Original subtitles

Male narrator: On the last episode

of "Ink Master"...

six new and veteran artists

were battling it out

to prove they're the best.

In the elimination tattoo,

enemies were forced to unite.

- It's up to you, as a team, to decide

which artist tattoos the line work,

which artist tattoos the shading,

and which artist tattoos the color.

- Ooh, Lord, have mercy.

- So, what are we doing here?

- Anthony's got me walking him

through every step of the way.

- I can do the line work, if necessary.

- I'll do it.

Jesse helping us is the equivalent

of having a three-year-old help when you're making dinner.

Minimal, minimal.

Any more colors in this, and we're in trouble.

- Working with Christian is showing adaptability.

He's a turd.

announcer: And in a gut-wrenching twist,

the teams had to sacrifice one of their own.

- Right now, you're [bleep] annoying,

and I'm gonna go with the weakest link

every [bleep] time.

- I didn't put the color in sloppy like you did.

announcer: Anthony and Jesse faced off

in a battle of experience versus versatility.

- If I take Jesse out of this competition,

I'll be completing one of my goals

of taking the veterans out one by one.

- I'm not worried about competing with Anthony.

He's an amazing artist for five years of experience.

I got 17.

- I feel like there are some technical problems

with both of these tattoos.

- We will all agree that both have

some kind of anatomy issue.

We all agree that some areas

of each of the tattoo are light.

Where I would say that there's a gap

would come down to outline,

and I feel like Anthony's outline

outdoes Jesse's.

- The judges have decided.

Jesse, you do not have what it takes

to be Ink Master.

[dramatic music]

♪

announcer: Five artists remain,

but only one will earn

a $100,000 prize

and the title of Ink Master.

[rock music]

♪

- I'm so [bleep] proud of you, dude.

- Thank you, man. - Wow.

That was intense to watch today.

It was. You just beat Jesse Smith.

- Nah, dude, never had a doubt in my mind.

- Yeah. - I told you.

- I'm [bleep] stoked, man.

- It feels good. It just makes me hungrier.

- We are so close, all we got to do

is the three of us stick to the plan,

and we get to go to the finale.

- The strategy is still in play, dude.

- Totally, [bleep], and it's in play.

We got two more to go.

- [imitating gunfire]

- This is the final five right now.

I say we got to take these new guys out,

'cause they're doing the same thing.

- Yeah. - They're sitting in there,

plotting the whole time.

"Let's get the old guys out." - Yeah.

- "Let's get some new guys to the finale."

- The fire is definitely on.

I think we need to turn it up.

- There ain't no way I'm not gonna do

whatever the hell I got to do

to get to that finale.

- I want to win this [bleep].

[industrial music]

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

- Welcome. You are the top five artists.

You've outlasted 11 artists

to make it to this point,

but only one of you

will win $100,000,

a feature in "Inked" magazine,

and the title of Ink Master.

This week, we're testing your ingenuity.

- Ingenuity is super important in tattooing

because people come to you with all kinds of crazy ideas,

and you've got to be clever and inventive

to come up with a way to make it aesthetically pleasing.

- Many ancient Asian cultures used tattoos

to express status, beauty,

and their most profound beliefs.

They understood that highly-visible tattoos

were the strongest way to make a permanent statement.

Today, you must help your canvas

make a bold statement

by tattooing a very prominent

part of the body:

The forehead.

- What?

- Forehead tattoos? Really?

Out of control.

- When you mess up on somebody's arm,

they can wear a shirt over it.

Forehead, what, are you gonna walk around

with a headband for the rest of your life?

- You must use ingenuity

to create a design that works

with the awkward shape of the forehead

and complements the features of the face.

- Play to the sensibilities of who you're tattooing.

They're asking to get their foreheads tattooed,

then be mindful of what it is you're tattooing,

and play into that.

Do something beautiful.

- Now, more than ever,

your technical application

is gonna be on the line.

You blow something out, you shade outside the line,

you do something bad on somebody's forehead?

That's a bad deal.

- Using ingenuity is huge on a forehead because

you got to make sure that it works with their hairline,

with their eyebrows, and you need

a good, steady, solid hand.

- The winner of the flash challenge

will have the power to assign all human canvases

in the elimination tattoo.

You've each been randomly assigned a canvas,

and you will have three hours to tattoo.

Head back to the shop and meet your canvases.

[dramatic music]

♪

- How you doing? - Anthony.

- Good to meet you. - All right, guys.

You have three hours to show

ingenuity with forehead tattoos,

and your time begins now.

- All right, man. So, talk to me.

- The pressure and the stakes are getting

higher and higher every challenge.

- I want to get a spider web... - Coming from there?

- I mean, if we shave part of my head.

Take it back. - [sighs]

- Doing a tattoo on somebody's face

means zero room for mistakes.

- What were you thinking you wanted to get done?

