Original subtitles

Male announcer: On the last episode of "Ink Master,"

eight new and veteran artists were battling it out

to prove they're the best.

[dramatic music]

In the flash challenge, Christian used the power

to protect his alliance...

- Four. - The last time me and Anthony

got paired together, we whooped everybody's ass.

- Three. - Christian hates me.

I don't want to work with him.

- I chose Cleen because he's one of

the biggest threats in the house.

announcer: And target his competitors.

- I want something like eyes. I like eyes.

- Focus, Jesse. Ow.

- What is that, a snake? No claws?

- Yeah, his claws are underwater.

They're under here.

- Why is he eating his own body?

- What the hell is Sausage and Jesse doing?

That's the worst-looking dragon I've ever seen.

announcer: In the elimination tattoo,

James Vaughn returned...

- Oh.

- What is the next elimination tattoo?

- A traditional-style Japanese dragon with water.

- This is gonna be an absolute [bleep] show murder-fest.

announcer: And Sausage had a target on his back.

- I got the worst canvas of the day.

- God.

- Sausage is totally rattled.

I almost feel guilty. Almost.

- I definitely felt tripped up.

I know that I just got [bleep] skull pick.

- We're all here to play a game.

And you know what the name of the game is?

[bleep] the guy next to you when you have to to get to the end.

announcer: In the elimination,

Matti, Jime, Sausage, and Megan Jean were the bottom four.

- Matti. - You have kind of

a weird over top of each other body thing

that makes it hard to read where the body's going.

- It looks like a really nicely finished weird tattoo.

- Jime. - Your head stands out

as being legible, but it doesn't really fall

under the traditional Japanese style.

- I think I hit a lot more of the challenge

by doing my style of drawing.

- You got to study for the test.

If not, I got to fail you.

- Sausage.

- This thing just didn't come across.

- I definitely have some shading issues.

He was getting tense and everything.

- But the anatomy failed you.

- Megan Jean.

- It's hard to tell what's going on

and it doesn't hit the real traditional Japanese.

- Japanese is not my specialty.

- It was your choices that made it hard to read.

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

[dramatic music]

♪

announcer: Eight artists remain,

but only one will earn a $100,000 prize

and the title of Ink Master.

[rock music]

♪

- That was way more intense than I had ever envisioned.

The idea that I was almost eliminated...

- Super close, man.

- Never have I ever dreamt of going to the bottom.

My fans have so much faith in me.

My family has so much faith in me.

- ♪ Woo, woo

That was the world's smallest violin

playing just for you and your fans.

I get it. You're Sausage.

You don't want to be in the bottom of America's Ink Masters,

but you and me have our fight.

I'm not bullying you. I'm not picking on you.

- Right. - This is a [bleep]

gentleman's duel where we pull out tattoos

and we do a parting [bleep].

- Are you gunning for me more than anybody else in this house?

- I'll gun for whoever's at the top,

whoever I need to get the [bleep] out of my way.

Right now it's Cleen. Secondly it's you.

I want to take the winners out before I go after

the guy that I just, like, need to get out of here.

- Do you not see any silent assassin

in Christian and in Anthony?

The artists in this house have weathered

eight artists going home.

- Silent assassin's gonna take me out?

[bleep] no. - But I was just making sure

that you were checking your six

so that you didn't see one of these guys coming up after you.

- No, I'm not worried about those guys.

[tense music]

[dramatic music]

♪

- Congratulations on making it to this point.

This has been one of the tightest races

in the history of this competition,

but this week everything changes.

There will be no more veteran artists returning,

making you the strongest eight artists

ever to fight for the title.

Now you must battle each other,

and only one of you will win $100,000,

a feature in "Inked Magazine," and the title of Ink Master.

- Five of you have been to a finale before.

This whole group sitting here is finale material.

One mistake, you're out.

- This is the time to really turn it up.

This is it. Be the best.

- Today there will be no flash challenge.

We are moving directly into the next elimination tattoo.

- Wow.

- You're being judged on texture.

- Texture is a way of making a piece of art

look like you could run your finger over it

and feel how it feels in real life.

- For this elimination tattoo, you must completely transform

your canvas's back, giving them a full set of wings.

- Oh, my God.

- And you must collaborate with another artist.

- No! - Two of you

must tattoo the same canvas at the same time.

One artist must tattoo a good wing

on half of your canvas's back,

and the other artist must tattoo an evil wing on the other half.

- [bleep] me.

- You must work together to give your canvas a cohesive tattoo,

but you'll be judged individually.

