All language subtitles for Ink.Master.S16E01.720p.HEVC.x265-MeGusta

* MTV

OGs versus Young Guns.

Sixteen brand-new artists

will form two teams
based solely on experience.

There's not
a single weak artist here.

This is tattoo bootcamp.

Fucking bring it.

[Narrator] They'll push
their creativity...

[Woman] Let's fucking go,
bitches!

[Narrator]
And their experience...

[Cat] Oh, no.

Well, that's why
you're a Young Gun.

[Narrator] To the limit.

Make that shit look good.

I hope they shit that bad.

Fuck me.

[Woman 3] You're not
a fucking genius,

so don't be an asshole.

"Make this more simple"
or "Make this like that."

-I was correct.
-Whoo!

Today, you must battle it out,
tattooing the face.

[Woman 4] This could go wrong
in so many ways.

[Man] Tattooing
for our lives right now.

[Pained moan] [whispers]
Oh, my God.

I fucked myself over.

Things go sideways
really fast.

Battle to the death.

[Narrator] Only the strongest
will survive.

If we're gonna do this,
we're gonna battle.

I'm fucking scared shitless.

There's no fucking way that
you're gonna expect a free ride.

This is an emotional battle
for me.

Does anybody else
wanna progress to the end?

Why the fuck else
are we here?

[Narrator] Judged
by industry icons.

The small transitions
in hue, that's crazy.

I haven't seen
any tattoo pull that off.

Super-clean, solid-ass tattoo

and you should be
fucking stoked.

Nailed every little piece
of that tattoo.

It's badass.

They're so fucking good.

He nailed it.
You took a swing

and you absolutely hit it
out of the park.

[Narrator] In the end,
only one artist

will earn a $250,000 prize...

This shit
is fucking bananas.

The game is afoot.

Gear up and get ready.

[Narrator] And a title
of Ink Master.

[rock music]

[dramatic music]

Woah! Shit!

Let's go!

[Love] [laughs] Not the fame.

Whoo, I wonder
who's gonna be right here.

This feels like a dream.

I cannot believe
I'm on Ink Master right now.

This is crazy.

I do like the orange.

Yellow is not bad.

-[Love] Uh-huh.
-[Jade] I could do it.

[Pony] What's happening, man?
How you doing? How's everybody?

There's not
a single weak artist here.

Pony Paloni.

Hey, Jade, how are you?

[Alena] Pony, are you serious?

Who doesn't know Pony?

He's on
every social media platform,

killing it.

I am a huge fan of you.

-[Pony] No, you're not.
-Yes.

[Tony] James Tex.
Dude, it's an absolute pleasure.

I've been following your stuff
for a long time.

I call someone like James
a visionary.

Someone who just has
this concept, this idea

and he can just draw it up
on the fly.

I heard so much about you.
I admire your work.

[James] It's probably all lies.

I'm here,
competing with my son.

Against my son.

You guys,
that's so cute.

Doing this competition
with my dad.

[chuckling]

I'm here
to fucking beat him.

There are so many good tattooers
here, it's crazy.

Stacked.

[rock music]

[Woman] Hell, yeah.

Let's go!

Bring it in.

Welcome. Are you excited?

[contestants] Yeah!

For more than a decade,
hundreds of artists

with different specialties
and strengths

have entered this competition,

hoping to prove
that they have what it takes

to be an Ink Master.

That's wild.

Only the best
have succeeded.

Best of the best.

In that elite group
of Ink Master winners,

were artists like DJ

who have been tattooing
for more than a decade.

The first time I won
Ink Master,

I had already been tattooing
for 20 years.

So I was super confident
in knowing every style

and having to do
whatever walked in the door.

And artists like Ryan

who have been tattooing
for far less than that.

I won this competition with only
four years of experience.

Being so fresh in the industry,
you're hungry.

You wanna learn.

[Nikko] Yeah,
you have classic craftsmanship

and you have modern mastery.