- Lace butterfly, kind of, like, pastel, like here.

- There is no more prominent area

on the body than the forehead.

If you [bleep] it up,

you are ruining this person's life.

- Dot work... kind, of, um sacred geometry,

uh, mandala-type thing that kind of, like...

- Okay. - Goes to a point...

- Okay. - Right here.

- She wants her whole forehead blasted.

I'm like, "oh, hell no, girl. Mm-mm."

I wouldn't get too crazy with it, like,

being, like too thick.

[dramatic music]

- Two more hours.

♪

- Sure you want to go solid white on the stars,

or just highlights?

- I'm not nervous one bit.

I can tattoo anything, any time.

I hope these new guys drop the ball,

'cause I want to see the all-veteran finale.

♪

- The end is so close.

My alliance has eliminated 11 people,

but the two remaining are the best

the competition has ever seen.

This dude wants "Pure Misanthropy" on his forehead.

It almost looks like my name. "Pure Mis-Anthony."

If I don't do a clean tattoo

and smooth lines with this lettering,

I'm sure he's gonna hate me.

- Getting my face tattooed

was one of the best things I've ever done.

I was a welder for 15 years,

and then I got hit by a drunk driver.

I wasn't able to weld anymore.

Ended up being the greatest thing

that ever happened to me.

Getting my face tattooed was a way of committing

to the tattoo industry for the rest of my life.

This is who I am, and it's what I'm gonna do

till the day I die.

- Final hour remaining.

One hour, guys.

♪

- Oh, Lord, have mercy. This ain't going well.

I convince her to go with a feminine design,

so I'm doing all this itty-bitty dot work,

lace patterns, and beads.

Every little detail takes time.

- You almost done with this thing, James?

- I'm feeling the pressure right now... I'm sweating.

♪

- Five... four...

three... two...

one... that's it, time's up.

Machines down.

- It looks sick. I love it.

- I actually think she's got the head

to pull off the shaved head look, huh?

- I can't believe Christian shaved this girl's head

to give her, like, a big, biker

jailhouse tattoo on her face.

- I mean, even if she wanted to shave it all the way,

she's got a good shaved head.

- She looks like a psychopath.

♪

- All right, guys, it is now time

to critique your work.

Matti, come on up.

Mallory, it's obviously a huge commitment.

Why did you want to get this done?

- I have a genetic condition

called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,

so basically, my joints dislocate very easily

and don't really go back.

Butterflies represent change and growth.

A nice ray of hope.

- There's a lot of detail in it.

The color is very vibrant. Fits nice on her face.

- She was definitely the least-tattooed canvas

out of everybody, so I couldn't go all the way

across her forehead, and she didn't want that.

- That's my favorite part of the whole thing.

Appealing to her sensibility. Not going overboard.

- That's the name of the game. You got to make 'em happy.

- Christian.

- The execution of this tattoo is top-notch.

It's tough, it's bold.

I really like the fact that you went back

and put the light gray shading over the top of the dots.

Softened up the whole tattoo.

- I'm not a fan of the placement.

It's a sideways yarmulke... it is abrasive,

for me, just sitting on the side of her head.

- I can grow it out, and still,

part of it will be showing with the spider coming down.

It looks badass.

- It's not really badass-looking.

That spider looks like it's running away

from the terrible haircut you just gave this girl.

- Anthony, what does your tattoo say?

- It says "Pure Misanthropy."

True and utter disgust for humanity.

- Why did you get that? - I had a rough couple months.

- What happens when good times come your way?

- Screw it. I don't care.

- The shape of the lettering,

the shape of the overall design,

the fit to the forehead... very nice.

Legibility: You do have to get

really close up on it to read it.

- I would hate to get that close to him

and then realize, when I'm in his personal space...

- He hates you. - That he hates me.

Are you happy with what Anthony did for you?

- Way more than I thought I would be.

- One step towards loving humanity.

- This guy right here. One at a time.

- One... one at a time.

- James.

- You really showed ingenuity

just 'cause you blended it in

to two different-style tattoos

on each side of the head.

It framed her face very nice.

The arc you put over her forehead,

with the dip in the center, very symmetrical.

- I was a little over the top,

and he kind of calmed me down,

and he was like, "well, let's make it a little bit"

more feminine and frame your face."

- Talking her off the ledge

is definitely the right thing to do.

I totally commend you on that.

- Cleen, you basically reworked

an existing tattoo, correct?

- It was about eight different tattoos.

- You showed a lot of ingenuity.

You basically redid multiple tattoos

and tied everything together

into one big forehead tattoo.

A couple of downsides: the two sides that fade in?

They're not completely symmetrical.

The cracks come a little bit of different shapes.

If you could have just brought those in and made a...

a more symmetrical shape,

when you look at him straight on,

it would have just been a little bit more

on the aesthetic side.