- Wow. These canvases have no clue

what the hell they're in for.

I hope they brought some rawhide chews

because this is going to be painful.

- Let's meet your canvases.

[dramatic music]

♪

Cleen, you won the best tattoo of the day

in the last elimination tattoo.

You now have the power to assign the canvases.

That means you will also determine which artists

are working together, so choose wisely.

- I feel like a mad dog on a leash,

and I'm about to bite anybody that gets in my way.

You want to get some wings on your back?

- Yeah, I was thinking good one, I would want native feathers,

not fluffy and angelic, and the evil being more dragon-like.

Claws at the top. - Claws.

- Whoever you're paired with will make or break this tattoo.

I don't want to get teamed up with Jesse

because the last time we got teamed up we lost and lost big.

- What are you thinking? - I'm really open to see

what the artist has in mind.

- I was thinking the good wing being whimsical, fairy-like,

and then the evil side being burned and crow-like

with some bones coming out of it.

- Hmm.

- Whenever Cleen has skull picks,

it's a complete crap shoot.

Nobody knows what he's gonna do. He doesn't understand strategy.

- Canvases, one by one, please read the artist's name

on the bottom of your skull.

- Christian...

and Matti.

- I'm stoked to be paired with Christian.

We have an alliance. Cleen is a moron.

- Jesse.

[suspenseful music]

♪

Sausage.

- Woo hoo hoo! Looks like Cleen actually has a brain after all.

These two [bleep] up so bad last time,

obviously they're gonna screw up again.

- Cleen Rock One.

James. - Me and Cleen

are the fastest tattooers in this competition.

If this person wanted a full back piece, there you go.

You're gonna have a back piece.

- Jime.

Anthony.

- It's up to you to decide which artist tattoos good

and which artist tattoos evil, but once the tattoo starts,

you cannot switch.

And this week there will be no human canvas jury.

All the decisions are completely up to the judges.

You will have six hours to give your canvas a full set of wings.

Good luck.

- Pleasure to meet you. - Right up here.

- So we're gonna do one kind of baddie, medieval dragon-ish,

and the other one kind of Native American?

- Today these tattooers have to do a back piece,

basically, on their canvases.

- A raven's wing would be the bad side and then the good side

you were thinking more fairy butterfly?

- This is tough because they have to match sides.

One side has to be evil. One side has to be good.

- Do you have a specific side that you're leaning towards?

- The angelic side.

- What about that size?

- But the actual sizes and compositions

should flow together.

- How does that outline look? - Big enough.

Our dude, he's a big guy. I picked that for myself

'cause I'm a man, and I'm here to go big or go home.

Probably gonna get a pretty good size tattoo. Impressive.

I hope this dude can handle two dudes at once, man,

because you're getting a 12-hour tattoo in 6 hours.

The pain is excruciating.

You better make sure you eat,

and just try and get in a food coma.

It's gonna be brutal, man.

- We can do a normal raven wing and fairy wing, or whatever.

In my opinion, a little boring.

The other idea that I have,

I really like the concept of butterfly bat wings.

- Just making sure that we can knock this out in six hours too?

- I feel like I can do something like this in about six hours.

- I feel that's a lot. - That's a lot?

- Jesse's ideas are always crazy.

Now is the time for bulletproof and simple.

That's why I want to see your idea because, I mean,

it might be different than what I'm seeing in my head.

- I want to do creative tattoos, man.

- I do too, but because

we're gonna be partners in this,

and I know that we're being judged separately,

and I think that we should just dial it back so that we know

that we don't put her through a bunch of trauma.

- Team Sausage and Jesse is [bleep].

You're not feeling it... I can tell you're not feeling it.

[industrial rock music]

♪

- Okay, artists, you have six hours to show texture

by giving your canvas wings.

Your time begins... now.

- Woo hoo! - Get the stencil on.

- The crazy part about this challenge

is they have to work in pairs on one canvas.

So while they're competing against each other,

they also have to work together to make their wings cohesive.

- They're right about the same size.

- Pretty good. - There's a lot of difficulties

with two people tattooing one person at the same time.

- Don't push or pull her body.

We're just gonna go downward on her, okay?

- There's a lot of push, and pull, and give, and take.

You have to work together

so that you don't screw each other up in the process.

[dramatic music]

♪

- We're on the same page.

- Luckily I've done a lot of tandem pieces.

Matti and I are gonna take the same wing, flip it.

I'm gonna make mine really soft, white, and angelic.

- Yeah. - Matti can take his,

rat it out, and make it look like a fallen angel.