It leads us
to an interesting question.

To be crowned Ink Master,
what's more important?

Years of experience or a fresh
new view of the craft?

[Man] Debatable.

-It could go either way.
-Anything goes.

For this competition,
you will form two teams

based solely on how long
you've been tattooing.

The OGs, tattooing
for more than a decade...

-Oh, wow.
-Heavy hitters.

Versus the Young Guns.

Tattooing for 10 years
or less.

Our backs
are still fine.

[Love] There you go.
Shoulders intact.

[Joseph] Just got real.

To get to the end,
you must battle it out

alongside your team
until only the strongest remain.

Wait, I'll warm up
your little milk bottles.

Being a Young Gun
has its advantages.

We're totally open
to accepting new things,

learning new things,
and trying new things.

The OGs might stick
to what they know

so much that it's not gonna
benefit them in the competition.

But, ultimately, no matter
how long you've been tattooing,

only one artist
will walk away

with $250,000...

-Jeez.
-That's a whole lot of cheese.

And the title
of Ink Master.

That's why we're here.

There is one more thing
you should know.

[contestants] Here goes.

There are eight OGs...

and eight Young Guns.

But there are only
six spots on each team.

Oh, no.

That means four of you
will be packing your machines

before you even moved
into a shop.

Oh, my God.

We just got here, dude.

Shit.

Yeah, no doubt. Four people
right off the rib.

Before you get to battle
the opposing team,

you must first
battle your own.

Oh, my God.

That's fucked up.

It's time to weed out the weak
one team at a time.

Sink or swim.

Please tell me
the OGs are gonna go first.

Young Guns,
you're up first.

Oh, no.

Oh, my God,
I'm gonna throw up.

Why?

For your first
elimination tattoo,

the subject matter
is completely up to you.

Speaking my language,
let's go.

The style is not.

You must tattoo in one
of these three distinct styles.

American traditional,
Japanese, or new school.

[Man] Good luck.

Those are three
scariest styles.

I don't do color.
I don't do lines.

I don't do any of that.
Oh, my God.

Make sure your tattoo
speaks for itself

because these tattoos
will be judged completely blind.

I wanna know exactly
what style I'm looking at.

This is Ink Master.

You need to be able
to take a swing at everything.

Young Guns, today, you will have
five hours to tattoo.

Let's go. I'm ready.

This is your chance to prove
to the rest of the Young Guns

that you deserve
a spot on the team

because two of you
will be going home.

It got serious.

Start designing
and we'll sit in your canvases.

Good luck.

Good luck, kids.

It's gonna be magic.

All right,
what are we doing?

I think I might do
some Japanese.

-Japanese?
-Yeah.

Luckily, I did a traditional
tattoo recently-ish.

You've been training, huh?

Not even.

I actually should've been
on the old team

just because
of my age.

-Now I'm just sitting here.
-[Woman] How old are you?

Forty-three.

I picked up a tattoo machine
on a whim,

and I fell
in love with it,

and it literally changed
my whole life.

Every time I sit down and I put
that machine in my hand,

I'm just so fucking happy.

I've lived an entire life,
I wasn't happy what I was doing.

And now I'm fucking happy.

Every day, I wake up
and I go to work.

And I'm super pumped
to be there,

and I'm so happy
to hang out with my clients.

And I'm just so grateful.

And I'm not only here,
but I'm here.

This is crazy.

It's looking really funky,
but it'll make sense

when it's all done.

Look at me, trying to draw
my design

after seven months
of not tattooing.

[Jenna] Why were you
not tattooing?

Because I'm having
a baby, girl.

Five months ago, I had
my beautiful little baby boy.

And it was everything
I've ever wanted.

I love being a mom.

Towards the last trimester
of pregnancy,

it was really rough
and I wasn't able to tattoo.

It was hard 'cause I was so used
to working all the time.