- Cleen did a rework... a couple of stars,

and some cracks, and a touch-up?

That's not gonna win.

- All right, guys, today we're testing

ingenuity with forehead tattoos.

Let's talk about Christian, who did the spider web design.

- This girl wanted that kind of heavy,

obtrusive, shock-value tattoo,

and I think that's what she got.

- It's everything you want to see

on a man's elbow, not on the side

of a pretty girls' face.

- James and Cleen had the most ingenuity.

I really like James' take on this tattoo.

Came out super smooth... he created a seamless effect

from one side of the head to the other.

- Let's talk about Cleen, who basically

reworked a guy's entire face.

- Not trying to show off, but hooked the canvas up

with a much better version of what he already had.

- All right, man, so let's make a decision.

Want to let 'em know? both: Yeah.

- Let's do it.

[dramatic music]

Today, you had to use ingenuity

to tattoo a very visible part of the body.

The judges have decided

the winner of the flash challenge...

is James.

- Yours was not as straightforward

as everybody else's.

You softened up a lot of work

that was a little bit harsher,

and I really feel that you did her a service.

- Whoo! I'm stoked!

I ain't never won a flash challenge before.

- James, you'll have the power

to assign all human canvases

for the elimination tattoo.

- Right now, with five of us left,

the is the worst time for anybody

outside the alliance to have control.

I'm screwed.

- Head back to the loft,

and prepare for the next

elimination tattoo.

- If I go to the finale, I want to take you with me.

- I have this feeling that you're

sort of playing both sides.

- How so, though? - What you want to get done?

- I got a swastika and iron cross I want to get done.

- At one point in this guy's life, he hated me.

[dramatic music]

♪

- I never won the skull pick,

so I have no idea even how to go about it.

- You can't win this thing on tattoos alone.

- Yeah. - It's impossible.

- No, 'cause we're all good.

- This thing's a game of strategy.

You've got to find the best idea out there.

Pick that [bleep] for yourself. - Yeah.

- Set it up so that you get the people

you want to be with in the finale.

- You know, me and Matti are friends,

and I think that he won't lie to me,

but it's kind of a "trust no man" right now.

- I know that you have

a really strong relationship

with Anthony and Christian.

- It's tricky. It's tricky.

- If I go to the finale, I want to take you with me.

I really think old-timers should...

should try to battle it out.

- Hey, man, you're out there to try to make sure

that you get the win.

You don't want to keep the strongest people

and give them a position where they can

beat you out and take a skull pick next time.

But that's just my theory.

[industrial music]

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

- Welcome, a spot in the top four is on the line.

Only one of you will win $100,000,

a feature in "Inked" magazine,

and the title of Ink Master.

- I don't know if anybody ever

has controlled the game better than I have.

Our alliance is the majority.

There's nothing in our way except for two vets

who don't realize they've already got a ticket home.

- This week, we're testing ingenuity.

Today, your canvases are counting on you

to fix one of the biggest mistakes of their lives.

- By covering up a constant source of shame:

A hate tattoo.

- What? - [bleep].

- We got to cover up some hate tattoos?

We just did foreheads.

This [bleep] is getting crazier and crazier.

- From confederate flags to swastikas...

- Oh... - These controversial tattoos

are permanent statements of strong beliefs.

- Wow.

- Who agrees to tattoo this kind of symbol

on somebody for the rest of their life?

You have no moral values. What is your name?

Where can I find you, and I will cover

your face up with my boot.

- Your canvases to day regret getting these tattoos,

so you must help them by transforming

these symbols of hate into something new.

- It's one thing when it's an old, crappy koi fish

that was drawn in the '90s, but when it's

something serious like this, it really affects

how people look at them... it's very important.

- Remember, one of you guys

is gonna move out of this finale.

Do the best you can.

- Let's meet your canvases.

[dramatic music]

♪

James, you won the flash challenge.

You have the power to assign the canvases.

A spot in the top four is on the line,

so be strategic.

- My strategy is "take out Christian and Anthony."

I'm trying to keep all the veterans in this.

What you want to get done? - Uh...

I got a swastika and iron cross

I want to get done... wrong part of my life.

Now I know where I'm at, and I want it gone.

- Any ideas what you want to do with it?

- Maybe, like, a zombie nurse cemetery scene.

- All right. All right.

- 'Cause I got to get it out of there.

I got kids, and my kids hate it.

- Mm... please do not give me a swastika.

That says "white power."

At one point in this guy's life,

he hated me.

- What would you like to get done, brother?

- A color realism zombie

covering up a Confederate flag.

- Piece of cake. - Ma'am?

- I'd like to get this covered. - [exhales]

- Anything in particular? - I'm pretty open.

- Awesome. What would you like?

- I'm getting this swastika covered up here.

- Wow. - It's pretty nasty.