- Oh, [bleep].

- This spot over here? - Yeah.

- That's a lot of work at once.

- Our design that we're doing is very elaborate.

It's a lot of work on someone's body in a short amount of time.

- Ohh. - Breathe.

You tense up, it gets worse.

- No matter the amount of pain that she's in,

we're gonna coach her through it.

There's no way I hell that we're not finishing this tattoo.

Things are a little rocky.

Jime wipes very, very aggressive,

and I'm having to hold her down to fight against him.

- Yeah, yeah. - I'm very clean

and I'm very precise when I tattoo.

That's almost impossible right now.

I'm afraid that I might not finish.

- I really like how this is coming out.

- Three hours to go.

[suspenseful music]

Our tattoo is huge.

This thing is the biggest, baddest tattoo

that's ever been done on "Ink Master."

You're pretty much getting a full back piece.

My strategy on this tattoo is mow it the [bleep] down.

Nobody's got the balls to go this big,

and I can guarantee that.

- I was trying to get a shade plan

so it looks cohesive in the thought process.

- We're doing dark from the side over.

Yours looks good because you got the texture on your side.

I'm trying to keep it smooth going into yours.

- Woo! I'm stoked.

Me and Cleen, we got this thing.

This fool's gonna jump off the damned table

and start flying away.

- Why did everybody go so small?

- There better be some bells and whistles on that.

How the hell y'all spend six hours

on that itty bitty-ass tattoo?

Y'all got the kitchen sink in there?

[laughter]

Sausage, that thing is small as hell.

Let me pull out the periscope.

Is that a tattoo over there that I see?

- It's a stiff competition.

How you feeling over there? - Okay.

I feel like I'm swimming in quicksand

with everybody's boot in the house on my forehead.

It sucks.

- Sausage, can I get a few seconds here, please?

- Yeah, go ahead.

- Tattooing with a partner on the same body

is like trying to write perfect calligraphy in a car

that's driving down a rocky road in the middle of a snow storm.

I mean, it's really causing me

to not really get into a rhythm to tattoo.

- What? - I'm just trying to see

how you're doing yours.

- Sausage is stressing me out.

- I'm trying to figure out, like, texture.

I don't want to put too much.

- It's a texture challenge.

You don't wanna not put too much.

Sausage, pull it together! Come on, man.

- Five, four, three, two, one.

That is it. Time's up.

Machines down. No more ink.

- Oh, my God. The feathers look awesome.

- Oh ho ho. Dude, those oil drops.

- That actually looks like I can fly.

- Yeah, look at that. - Texture.

- That's amazing.

- Cleen's tattoo is huge, but it has no texture,

tons of wonky lines, and a whole bottle full of white

just popped in there.

This knucklehead thinks that everything is about bigger.

It's not about bigger. It's about better, Cleen.

- There's nothing I've said behind your back

that I wouldn't say to your face.

- Speak up. - You don't even know

what you're [bleep] talking about.

- What you don't know is that this is a double elimination.

[dramatic music]

[hard rock music]

- I think ours is more appealing because we went simple.

- You definitely went simple, that's for sure.

- Yeah, but you guys go so big and so ballsy

that I didn't feel like it was super textured.

You just don't have a lot of finesse.

- I think I have more texture in half the feathers

than some people have in their whole tattoo.

- Putting a lot of lines in doesn't mean texture.

- I mean, that's just you hating.

- There's blown-out [bleep] lines, it was rushed...

- Where were there blown-out lines?

- There were lines in the [bleep] feathers

that I thought were wonky.

- Which lines? - I don't...

- The 23rd one from the bottom.

- Yeah, the 23rd one up from the bottom on the sixth feather

on the top half of the fourth wing.

- Here comes Christian, hating again.

- And, I mean, that's all opinion.

- If you say mine has no texture

then yours has no texture at all.

- I'm pretty sure it had texture.

- You're sure that it was textured?

- 100%. - I mean...

- It's perfect.

[tense music]

[industrial rock music]

♪

- Today you had to use texture to give your canvas wings.

Each of you tattooed with another artist,

but you'll be judged individually.

Let's start with Cleen and James.

- Out of the field, you're the ones

that really have the "good versus evil" theme.

You have two different types of wings but they're both big.

You kept them both the same tone

so it's appealing for his back.

- James, you got the more evil, fantasy wing.

All the different textures that you have

in the folds of the wing and the torn, frayed elements

at the bottom of the wing not only make this wing appear

to be the darker of the two, but also knocks the texture part

of this challenge out of the park.