I'm here to show myself,
what I can do,

that I can find
my creative spark again

and produce work the way
I used to produce work,

and even better.

And now here I am, trying to get
back into tattooing.

Everybody else is competing
against each other,

but this is me in a competition
against myself.

All right.

[Jenna] We already agreed
we're sending boys home.

-Yes. Absolutely.
-So we're fine.

[Cat] Being the first
to be sent home

before we even unpack
our machines

is like
[imitates disgruntled cat].

[Love] It'll be the worst
to be sent home, period.

[laughing]

[Cat]
That's true, that's true.

[dramatic stinger]

[Man] Hey, I'm gonna be
your human canvas today.

-I'm your human canvas.
-Hello. Nice to meet you.

He's a cute little cowboy
and his dead frog.

Young Guns,
there are eight of you

and only six spots
on the team.

[Jenna] You gotta win this.

[Joel] If you want
one of those spots,

you're going
to have to prove it.

You have five hours to tattoo
and your time starts now.

It's go time.

Let's fucking go, bitches.

[Woman] Oh, my God.

We wanna test the Young Guns
right out of the gate.

[Cat] Oh, no.

Three styles that are staples
in tattoo history.

American traditional.

Yeah, this looks awesome.

[DJ] Clean lines,
solid saturation,

a really simple color palette,
Japanese.

[Joseph] And it's perfect.

[DJ] Clean lines,
solid saturation.

It's a lot of the same things
as American traditional

with a little bit more
modern take.

Or new school.

You need to know a lot of trics
to do new school.

If you don't know how to draw
and skew proportions correctly,

you'll fall short.

I like that placement
right there.

If one of these Young Guns
want their name on a shop,

they gotta impress us
right off the bat.

[Love] I'm pushing towards you.
Try to hold your bearings.

[DJ] If you can't hit
one of these styles,

then hit the road.

We're testing out
a new machine today.

-[Man] Perfect. Nice.
-Risky business.

All right, we are on
this journey together.

[rock music]

[Johnny] So sick seeing
the stencil on the skin.

It's like when my brain
starts to see it all.

I see the future.

I'm gonna do a new school
crazy fucking squid creature.

Like if you took some mushrooms

and you've seen a fucking squid
come out of the ocean.

The leg can sometimes
get a little twitchy

so don't freak yourself
out over it.

I grew up being taught
do it how you feel.

I tattoo from a space
that feels authentic

and organic as fuck.

In my own head,
there's a little cowboy

lassoing all my ideas,
and then pulling them in,

and like, "Get back here,
you crazy."

I've been doing stuff
like this

a little bit
more often now.

Young Guns,
there are four hours left.

[Man] Look who's here, guys.

Right, oh, right, what do we
got here?

The OGs.

[Cat] Here
they come.

How are y'all doing?

[Cat] To blow up
our spot.

I'm all for it.
That's what we're here for.

Everybody, look.

This isn't nerve-wracking
or anything. [giggles nervously]

People have said, in their
three years of tattooing,

they were nowhere near
where I am now.

My technical abilities
are so sharp and precise,

that, no matter the challenge,
I'll be able

to produce
a clean piece of work.

She hasn't finished
the outline yet.

[Jade] Give me chills.

I'm just trying
to get clean lines.

Looks can be deceiving.

I might pull up in
a little skirt and a crop top,

but I can tattoo my ass off.

-How you shading that heart?
-Red.

-Just solid?
-No.

More shadow
where the snake overlaps.

My name is Love and so I wanna
go with a heart-centered design.

Hearts are a staple
in American traditional tattoos.

That's my new tag,
"Done with Love."

I love that.

I'm a plus-size
queer black tattoo artist.

I want to make sure
that people who look like me

and identify
the way that I do

have access to amazing,
beautiful,

life-changing,
body-complementing work.

This right here,
hot fire.

I've chosen to carry
my communities on my back

and if I don't win, I'll feel
like I'm letting them down.