- [exhales]

- I want a World War II tribute

to turn a negative into a positive.

- Difficult. - Right.

That's a ridiculously hard cover-up

because it's big and bold,

and it's right in the middle of her leg.

It's gonna be really difficult to cover up.

- What would you like?

Phew.

I see a lot of these in South Carolina.

- I'd like to get the whole thing

covered up, if I could.

- Both of 'em done? - Yeah.

- What were you thinking about doing?

- I'm open. - All right.

- I'm pretty worried about what James's strategy is

going into this because he keeps talking

about having a three-vet finale.

Definitely don't want the easiest canvas

on a day where we're tested on ingenuity.

- [sighs]

- Canvases, one by one,

please read the artist's name

on the bottom of your skull.

- Anthony.

- I don't know if James is testing me

with the hate or the tattoo.

Damn.

I can't let it get to me.

I need to keep my composure

so I stay focused.

- What is she covering? - The "A" on her chest.

- James.

- Christian.

- This ought to be interesting.

- I'm gonna guess I got this one.

- Cleen Rock One.

- Oh, yeah.

James gave me this big ol' boy's arm.

Just because I can do big tattoos doesn't mean

I want to do big tattoos all the time.

- There it is. - Pretty easy.

- Matti.

- Matti definitely got the easiest pick of all.

It shows me that he's using his influence

on both sides of the coin.

I don't trust him any more than I would

anybody else in the competition at this point.

- Remember, after the elimination tattoo,

the human canvas jury will vote on the tattoo

that they think is the worst,

and put one artist up for elimination.

You'll have six hours

to cover up a hate tattoo.

Based on your work,

one of you will close shop.

Good luck.

- What's up, dude? - Let's take a look

at this thing and figure out

what's gonna be a good option.

- Today, these artists are gonna be

covering up hate tattoos,

and they really have to put everything aside

and do the best cover-up they possibly can.

- What's going on? What's the story behind that?

- I was just brainwashed when I was younger.

And when I got older and had kids,

I realized, man, "what the hell?"

Trying to do a 360.

- Well, I'd love to help, man. - Hell yeah.

I appreciate that. - Right on.

- Ingenuity is always going to play into the cover-up.

You should never be able to pick out a section

where you know the cover-up is.

That's the biggest fail.

- I wanted a cross with a helmet coming off of it.

- That's basically a soldier's cross.

- Exactly.

- My biggest concern about this tattoo

is that it's really large, and some weird tattoo

going right through the middle.

She wants a soldier's cross, but it's not

big enough to cover this thing.

Uh, anything else if this didn't work for you?

- No way. - [sighs]

If this were in my shop, it would take me three days

to come up with a design to cover it properly.

I don't know what I'm gonna do.

- Color works great for cover-ups.

- Anything that'll get rid of it.

- Let's see here, um...

There's no way I could do just the Confederate flag

and leave the grim reaper

because they're so close together.

If I do one, the other one's

gonna stick out like a sore thumb.

Maybe if I did, like, a big skull up to here.

Might have to get super crazy,

because I got a dark streak going this way.

That's a big arm too.

I'm gonna have to do a half-sleeve

to cover up these tattoos.

You know how hard it is to do a half-sleeve

in six hours?

It's tough.

Only got six hours to do it,

and so I don't want to end up

doing something that's not finished.

[dramatic music]

- I kind of want to ask you something

just, like, straightforward.

- Go ahead.

- I kind of have this feeling

that you're sort of playing both sides of it.

- How so, though?

- You've been talking to James a lot,

and he threw you a really nice canvas,

and I think he hit me hard.

- He could have been trying to toss you that one

because it was black and gray, and he thought

you could knock it out of the park.

- I don't buy that.

- He intentionally gave me a harder skull.

- Oh, yeah. - What James did

was basically his decision.

- I also know that he wants

an all-vet finale,

and that puts you right in the middle.

You got the vets that say, "hey,"

let's make it an all-vet finale."

You got us saying, "hey, let's make it an us finale."

So, you're winning either way.

- I won't throw you ever [bleep] under the bus,

because that was never part of this original deal.

- As long as I know that you're still on board.

- Yeah, that's exactly how it'll be.

[dramatic music]

- All right, guys, you have six hours

to help your canvases make a fresh start

by covering up a hate tattoo,

and your time starts now.

- Let's kick its ass. - Let's go.

- The less people that are on this competition,

the more intense it gets,

and this week, it's getting super tough.

All these canvases have hate tattoos

that they regret getting.

It's a heavy thing to walk around

with something so negative on your skin.

- I love it already.

- This is a chance for these artists

to give these people a new lease on life.

- That's gonna be a sick piece right there.

- If you can look at the tattoo

and still see what was underneath,

you have failed your canvas,

and you're going home.

[needles buzzing]

- Got a couple of different options for you.