- Your tattoo, Cleen, I'm just trying to figure out

how this wing folds and unfolds,

and if it's the right angle.

I feel like it's taken off the right side of the bird,

turned upside down and put on the left side of the body.

- It's a... it's...

- Sausage, what's up? Do you have an expertise to this?

- It just looks backwards.

Looks like if he's gonna fly,

he's gonna fly right into the ground.

- It's a fictional wing that I just tried to make appealing.

- If you're gonna give somebody wings on their back

they got to be able to fly, right?

That's kind of the idea.

- It's art, man. No right or wrong.

- There is a right or wrong. - At least ours are big enough

to get you off the ground.

- Look, man, the anatomy on this thing is questionable,

but the entrance where the wing goes into the body is great.

The texture in it, putting all the small lines in

and the heavy lines creating

that dimension and depth, great.

Anybody who did less than this in their wings,

I'm coming for you.

- Christian and Matti.

- Christian, I think you really shined.

This tattoo came out super soft, super smooth.

Very meticulous shading throughout every single feather.

- It looks like you can brush it, you can feel it,

you can touch it, but the best part of this thing is

when it heals, how soft it's gonna actually look

in comparison to the dark side.

- Matti. - When you compare

just the two techniques from Christian's to yours,

it's obvious this is Christian's forte.

Basically it looks like you tried to do

the same kind of wing as him, just darker.

It is a little bit harder to read the layers.

Going with the little black drips,

I guess that's just to add a little bit of evil to it.

- It's a wet texture, too,

so it's just one more I could throw in.

- Overall, your wing alone, just texture challenge,

I don't think you really hit it.

- Well, I got teamed up with somebody

who's pretty much the best in the room at black and gray,

and I tried to keep up.

- Falling on the sword is not the option.

What I dislike here: You guys shared one stencil.

One guy put points on it, one guy didn't.

It's a snooze-fest.

If you're here to compete, compete.

Do something exciting.

- Sausage and Jesse.

- The "evil versus good" thing plays out well in these tattoos

because you have two completely different style wings.

You don't just have a lighter version of each other going on.

But as far as the quality,

you guys just didn't work well together.

- Jesse's super talented, and he really goes for the wall.

So I kind of reeled him in a little bit

so we could kind of work smart.

- You pulling back the reins on somebody who is creative

is a missed opportunity for you.

It shows heavily in your work.

It is flat. It is boring.

It is tiny. It is textureless.

I can't stand it. It looks six years old.

It does not look like a fresh Sausage tattoo.

- Wings are generally structured

with a lot of tight layers of feathers.

Looking at your tattoo, it's a little loose

and the direction of the feathers are haphazard.

I know you're trying to go with a light texture,

but your outline came out a little light.

Where you have the darker blue lines

over the light blue shading, this doesn't come off

as a texture feel.

Compared to Jesse's, just in a one-on-one comparison,

the texture difference stands out strongly.

Jesse, you did a great job

on the texture part of this challenge,

but it just didn't really saturate this thing.

This light yellow is not solid.

It's not gonna be bright when this heals

or for the long term.

- Two little mini-tats on a girl's shoulder

is your best attempt?

- Sausage gets stressed out real easy,

and I just didn't want to put

any extra pressure on him, to be honest.

- Don't get stifled by who you work with here.

Push them to catch up to you because,

hey, man, worst tattoo of the day goes home.

- Jime and Anthony.

- The size overall is impressive.

The shape, that they fit to the top of the body is nice.

The main critique that I have about the way these things

go together is the center.

You know, they're so different on how Jime's meets the skin

and how Anthony's meets the skin.

If Jime could have brought that little shading underneath it

to give it that same pop, I think it would have made

a really dynamic difference on the overall look of this tattoo

and the cohesiveness of how it came together in the center.

For Jime's side, for being so dark,

you missed that opportunity

to use that darkness to show layers.

It just looks like stripes.

The spikes you put in there don't really stand out strong.

From a distance you don't hardly even see them.

The bottom three-quarters of this tattoo

just looks rushed in.

- You're fighting against someone

working on the opposite end of you,

and you're fighting the time clock, you know?

- You chose the size. - We completely... we did.

No, I'm not... I mean... I mean, I did what I did.

- Anthony. - This tattoo really sits well.

It's put in very nicely.

I like the small details and outlines that you put into it.

The really soft accents you have

on the top crest of the wing work really nicely.

You can feel the layers. You can feel the feathers.

Great job. - Thank you.

[suspenseful music]

- Time to determine who had the best tattoo of the day.