Just go.

Kitsune mask,
smart choice.

Does it need more shading?

I'm from a region in Siberia,
Asian part of Russia.

It's the coldest
inhabited place on Earth.

It wasn't easy. We didn't have
basic human needs.

Boiling water,
we didn't have a bathroom.

I literally had
to struggle to survive.

Do you think I should do
thicker lines on the mask?

Yes. Just to make it look
a little stronger.

[Alena] Yeah, yeah.

I only do
black and gray realism.

I had fucking balls big enough

to go for Japanese
and color tattoo.

None of the things I do
on a regular basis.

Winning Ink Master is not
gonna be easy.

But it won't be the hardest
thing I've ever done.

Whip it, whip it, whip it,
lali, lali, lali.

Much of the older generation
tattoo artists,

they don't wanna give
a chance to the new guys.

You like it?

Do better?

Wanna show him
how it's done?

It wasn't easy for me
in Puerto Rico.

I would knock on doors,
tattoo shops,

just begging
for apprenticeships.

And I would just constantly
get shut down.

I'm completely self-taught.

For this challenge,
I tried to maintain it

as simple as possible,

making sure it's really solid,
hacked to the brim.

All of the work
I've done by myself.

To get to Ink Master
is on the line.

[Pony] We might
have some competition.

They're not doing
half-bad.

This is what they wanted.
They wanted traditional.

They want straightforward.

-[Jorell] You went big.
-[Andy] Oh, he's cruising.

Almost done,
he's touching the color.

[Jorell] Yeah, it's crispy.

[Trevor] I just wanna get
a spot in the shop.

I really discovered art in
my senior year of high school.

I had to take an art class.
My father just passed away.

Having my dad die from cancer,
it was hard.

I had a lot of things
going on in my head.

And it was just something
I could use

to process my emotions

and just let things go,

and letting my feelings
out on a paper

and stuff like that
really helped me

to become a better artist
and just grow.

I'm waiting till later on
to unleash some of my own style.

All right, everybody, there is
one hour left on the clock.

You have one hour.

[rock music]

You just question so much
when you're put on the spot.

[Man] Always second-guessing,
looking for perfection.

I haven't tattooed
in seven months.

It feels foreign.

I have to constantly keep
adjusting my hand speed,

how much pressure
I'm applying.

I am terrified.

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.
No more ink.

[Alena] Ooh, we did it.

[Man] We did it!

Yay.
On the wire.

This thing looks amazing.
What you think?

-[Man] No, that's sick. Yeah.
-[Love] You like it? Hell, yeah.

I feel like we nailed it.

[Man] Yeah, I think
you did it good. Absolutely.

[Jenna] Now we just
have to win, man.

[Man] Yeah, good luck.

So as far
as technical ability goes,

I think they're all
shitting the bed here.

[Jorell] I feel like that's what
the challenge was asking.

What is the complaint
that OGs would have

to Young Guns?

You don't fucking know
the fundamentals.

And it matters.

There are six spots.

Who are the two
that are going home?

Based on what you guys saw.

From what I saw from Jade,

it takes you two hours
to do a line work.

You should be able to do it
in 10 to 15 minutes.

If it's gonna take her two days
to color in a rose,

you could do it
in fucking 15 minutes.

If it comes down
to hitting the mark,

I have to put Trevor
on the bottom,

because he did
what he wanted to do.

He didn't do traditional.

His color palette was weird.

Opaque greens, traditional
doesn't have that.

Did anybody know
what Johnny's image was?

I just couldn't connect

what was happening
with the tentacles and the hea.

There's two different things
in Johnny's put together,

which it should be one.

I think all Young Bucks
should go home

and we should all stay 'cause
we're all way better than them.

[Pony] You're not wrong.

[rock music]

All right, blind critique.
You guys ready for this?

Ready as I'll ever be,
yeah, yeah.