My canvas wants a soldier's cross

and a six-pointed star to cover this thing up

and pay homage to the people

that she offended with the original tattoo.

The soldier's cross is doable.

However, I've got to do it at least that big,

so I did one that I know will work.

A World War II American eagle piece

with the six-pointed star.

I know it's a totally different direction, but...

- Let's get it. - Really?

- Yeah, badass. Let's get it, man.

- Luckily, she just wants to get rid of this swastika.

She hates it, and she's willing to do whatever it takes.

- Why did you get the Nazi tattoo to begin with?

- [groans]

- Trying to fit in, and got mixed up

with the wrong people, and

did a stupid move when I was 16.

Been carrying that around for 20 years.

I don't think I truly understood what it meant,

and it disgusts me that it's there.

I want to turn a negative into a positive.

It's cause so much turmoil in my life.

To have this thing covered up, man,

it's almost surreal, you know?

- Stoked. Completely.

- When I saw it from across the room, I was like,

"I see a flower right there."

The canvas I gave myself was probably

one of the hardest cover-ups in there

because it's so big, but I know

that I can cover anything with a flower.

I do flowers all the time,

so it wasn't really a far stretch.

I've designed all the petals to curl in,

right around that circular shape

that's part of the "Anarchy" symbol.

Yeah, I can just kind of

keep all my darks on the tips,

and I can use the shadows that are already there.

- Let's get this over with,

and let me get to the damn finale.

- Oh, I ain't scared.

Oh, I like doing cover-ups.

Do big tattoos, and this is right up my alley.

I'm doing a huge dual-arm cover-up.

There's no room for lollygagging.

It is balls-to-the-wall from start to finish.

So what's the deal with the Confederate flag?

- Oh, man. 19 years old.

I don't know if I really have an answer

as to why I did it... just thought it was a cool tattoo.

This is much appreciated.

- I'm gonna take care of you, man.

- I'm a father of five kids.

I want to be a better role model.

It's time for the tattoo to go.

- I think we got a winner, no problem.

- Yeah.

- Three more hours to go.

[dramatic music]

♪

- I've been trying to get rid of it about 20 years, man.

When I first got the tattoo,

I was like 13, 14 years old,

and like an idiot, joined the Aryan Brotherhood.

That [bleep] ain't cool.

That's not what I want to be.

I mean, it doesn't matter if you're red, black,

brown, yellow, green, whatever.

- Unfortunately, I've been a victim of hate.

When I was wanting to get an apprenticeship

to learn how to tattoo, I was told

that the color of my skin was gonna hinder my chances.

To be a minority... it's actually driving me

even more to do a killer job.

- So, how'd you get rid of the swassi?

- I put a little chinger in the gravestone.

We're burying the past, so it's perfect.

- Can't wait for all the stress

to come get off my shoulders.

- To be able to help this guy change his life

is a complete honor.

- Ain't nobody gonna beat this one.

- Let 'em know how it's done.

- This tattoo isn't working out as good as I expected.

There are a lot of wonky lines

that are just popping up out of the blue.

It is not covering the way I want it to.

I've never been in the bottom before,

and I'm not ready to go now.

- So far, I think Christian's the weakest.

- That eagle head... - It's mad ugly.

- Yeah, the drawing's terrible. - And the little arms.

Boop!

- Well, there's a lot of her original tattoo

poking through.

- He'd better really pull it together.

- Did you go to art school or anything?

- Did you have a formal apprenticeship?

- No, I did not. - Mm-hmm.

- I got the easiest cover-up in the room,

but I can't just do a little tiny zombie

peeking out of the top of this guy's sock,

so I'm doing a giant, photo-realistic tattoo,

and I kind of screwed myself.

- Go big or go home.

- There is not enough time in the world

to do this tattoo.

- Is art something you've always been interested in?

- Yeah. And it's not helping

that my canvas is asking me about

a thousand million questions per minute.

- What's the biggest thing that has improved your artwork?

"Why is the sky blue? Why do I have a beard?

Why are boobs good?"

Shut up, and let me tattoo!

- Five... four...

three... two...

one, that's it, time's up.

Machines down. No more ink.

- Awesome.

- I ain't ever got to look

at that ugly-ass thing again, man.

- A pretty tough-looking tattoo.

- Yeah, it is.

- Wow, that is sick.

- Matti's tattoo has a lot of flaws.

The hair looks like spaghetti,

and he went so big,

he's handing in an unfinished tattoo.

He dropped the ball, and I couldn't care less.

As long as I'm not the one going home.

- There's two different-shaped wings, completely.

- We've only got so much time to make every line work.

- Larger doesn't always win.

- The tattoo's massively unfinished.

[dramatic music]

- Cleen, I think you should be concerned.

You might go down to the bottom.

- I'm not worried about it.

- I think Christian really has to worry.

There was a lot more of the tattoo hanging out

than there was covered up.