- For me there's a few shining moments of texture

throughout all these tattoos.

Certain moments of James' really stand out for texture.

Jesse has some nice little textures thrown in there.

But Christian's uniformly looks nice throughout.

It looks soft. It looks like a feather.

Technically, I think it's the strongest tattoo of the day.

- I agree. Christian did an amazing tattoo today.

However, James stepped outside of the box the furthest

and showed multitude of texture.

- He really did.

- My final decision is for James Vaughn.

- It's gonna be tough, but I don't appreciate

the same stencil flipped two ways.

I'm going with James.

- The judges have decided the best tattoo of the day

goes to James.

Congratulations, James. You are safe from elimination.

However, the rest of you are not.

Head back to the loft, and we will call you back

when we have a decision.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- It's been twice that I've been down there

where I felt like I didn't deserve to go down there.

- Every time one of you vets goes down,

it's a crybaby club, man.

I'm sorry, but if you don't think you deserve it today,

then blow the [bleep] game out.

Who do you think should take your place

if you're bottom three today?

- Sausage had the worst tattoo.

- The thing that bothers me most about Sausage

is I don't think he really wants to get creative with me.

- Now, you just had an opportunity to say

what you just said to Sausage's face,

but you chose not to and yet you're saying it

right here behind his back.

- I think that's bull[bleep] that you think

I'm talking [bleep] behind his back.

First of all... - Honestly, if there's things

about your tattoo I don't like,

at least I say it to your face.

- There's nothing I've said behind your back

that I wouldn't say to your face.

I wasn't the only one saying it. - Speak up, man up.

Say what's on your mind.

- Don't even try to call me out on that.

- I just did.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- All right, guys, today we're testing texture

with good and evil wings.

Who's your choice for the bottom?

- Sausage is definitely down there.

It's got a weak outline, it's got terrible color,

and overall this looks like a juvenile tattoo.

- You really don't like this thing.

- I can't stand it. It's just sporadic

feathers going everywhere in the shape of a wing.

- There's certainly no texture to it.

- The quality is subpar to what

we're used to seeing from Sausage.

Matti's also just looks rough and scribbly.

- And for me, black drips on a wing

does not say anything except oil spill.

There's no artistic take on this.

- But if you put Matti's and Jime's tattoo side by side,

Matti's at least shows the layers

and the feathers stand apart.

Jime's just looks like black stripes from a distance.

- Feels like a cover-up.

Since he got here he doesn't have his footing.

- Wow, this is gonna be a tough one.

There's no human canvas jury. This is just us.

I think we have a decision. Do we all agree?

- Yeah. - Yeah?

All right, let's do it.

- No canvas jury involved in this one, so...

- Yeah, this is straight judges.

- I know for a fact I'm going down.

- Never know, man.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- Sausage...

♪

And Jime.

You two are in the bottom.

We'll see you and everybody else downstairs.

♪

- Everybody's going down? - What the [bleep] is going on?

- A tattoo-off. - You think?

- [bleep]. This sucks, [bleep].

- Just bull[bleep].

- Just when you think the twists are over.

God damn, man.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Today you were being judged on texture.

Sausage and Jime, the judges have decided

that you have the worst tattoos of the day.

- Sausage, judging on texture,

your tattoo really seemed to fall flat.

- I promised that I would come forward, and I would fight,

and I feel that I've let you down.

I apologize that it's not up to your standards.

- I think it's not up to your standards.

You're just falling short on what you do.

Jime, you're here because this is a silhouette

more than a winning texture tattoo.

- It's a crow wing, man.

- It's just a big, dark, unattractive, black...

- It's a big, black, [bleep] crow wing.

I don't think that I had a tie with the last place.

I had wobbly lines, but the size of my [bleep] tattoo

is three times the size of Sausage's.

You know, to be called second right next to him,

it's a punch to the [bleep] head.

- But you know this game.

You know what you got to deliver is texture.

You didn't do that.

- Sausage and Jime, what you don't know

is that this is a double elimination.

- [bleep]. - What the [ bleep]? Jeez.

- [exhales] - Really?

To come back here to [bleep] get sent home on that?

You're gonna honestly look at me, as tattooers,

not as [bleep] judges and say that [bleep] is right?

- You will have one last chance to redeem yourself.

We are moving directly into a head-to-head face-off,

but not against each other.

You must challenge another artist in the competition

to face off, tattooing the same subject and style

for an apples-to-apples comparison.

You can choose anyone you want except James.

James won best tattoo of the day.

James is safe from elimination. - Whew.

