'm thinking I need
to minimize the background.

Holy shit.

♪ ♪

- I am super happy
that you told Oba

not to do that
big black circle background.

- I didn't tell him,
but I hinted.

- He's got to step back
and realize

that the whole composition
of that tattoo

is gonna be thrown off
completely now.

It might not even fit
on that guy's leg the same.

- Tiara--shit.
That thing's [bleep] creative.

- Oh, my gosh.

Dude, where is this girl
coming from?

- She's on fire right now.
- Yeah, she is.

She knows how to lay in a good,
solid, clean tattoo.

- Now all the blood from
your body is going to it.

- [laughs] Everything's
just going right to my leg.

- This guy is bleeding so bad.

Your yellow is orange.

It's not that
it's just inconvenient,

but it actually
affects the tattoo.

It's hard to fully
saturate the skin.

It's irritated.
It's red.

It's pushing back out.

I just don't even know
what's gonna happen with it.

♪ ♪

- All right, you guys,
I am ready to see some bugs

in five, four,

three, two, one.

That's it.
This grudge match is over.

- [exhales]

You're all done, man.
- That's awesome.

- Do you like it?
- I [bleep] love it.

Oh, it came out so nice.

- There you go.
Boom.

- Came out sick.

How do you feel like
yours went?

- It would have been better
if he didn't bleed so much.

And I was like,

"This was yellow,
but now it's just orange."

- You won yesterday.
You're gonna win it.

- No.
- But it's super fine with me,

'cause I just wanted
to come back and tattoo

and wear sequined pants.

- And you look great.

- Mm!

- So who do you think
has the better outfit?

- Did you see Oba's
sequined pants today?

- Oh, my God.

- He looks like
a disco party, dude.

You could hang him
from the ceiling, spin him,

and everyone's dancing.
- Yeah.

- Whoo!
- Look at that.

- Oh, my God.
- Whoo! Merry Christmas.

- Here we go.
- That's right. [laughs]

- Whoo, whoo!
- Baby, shake it.

- You guys probably have
about as much beef

as a vegetarian dinner.
[laughter]

- Honestly, we thought
it was an awesome showing.

What did you guys think
about each other's tattoos?

- I really appreciated
Tiara's style

because when I see her work,
I get so excited about it,

and I love when I still
get excited by tattoos.

- I loved his.

I knew he would kill it
no matter what bug he picked.

- Yeah, Oba.

Sometimes, when I see
praying mantises tattooed,

it's almost unrecognizable
what it is...

- Mm-hmm.
- But you pulled it off.

- That shading,
all the little tiny details

in the face--that was killer.

The little tiny,
tiny fine lines

that you did put in there--
they're perfect.

I don't think
you overdid them at all.

It looks like it's a real bug.

- As far as negative goes,

we got to figure out
how to get your gears going

for some more creative
backgrounds and use of black

because I know you're
more creative than an oval.

You have the confidence.

You know what I mean?
You have it.

- Thank you.

- Honestly, we saw confidence
in both of your tattoos.

Tiara, the outline
on your tattoo was insane.

This design is so fresh.

I love the pink lemonade bug.
I love the little spin.

It's not just a lemon.
It's a pink lemon.

- You nailed the creativity.

I love the whole idea
with the lemon

and then the peel
kind of being

the outer shell of the bug.

- I love the [bleep]
random tooth.

- Yeah.

- You just threw
a tooth in there.

- I like teeth.
I got one here.

- Yeah.
- [laughs]

- We were expecting this bright
thing like your reference was,

and then the tattoo
was completely the opposite.

It kind of muddied down.

- I started with the dark teal
for the wings,

and then all of a sudden,
it was just blood everywhere.

That thing had no pink in it

other than
the middle of that lemon.

- Was it bright yellow?
- It was bright yellow.

- I just wish the colors
were a little brighter.

- I'm not happy with mine.

- Are you just unhappy with
your just color saturation?

- Yes.
Yes, I am.

- You're also always
your biggest critic.

- But if they weren't here
to explain their tattoos,

it's all about the end result

and what we're looking at
with our eyes and judging.

- At the end,

that tattoo's probably
gonna heal beautifully.

That's the end.

- I like Tiara's drawing
a lot,

but I think it got a little bit
away from you on the color.

My vote is for Oba.

♪ ♪

- Tiara, it's been a long time
since I've been so refreshed

by someone's artistic vision.

- Thanks.
- I think your shit's amazing.

My vote is for Tiara.

- Thank you.

[tense music]

- Oh, man.

You guys always
leave it up to me.

- It ain't Oba till it's Oba.

- It ain't Oba till it's Oba.
- [laughs]

- [laughs]

- Tiara is Team Cleen
and I dig her,

but the application
is hard to look past.

My vote's for Oba.

- Oh, shit.
Oh, shit!

- Yay!

- Oh, my God.

- Oba, you're the winner
of the grudge match, man.

[heavy rock music]

♪ ♪

- [stammering]

- Yeah.

- This usually does not happen.
I am never speechless.

- Well, you did a great tattoo.

- Honestly,
congratulations to you both.

- I know you did
an amazing job.

- Tiara, you did amazing.
- You did.

- He deserves it.
He really deserves it.

- Thank you.

- Oba, I've never been
more proud of you.

I am so excited for you.

You deserve this more
than anybody,

and I hope that one day,
we can tattoo together again.

- So now what?
Dance party?

- Spin around, Oba,
so we can dance.

- No, no, keep spinning.
- Whoo!

- Oh, I can't keep spinning.
- Like a disco ball.

- I'm, like, 47.
I can't keep spinning.

- All right.
Get out of here.

- [laughs]

- Yeah!
I knew you'd win!

- Well, you won yesterday,
and I won today...

- I mean, yeah, we share even.
- So it's, like, tiesies.

It's tiesies.
- Even Steven.