- Well, [bleep], I've been here the whole time,

shredding all these tattoers

that you didn't even have to face,

so, if I go home, it's like, you got eight bye weeks.

- Well guess what, I've been at the top

at every [bleep] God damn challenge

and every God damn tattoo, so what the [bleep]?

- Yeah, all both of 'em.

- I won the God damn flash challenge.

Hey, I mean, Cleen, I didn't want your guy,

and I figured you were the only guy that was

gonna be able to cover that [bleep] up.

- Cleen's not the only guy in the house

that can do a double cover-up.

- Could you have seen anybody else doing that cover-up?

- Sometimes your ego is just so shockingly [bleep] large.

- Have you ever shown that you can do

any sort of large-scale tattooing?

- Say whatever you want, let's just hope

they call a head-to-head, 'cause I'll take you on

any day of the week.

[industrial music]

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

- Today, you had to show ingenuity

by covering a hate tattoo.

James, you're up first.

You chose a pretty large cover-up for yourself.

- First thing I saw was a floral pattern

that would fit her and just get rid

of that huge tattoo without being really dark.

- You've given this woman something very feminine,

something very beautiful... of the day,

this woman's life has been transformed

more dramatically than anybody else.

She has you to thank for it.

- There are some lines that are less than perfect in here,

especially in these top flowers on the outside.

Some areas where you have just packed white

all the way up to those lines, and the lines

that are crooked and the lines that are shaky,

it makes them really stand out.

But something like this, with this much detail,

close inspection, you're gonna find

a lot of discrepancies.

- Feeling confident about putting this many lines

into this type of skin, in this area,

knowing that you're up against six hours,

was a ballsy move.

This panned out for you in that sense.

Definitely achieved a cover-up.

The shading that you have going from dark to light,

you disperse it throughout, and that way,

it's not an obvious cover-up.

It's a strong tattoo, and it's a lot of tattooing

in a short amount of time.

- Cleen.

You actually did two cover-ups.

Did you feel that was a disadvantage?

- I mean, it wasn't easy.

His arm's as big as my leg,

and, you know, the tattoos that he has...

just the flag itself is a pretty good size.

- Overall, man, it's a big, solid,

saturated tattoo.

Your ingenuity here was coming up with a design

that could get rid of both of these tattoos,

but I'm just not a fan of the drawing.

These helmets, in real life, they are black,

and now it's just bright bubblegum blue.

Almost looks like it would be a baseball batting helmet

as opposed to, like, a motorcycle helmet or something.

The upper jaw?

If you just draw those teeth

and then cover it with the fabric,

the fabric wouldn't pull

directly back like that.

It would stick out, but,

as far as the cover-up goes,

you did this client a service.

You had to cover up two tattoos,

and I think you achieved it strongly.

- Matti.

You got one of the...

- Easiest cover-ups on the planet?

- Yeah, one of the easier ones.

What did you think when you got this one?

- Well, I had to do another zombie.

So, I had to come up with something

completely different, and hopefully,

I gave you guys something we haven't seen yet.

- I like the use of the entrails,

all of the intestines and everything in the bottom.

You can pretty much cover up anything

with a pile of intestines.

First glance, the tattoo's very striking.

I like the face, but man,

this hair is just very weird,

and it's just kind of markered in there.

If you put your hand over the face,

and just look at the hair all across the top,

how many people are gonna guess "hair" out of that?

- It's like a sheet. - I mean, I don't know.

Why would you put your hand right over the face?

- I'm looking at all of the parts of the tattoo.

Like, if you only see that hair...

- A weird piece of cloth? - That is just, like...

- Bacon. - Yeah.

- It's just a compromise I had to make

for the time and the style that this guy wanted.

- Every minute that you were putting

the awkward red border in

is a minute you could have been

making this hair look better.

- The problem here is that

it is massively unfinished.

- Anthony.

- This is one of the most solid cover-ups of the day.

Definitely nothing of that tattoo is coming through.

Shows really good ingenuity,

making that tombstone fit just right

so you could use those details in the cracks,

mask what areas you need to really get hidden.

- You have so many nice details in the hair.

You have really fine, fine lines.

You create this kind of ratty feeling,

but it still shows perfect line work in there.

This thing really, really shows strong today.

You did a great job.

- Christian.

- The first glance of this tattoo is very nice.

I like the aesthetic, I like the big, simple approach.

Just looking at the area of the cover-up,

the eagle worked really well.

There are a few areas, on close inspection,

where you can see the old lines popping through the white,

but that's better than just blacking it out

and making it more hard to see

what's going on with the eagle.

- You have some definite challenges in the eagle.

Things that really give the eagle the power

are gonna be the talons and the head,

and you just did them too small.

You want to lock 'em in and make it powerful and strong.

It gets more of a turkey feel than it does an eagle feel.