- The two artists who lose the head-to-head battles

will be eliminated.

- That's [bleep] crazy.

- There's one more thing you need to know.

The artist you challenge will have the power to determine

the style and subject of the tattoo for the face-off.

Remember, you're still being judged on texture.

- This is where the game gets crazy.

This has become a strategy game.

- You're mad. Rightfully so.

Now you get a chance to take it all out and win.

This is a chance for you guys to pick your opponent, be smart,

play into your strengths, and figure out who you're gonna pick

that's gonna give you the best chance of coming out on top.

This is gonna be insane.

I wish you all, whoever comes in, the best of luck.

[suspenseful music]

- Sausage, who do you challenge to a head-to-head face-off?

♪

- I'll choose Matti.

- Matti, please step over there next to Sausage.

Matti, what style and subject

will the both of you be tattooing?

♪

- Let's do [bleep] zombie faces, [bleep] it.

- Zombie faces. - A color zombie face.

- [bleep].

- Sausage, three strikes you're out, man.

You're on two. - I'm in.

- Jime, who do you challenge to a head-to-head face-off?

♪

- If I'm going out with a [bleep] bang,

I'm gonna take the best guy over there.

I'm gonna challenge Cleen...

and it's only out of respect.

- Cleen, what style and subject will you guys tattoo?

♪

- Let's do photo-realism.

Anatomical heart.

[dramatic music]

I lost to photo-realism, and I'm here to let it be known

I can do that [bleep].

- That's just [bleep] boring as [bleep].

- Cleen can do whatever he wants.

- And I could give two [bleep].

- Chill, brother. Breathe.

Don't go into it mad. Go into it winning.

♪

- The face-offs are set.

The winner of each face-off will be safe,

and the two artists that lose the face-off

will be eliminated.

Head into the shop.

You will have five hours to tattoo.

Good luck.

♪

- I wouldn't want anybody else to take you out

of this [bleep] thing but me.

- Holy [bleep].

This is the rematch of the century.

- The pressure's on, man.

- This is a rough day. Nobody's really safe.

- I came out tattooing with a Louisville Slugger

instead of a tattoo machine.

- Who's going home?

[suspenseful music]

♪

- Are you ready for this? - I'm ready for this.

It should be you and I. No social media.

No nothing. It's just mano a mano.

- Hey, Sausage, when we went to the finale,

Twitter decided you're a better tattooer than me.

- The artist who you think deserves

to be in the final two is...

Sausage.

[cheers and applause]

- Well, they're not here to save you this time.

Hashtag you're [bleep].

I wouldn't want anybody else to take you out

of this [bleep] thing but me.

Let's do some bad-ass tattoos.

- I'm dying to take out Matti with this tattoo

because he's had a chip on his shoulder

ever since he showed up here.

How you doing? - Hey, I'm Gage.

- Gage, nice to meet you. I'm Sausage.

I'm not just trying to win for myself.

Why don't you have a seat?

I'm trying to win so that he can go home

with his tail between his legs

knowing that he did everything he could to try to take me out

of the competition and couldn't.

- My mouth is watering and I only want to eat Sausage.

- Game on.

- I'm feeling very disappointed.

I called out Cleen because I wanted to do

an artistic battle with him.

I wanted to go back to our roots of just drawing

and really having something fun,

not just some boring-assed, copy machine tattooing.

- You all right? - We're doing a photo.

That's what it is. Let's do some tats.

- There is so much tension right now.

Why are you being all butt hurt at me, dude?

You're the one that called me out.

I was sitting pretty.

If anybody should be pissed off, it's me.

[industrial rock music]

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

- You have five hours to tattoo head-to-head

against your opponent.

The two artists that lose will be eliminated,

and your time starts now.

- Let's do this.

- This week's challenge is an epic battle.

- I don't plan on going home.

- All four of the people going head-to-head

made it to the live finale in their season,

but today two great artists are going home.

- The pressure's on, man.

- All right, kiddo. You ready?

[suspenseful music]

♪

This tattoo is do or die.

Matti and I have some unfinished business.

I don't think my moment of clarity

could have come at a better time.

Sitting like a rock. That's awesome.

- I'm gonna do anything I can to get the best tattoo

out of you and make sure you don't go home.

- That is not in the cards today, I tell you that.

♪

- Holy [bleep].

This is the rematch of the century.

That's just [bleep] gangster, dude.

I'm totally rooting for Matti in this one.

He's in my alliance,

and I'd just like to see Sausage get his.

Matti clearly has the more dynamic drawing of the two,

but Sausage finally looks focused today.