We'll find out.

[Man]
Oh! Here we go!

The Young Guns had five hours
to tattoo

in one of three distinct styles.

American traditional,
Japanese, or new school.

This is a blind critique.

Let's see how they did.

Let's bring up
the first tattoo.

Oh, no, it's mine.

Overall, I think
this tattoo's adorable.

Look at this thing, guys.

Look at the little teeth
and the little lips

and the cute
little button nose.

I love the illustration.
This little boy,

this cold look,
coming out of the graveyard.

But that almost coffin shape
behind the tattoo

is a little bit confusing
to where the boy comes out of t

in certain areas
but doesn't in others.

The frog is amazing.
I really love the frog.

It really captures
my imagination.

Then everything else
is an afterthought.

I did do it at the end

of when I had already
designed everything.

So he nailed it,
he nailed it, yeah.

[Joel] Bring up
the next tattoo.

[group moans bewilderedly]

That was me.

[Nikko]
It's a super bold tattoo.

It's super American traditional.
It's clean.

The color choices are good.

It wasn't overdone
with any weird colors

that weren't too
out of the ordinary.

[Ryan] The saturation
is really, really nice.

All of the negative space
around each petal is dope.

It's dope. It's solid.

[James] I was literally
scared for you.

I thought this was
going south real quick.

Or real slow.
[group laughing]

[Jade] I was literally just
trying to take the challenge

word for word
and what they wanted.

Clean, simple, and to the point,
American traditional.

[Joel]
Let's see the next tattoo.

It's me.

[Joel] It doesn't scream
American traditional to me.

The line weight
should've been a little heavie,

a little less
going on.

Honestly, I really like
this tattoo.

But, come on, it's not
American traditional.

It's not.

When you have different angles
and different flips,

mandalas, and all these trips,

it takes away from the beauty
of the simplicity

of American traditional.

I know I took
a lot of risks.

I pushed it.
I was trying to do my own thing.

It was a nice neo-traditional
tattoo, though.

Let's bring up
the next tattoo.

That's me.

[Joel] I think it hits the mark
for American traditional.

This has some design issues.

The most important parts
of the heart are covered up.

This has a balloon appearance.

It looks like,
when the stencil was put on,

it was pushed
one way on the top

and then pushed one way
on the very bottom

so the dagger doesn't look
exactly straight to me.

And these are the Young Guns
doing it, right?

This is where experience
comes in.

I stand by that tattoo.

It's my first
American traditional.

I'm proud of it.
I don't feel like

it's a tattoo where someone
in the back of the grocery store

is gonna go,
"What the fuck is that?"

[Joel] Let's bring up
the next tattoo.

That's mine.

[Joel] Nice lines,
nice colors.

[Ryan] It's readable,
bold, saturated.

I think this person
is a technician.

Hell, yeah.

[Joel] On the artistic
side of it,

the ropes could've benefitted
from separation

from the mask itself.

They hug it
a bit too hard.

But, overall,
beautiful tattoo.

Japanese, for sure,
and straight to the point.

I'm very happy,
I think.

Your tattoo was sick.

[Joel] Moving on, let's see
the next tattoo.

[Man] Who dat?

Oh. That's mine.

[Joel] New school.
It's vibrant.

I don't really understand
what's going on on the bottom.

They look like suction cups.

I feel
like it's a squid.

But then I think
that's a crab claw

at the top.

Look, if you cover
those bottom tentacles,

it's a cool tattoo.

[Man] It's a cool tattoo
like that.

[DJ] And if you cover
the face,

it's its own cool little
charactery tentacley dude.

But together,
it was two pieces

that look like
they were just stuck together.

[Man] It wasn't transitioned
cohesive,

not to feel like one piece.

I just tried to design something
that was like me.

[Joel] Let's see
the next tattoo.

Oh, that's my turn now.

[Joel] I like this one.
It's super clean.

It's crispy.
Great composition.