The other thing is it's two different-shaped

wings, completely.

The one closest to us is a big, fat square

that doesn't have that strong taper,

and then, the back wing is right.

It's got that long feel.

- We've only got so much time to make every line work,

and a lot of decisions I had to make on the fly

to cover the straight lines going out.

It is what it is, but that's why I did it.

- But if you had the time to do the non-important flower,

that time could have all gone

into your main design of the cover-up.

At this stage of the game,

everything has to be tight,

because you guys aren't making big mistakes,

so it's the little ones that get hit.

- All right, judges, time to choose

who had the best tattoo of the day.

- James had a vision straight from the start.

Great ingenuity throughout.

A lot of line work to really help hide

that old, scratchy tattoo she had,

but for me, man, 100% bulletproof cover-up?

Anthony's tattoo gets it.

- I love the high definition of Anthony's tattoo,

but it does look like a weird composite

that's not realized.

- Not for me... for me,

everything about the tattoo,

especially the cover-up area itself,

is executed so well and so precise.

I love James' tattoo, but he had some hiccups

in the line work, and I really couldn't

pick too much apart about Anthony.

- I need a final decision.

- Anthony.

- My vote's for James.

- I'm gonna vote for Anthony. - [exhales]

- The judges have decided

that the best tattoo of the day

goes to Anthony.

The human canvas jury is deliberating right now,

and their vote will put one artist

up for elimination.

Head back to the loft.

One of you is about to pack your machines.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Out of me, you, or Matti,

who's going home?

- If... if I had to pick, I'd send Cleen home.

- I think I did a big, badass tattoo.

- I don't like the [bleep] tattoo.

- That's okay, because yours looks like crap.

- You've always got something to say about my tattoo,

but no matter what, your is just "a big, badass tattoo, bro."

- At least mine covered up what I was supposed to cover up.

- I think, arguably, I had one of the hardest cover-ups.

- No way.

- Certainly more challenging than Matti's.

Matti's was full of very bad choices

from start to finish.

- I don't think they were [bleep] bad choices.

I still did a cool tattoo. - [bleep] cool...

- Tattoo looks cool as [bleep] - Unfinished tattoo.

- I can finish it later, dude. - Okay.

Finish it later when you get sent home for that.

- Dude, what am I supposed to do when the guy...

- You're supposed to finish your tattoos, right?

- And asks for... oh, really? - Absolutely.

- You can't use that as a defense here, dude.

- Yes, I [bleep] can. - No, we do...

we are not judged on what we could do later.

- Dude, don't tell me about what [bleep]

you can say when you're down there.

- Matti, you're [bleep] going home.

- Whatever, dude.

[dramatic music]

- Today we're testing ingenuity with hate tattoo cover-ups.

Who's in the bottom today?

- Matti is definitely in the bottom.

- 40% of this tattoo is either unfinished,

didn't need to be there, or badly done.

- To me, it looks like Christian's in the bottom.

- Him making everything miniature?

The little tiny head, the little tiny talons,

the misshapen wings... if he would have just

done a proper eagle with big, tough,

cool talons, it would have looked great.

- I don't like a lot about Cleen's tattoo.

- Cleen knocks it out of the park,

in the sense of the cover-up,

but I think his drawing's off.

- I don't like the aesthetics of it.

It's kind of a goofy, new-school tattoo

on a really big, tough biker guy.

- Top five artists, strongest artists we've ever had,

especially at this phase of the competition.

- The human canvas jury could pick any of 'em.

- Tough decision here.

- We are here to determine who had the worst tattoo of the day.

- That's my tattoo, and my artist was Cleen.

- It looks like a puffer fish.

Just the spikes, and I just can't figure out

what that thing is on the bottom of the bandana.

- That's a helmet strap, and it's just undone.

- The eyes throw me off a little bit.

- You're looking inside, and

there's a fire inside that skull.

- Well, I mean, I understand what it's trying to capture,

but it looks like squiggly lines.

- The nose throws me off... it looks like steak,

like you see at a butcher.

- There's no way Cleen's in the bottom on this one.

- This is my tattoo. My artist was Matti Hixson.

- Man, she's beautiful. But ugly.

- the gash on the forehead confuses me

with the hair a little bit.

- What is she holding onto?

- She's eating guts... I asked for something,

you know, bloody, gory.

She looks like my old lady

whenever I come home from the bar.

- This is my tattoo, and my artist was Christian.

- This is a very simplistic design.

- It's a little simple... I wish I could have got

the soldier's cross... I did want that.

- I think he should have gave you what you wanted.

- He could've showcased his talents a little better.

- Yeah, this is the time to bring it,

and he didn't bring it.

- Somebody's going home, man.

I don't think I did the worst tattoo,

but, you know, there... might be calling three.

- I'll go down swinging.

- Ooh, [bleep].

- Judges want to see:

Cleen.