He's a great technician.

He actually could win this thing.

- I'm a well-oiled machine. I am killing this tattoo.

- Six textures I can count. Seven textures.

- I'm gonna put so much texture in this thing

that you're gonna be able to run your finger across the top,

and the zombie's gonna bite your finger off.

Matti, see you later. Bye-bye.

- Two hours. Two hours to go, guys.

[suspenseful music]

- I got to say, I think this particular challenge

was a pretty [bleep] gangster way to do [bleep].

- I was pissed, but now I feel like at least

I can get my head back into the game and

I'm gonna execute this tattoo to the best of my abilities.

- I'd hate to be a judge on this one.

- You want an anatomical heart with texture in it?

I'm doing the most textured heart

that "Ink Master" has ever seen.

♪

- I chose an anatomical heart because I'm trying to prove

to the world that I can do photo-realism.

If you can't do all styles, then why the [bleep] are you here?

That I am the most versatile competitor

that's ever competed.

He's all pissed off 'cause he's got to do photo-realistic.

Well, you picked me, dude.

What, do I give you what you want to do? [Bleep] you.

If I lose this, I've just proved twice

that my photo-realism game is not on point.

- You thought I was a one trick pony, huh?

- If this thing isn't super textured,

I just sent myself home.

[dramatic music]

- Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.

Machines down. No more ink.

- Hats off, gentlemen. - Yeah, that thing's awesome.

- This is a great situation for me because Cleen and Sausage

are two of the toughest veterans in the house.

If we can knock both of them out, that's great.

- I mean, it's sad for me to say but I think Jime's going home.

And it's not sad because I preferred you to go home.

I just bounced back.

- Why do you prefer me to go home?

- I mean... - 'Cause you guys are bros?

- Come on. I didn't say that and that's not what I meant.

- If I stay, the boxing gloves are on.

You can [bleep] forget it.

- You think I wanted you to go home?

- That's how I see it.

- I heard him say he'd rather Cleen go home.

- You're trying to stir some [bleep] up.

- What you're doing

is lying about what the [bleep] you just said.

- Are you trying to stir this [bleep] up more?

- I'm not fake, bro.

- Are you trying to say I am fake?

- You're fake as [bleep]. - [bleep] you, mother[bleep].

That's sad that you think that. - And you're a chump.

- It's too bad you feel that way.

- That's what I know.

[hard rock music]

♪

[suspenseful music]

♪

- Today each of you had to face off

head-to-head with another artist.

Based on your work, two of you will pack your machines.

- This is a rough day for me.

This competition gets a lot more personal

when you're really attached to so many great tattooers.

- Whew, I need a bucket to throw up in.

- Sausage and Matti.

You tattooed color zombie faces head-to-head.

Matti, let's see how you did.

Very strong move choosing the zombie heads for texture day.

- I threw my [bleep] gloves off

and went bare knuckle with Sausage.

Either me or him. We're gonna go out swinging.

- I love the action, the motion that you captured with it.

I really love the color theory in this thing.

It really helps with the contrast.

It really helps with the texture.

The most dynamic part is the eye

and that jaw just hanging open.

The [bleep] is going haywire.

- The rotting texture of the flesh,

the really rotting texture in the mouth

that you pull in the front, that whole Swiss cheese,

webby cool effect, I love all that stuff.

What I like about this, man, is it just looks like a sticker.

Without a doubt, I think that your tattoo has a lot of punch.

[suspenseful music]

- Sausage.

- Well, Sausage, I think you really made up

for your lack of texture in the last tattoo in this one.

My favorite parts about this tattoo

is the depth you were able to capture.

The deep inset of the mouth. The deep inset of the eyes.

The texture coming in and out of the depth

of these images really add to the effect.

- There's some nice tricks.

I like the blown out, cataract-looking eye.

All the pits and the nasty little areas

in the forehead are nice touches.

You really do a nice job in the mouth, in the tongue.

Those little white dots

give it that hint of life in the front

but really dark depth in the back.

You guys are definitely a good match.

You're two strong tattooers and this was a great fight.

- Jime and Cleen.

You tattooed photo-realistic anatomical hearts head-to-head.

Let's see how you did. Let's start with Jime.

So Jime, why did you challenge Cleen?

- Honestly I challenged him because I thought

we were gonna do some drawing.

- So when he chose the photo- realistic anatomical heart...

- That one was a bit of a shock and I was like, "Oh, [bleep]."

"Of all the stuff we could have picked,

that's what you landed on?"