The way the petals for,
where the flowers are.

The way the ropes
frame the piece

and flow with the body.

Some of this linework
could cut a fucking tomato.

It is sharp.

They showed us bold lines,
thin lines,

beautiful clean saturation,

and a really lovely, simple,
sophisticated design.

I was worried
about the linework.

I took the longest time
on the lines.

I guess it paid off.
Oh, my God. Ooh!

[Joel] Let's see
the last tattoo.

[Ryan] This person
is a true artist

who really understands
how to illustrate

in a really impressive way.

The shapes
of the shadows,

the facial expression,

so many things
about this tattoo

are really, really impressive.

I just think
the technical ability

isn't there.

You can tell when tattoos are
just overdone and overworked.

Like they kept
going over it.

It was punching too much
of an area at once

and too fast
of a rate.

And that's where
experience comes in.

And that's where Young Guns
sometimes tend to overdo it.

This tattoo
is a big deal for me

because it's my first time back,
doing what I love.

There are only six spots
on the Young Guns team.

It's going to be interesting

to see
how this shakes out.

Artists, it's time
to get in here.

[dramatic stinger]

[dramatic music]

Young Guns, today,
you had five hours

to tattoo in one
of three distinct styles.

Based only on your work,

each of your tattoos
have been ranked

by the judges.

One by one,
the top four artists

will be revealed.

If you made it
into the top four,

you are safe
from elimination

and you've secured a spot
on the team of Young Guns.

Please reveal
the highest rank tattoo.

Who's it gonna be?

[Joel] Congratulations,
Elina.

You have the highest-ranked
tattoo for the Young Guns

and you have
the first spot on the team.

Well done.

Why did you decide
to do Japanese?

'Cause it was the scariest thing
out of the three.

Good answer.

With a tattoo this clean,

I think you're ready
for this competition.

That's a beautiful tattoo.

Thank you so much.

[DJ] Have a seat.

Please reveal
the second-highest rank tattoo.

That's mine.

[Joel] Congratulations, Joseph.

You have the second-highest
rank tattoo.

[Ryan] It was
a perfect sticker.

Thank you. Nice.

Go ahead and join your team.

-[Love] Good job.
-[Joseph] Thank you.

[Joel] Please reveal
the third-highest rank tattoo.

Congratulations, Jade.

You have the third-highest
rank tattoo.

Thank you.

[Joel] How long
you been tattooing?

[Jade] Just over three years.

[Joel] Three years.
Wow.

This tattoo
is bold and solid,

really impressive
for someone

that's been tattooing only
three years. That's crazy.

[Joel] Congratulations, Jade.

You have the third spot
on the team.

Thank you.

Please reveal the fourth
highest-rank tattoo.

Congratulations, Jenna.

You have the fourth-highest
rank tattoo.

Thank you.

[Joel] This is just a great
cute little sad guy.

-This is a great tattoo.
-Thank you.

[Joel] You have
the fourth spot on the team.

Congratulations,
top four artists.

You are safe
from elimination.

And you've all secured
your spot on the Young Guns.

Four Young Guns remain.

And there are only two spots
left on the team.

The artist
with the lowest-rank tattoo

will be eliminated
from the competition.

Reveal the lowest rank tattoo.

Damn.

Hi, Love.
How you doing?

Could be better.

Do you usually do
American traditional?

[Love] Absolutely not.

That's my first
American traditional piece,

plus-sized black female
tattoo artist,

I didn't have
a traditional apprenticeship.

But I wanted to show you guys
I value the opportunity,

so I did my research

and I gave you the subject
matter, the color palette.

I didn't have a mentor either.
I taught myself everything.

And you're a three-time winner
so say less.

[Nikko] It's a great
traditional tattoo.

You can tell
it's traditional.

And to do your first one here
in front of everyone

takes guts.

[DJ] You're early in,
so just stick with it.

Get the experience,
keep studying.