- [whistles]

- Matti,

and Christian.

See y'all downstairs.

- This is top five, man. Nobody dropped the ball.

Let's go [bleep] do it.

- Good luck, yo.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Today, you had a true test of ingenuity:

A cover-up, and based on your work,

one of you will be packing your machines.

Now, it's time to find out

who the human canvas jury chose.

[suspenseful music]

♪

- [whistles]

- Christian, you're here because

the human canvas jury determined

that you had the worst tattoo of the day.

January, why did the jury vote Christian to the bottom?

- They thought that it was a little too simple

for as far into the game that he is.

He could have done what I asked for:

A soldier's cross with maybe a good background.

- The human canvas jury doesn't understand

technicalities in tattoos.

I don't believe that

what she originally wanted

was doable for that particular cover-up.

- Compared to the other four,

I just don't think it was as good.

- I have not changed my canvas' mind once,

up until now, and because it was

technically impossible for me to do.

- I do love the tattoo very much.

- Apologize if, uh, it wasn't what you wanted.

- January, thank you very much.

- Thank you. - Thanks for your time.

- Christian, a little bit more understanding

of traditional shading,

this tattoo could have been a lot better.

- I still think I did a solid tattoo.

I think it was technically applied correctly.

I don't think I deserve to go home.

Nobody wanted that one, and yeah,

she's walking away... nobody knows

what the [bleep] is under there.

- Matti. The unfinished hair.

That's almost as much as the entire center.

Unfinished tattoo.

- It still looks enough finished

with emotion, with dynamics,

with a great color palette.

I set myself up for greatness

later on down the road... - You designed it.

When you're drawing, you can design something

to be done quicker, or design something to take longer.

- You can't always finish something in one sitting.

- A half-inch red stripe around anything

doesn't make it better.

- Cleen did [bleep] some kind

of weird piano keys coming out

of the side of a [bleep] Darth Vader helmet,

and that's okay, and I get [bleep]

for setting up for the future?

- It's just picking your battles, man.

It's picking your battle.

- Cleen.

- I would've loved to have more time.

I mean, mine was...

I mean, it's huge.

- Aesthetically, I'm just not a fan

of the overall piece... the helmet

is bright baby blue on a tattoo

that's supposed to be a tough, biker tattoo.

- It's a new-school tattoo, and I'm known

for doing big-ass tattoos.

- Larger doesn't always win.

Matti didn't have to do as big a tattoo as he did.

- Stick my unfinished zombie tattoo

up against anybody else's on the line.

Looks [bleep] dope.

- I've never turned in an unfinished tattoo.

- I'm having a tough time, 'cause I see

a lot of problems with Christian's tattoo.

- Yeah.

- There's some questionable areas,

but Christian had a tougher

tattoo to cover, and he showed

a little more ingenuity.

- For me, Cleen's safe.

- But Cleen's got some weird, baby blue,

bubblegum tough guy motorcycle helmet thing.

- It would be totally unfair to be like,

"Matti, you didn't finish, but we'll keep you anyways."

- Matti, the fact it's unfinished is one thing.

I think the bad decision to spend time

tattooing that background instead of

making the rest of the tattoo better...

- I wouldn't hit on the red too much.

There could be tons of stuff...

- But what it could be and what it is are big differences.

- Yeah, and I understand where you're coming from...

- The tattoo's unfinished, man.

- All right, guys, time to decide who's going home.

- Matti goes home for me.

- We judge what we see today.

I vote for Matti.

- My vote's for Matti as well.

The judges have decided.

Matti, you do not have

what it takes to be Ink Master.

- Matti, going as big as you went,

and having it unfinished, saved Christian.

Had you have done a portion of your tattoo,

you'd be knocking Christian off today,

and that's how this game goes.

- Please pack your machines and close shop.

- I shouldn't have [bleep] gone home

against those two tattoos.

I would absolutely rather have

something that's incomplete and good

than something that's finished and awful.

I could have done a finale piece way better

than any of the mother[bleep]

sitting in the house right now.

This is absolute bull[bleep].

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

- You are the last four artists standing.

- This challenge is all about revenge.

These guys are gonna get what's coming to them.

- This is gonna be the epic battle of this season.

- Every single drop of ink counts.

- Every tattoo from now on is a $100,000 tattoo.

- I'm putting it all on the table right now.

Boom!

- There's no arguing that our strategy has worked.

We belong here.

- I thought we were gonna have a veteran finale.

- Sounds like you're trying to leave a legacy, man.

- But now I wanna win this [bleep].

- That dimension and that shading,

this is expertise at work.

- That's black-and-gray tattooing at its finest.

- But man, this tattoo,

everybody up here completely hates this.

- I have no idea what I'm looking at.

- You don't get that grand feeling.

- The road to the finish line begins right here.

- I am nervous as [bleep].

♪