- Well, Jime, I think you did a great tattoo here, man.

I like your use of black in this tattoo in certain areas

and less black in other areas.

It really makes the different areas of the heart stand out.

- I love what you did up in the fatty tissue area.

The color combinations you used there,

that icy blue with that weird off-tone light creamy color,

it really has a great look.

- A good job putting your personal sensibilities aside

and just technically doing a strong tattoo.

- Thank you, guys.

- Cleen...

You've had a controversial history

with this house in terms of photo-realism.

- My photo-realism is a little whack, you know?

So I'm like, "Just get good at it.

Then you're, like, gonna be the man."

- I love this tattoo.

There is depth to it. It's slightly gory.

- I tried to make it gory but beautiful.

- The wetness, the slickness,

the veiny textures in the bottom.

I love the little skull highlight

you kept in the bottom there.

- I don't know what you're talking about.

- [laughing] - I think it's cool.

- It's really HD. It has texture everywhere.

But to me, what I'm really impressed with

is the color play.

It creates life in the tattoo

because it has that lavender kind of hue to it

that plays off of the really rich black.

Overall, the drawing on this thing's great.

The balance is great. The textures in it are great.

You knocked it out of the park.

- All right, guys, it's time to make a decision

between Jime and Cleen.

They're both different takes on the heart.

Jime's got a little bit more fatty tissue

to the musculature.

Cleen has a little bit more of the veiny details

and the wetness going on.

I like them both a lot. They're both really strong.

It's a tough one, man.

- I don't want to send any of you guys home.

- It's two strong tattooers, but I feel like the black

is what really sets off Cleen's tattoo.

Even outside the tattoo, I think that rich darkness

makes his more dynamic on the heart.

- Judging on the dynamics, the capturing of the depth,

Cleen's does have that something extra over the top.

I got to vote for Cleen. - I also vote for Cleen.

- Cleen.

- The judges have decided.

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

- I do feel like I have what it takes to be Ink Master,

I just don't have what it takes to play this game.

- Fair enough. - It's an honor

to have you come back, and to allow us to sit where we sit,

and you do what you do.

Nothing but respect and love for what you do and who you are.

- Thank you.

- Please pack your machines and close shop.

- I'm feeling very disappointed.

Cleen picks photo-realism only because he knows for a fact

I can outdraw his ass any day.

He took the coward way out.

At least I can walk out with my head held high.

[dramatic music]

- It is time to determine between Sausage and Matti,

which artist will be packing their machines.

Both these guys knocked texture out of the park.

I actually see more examples of texture in Sausage's tattoo,

but I like Matti's tattoo better.

- Sausage did great on a lot of textures,

but it kind of looks like his zombie

is posing for his passport photo.

Matti's looks like it just got whacked off the shoulders

with a baseball bat.

- Yeah, his is really exciting but, man,

I sure do like the idea that I just went

balls to the wall with the texture.

- You guys asked us for dynamic, creative tattoos,

and I came out tattooing with a Louisville Slugger

instead of a tattoo machine.

I did an awesome [bleep] tattoo.

- We have to vote on texture obviously,

but we also have to just go on best tattoo of the day.

I see Sausage having more examples of texture,

and I see Matti delivering a more appealing tattoo.

- It's glossy. One's muted down,

the other one's just ramped up.

- Sausage, I love the details you put in it

but I don't think you had a good exit strategy

for the back of this tattoo.

You didn't have a way to end it, and it's very guesswork-y

on where each part of the hair finishes.

- Who's going home, Oliver?

- My vote's for Sausage.

- Chris.

- Sausage.

- My vote's for Sausage as well.

The judges have decided. Sausage,

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

- I respect all your work.

You're a great fighter, and I know you're a great tattooer.

- Please pack your machines and close shop.

♪

- Me and Matti, we have a rivalry.

He felt that he was better than me,

and this was a way to prove who wins.

Now we're one and one. We're tied.

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

- This is the strongest top six ever,

but it's only going to get more brutal.

- Ooh, Lord have mercy.

- This is when it comes down to [bleep] strategy.

- This head-to-head [bleep] sucks, man.

- I could have drawn them [bleep] flags on

with a [bleep] pen in my [bleep].

- We're doing something we've never done

on "Ink Master" before.

- We had each other's backs since day one.

- Let's get it on.

- This is gonna be a really tough one for you guys.

- Part of the game, brother.

- This is you guys battling each other.

- This race is extremely tight.

- Every single elimination is tough, man.

- Come out swinging, and now you're back to playing the game.

[hard rock music]

♪