And you're gonna be great.

Yeah, I learned so much
from all of you.

I'm hella grateful.

Love, you do not have
what it takes

to be Ink Master.

Just pack your machines
and head home.

Thank y'all again
for the opportunity.

I'm really sad
to be leaving,

but I'm still really proud
of my tattoo.

This opportunity is
once-in-a-lifetime for me.

And I'm gonna learn,
I'm gonna grow.

This won't be the last time
you see me.

[Joel] Trevor, Johnny,
and Cat,

you will have one final chance
to save yourself

from elimination.

-Oh, shit.
-[Cat] I already blew it once

and you're giving me
another shot?

You get to fight it out
to stay.

Oh, my God.

To earn one of the final
two spots on your team,

you must face off
in a five-hour tattoo.

Here we go.
Another five hours.

For this face off,
the power is in the hands

of your potential teammates.

Oh, shit.

[Joel] Elina, Joseph, Jade,
and Jenna,

because you have
the four highest rank tattoos,

you now have the power
to assign the style

and subject
of the face off tattoo.

All right, what style
and subject

do they have to tattoo?

They must tattoo
a neo-traditional face.

[Joel] A neo-traditional face.

Human face or...

Doesn't matter.
You guys are artists.

We wanna see your artistic.
You guys decide.

This is definitely not
how I was planning

to make my debut
back from maternity leave.

You're entering this competition
from maternity leave?

-Yeah.
-[Ryan] How old is your baby?

Five months.

First of all,
congratulations.

-In the trenches.
-In the trenches, babe.

You have to hone in,
compartmentalize,

and trust the skin.

You need to feel it.

This is not the place
to be afraid.

If I don't nail this,
just send me home.

-It's fine.
-We will.

Damn.

The face off is set.

Tomorrow, you will have
five hours to tattoo.

This is your last chance
to secure your spot

in the competition.

There is no room
for error.

One of you
will be going home.

Head out
and good luck.

I need to show the judges
that I can take their critiques

and I can apply them.

If I went home before
even getting a shop,

I would feel
like I failed

and I can't let that happen.

-Hey, I'm your human canvas.
-[Johnny] Johnny.

-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

This is your tattoo today, dude.
This what I got for you.

-Doug.
-I'm Cat.

Hopefully, we can give you
a cool tattoo today.

Just start already
on the hot spot.

I'm just trying
to get into a shop

so I can even have
a chance.

We only get five hours,

so this is probably
the biggest I'd wanna go,

'cause I'm still gonna
get in there

and do all the cool shading
and effects and stuff.

Cat, Trevor, and Johnny.

This is your last chance

to save yourself
from elimination

and earn your spot
on the Young Guns team.

You have five hours
to tattoo.

-And your time starts now.
-Let's do this thing.

All right.

Yeah, that's fucking tight.

This face off is going
to be extremely difficult

because it's more
of a head-to-head battle.

In new-traditional tattooing,

we're really looking
for multiple line leads,

Solid saturation,
really elegant blends

from one color
to the next,

and a creative approach
that fits the body beautifully.

Stand naturally.

Neo-traditional tattoos
are tough.

Stripping out the details,
keeping it clean,

readable,
very difficult to do.

[Trevor] This is definitely
my signature style.

This is their last shot.
This tattoo better show

they wanna be there
and it's their best.

Stoked to do this design.

I love doing bold lines,
colors.

That's my specialty
right there.

Are you ready?

My tattoo is a reflection
of how I'm feeling.

It's broken.
It is cut-up.

But she's still
hanging in there.

Hi, guys.

[Man] Oh, shit!

Oh, hey.

How are you feeling, Cat?

[Cat] Uh, I'm nervous.

Do you think I should go
more bold

or is it okay a little bit
thinner for neo-trad?

[Elina] I would do
a different size line.

-[Cat] I'm so scared of...
-Don't be scared.

[Cat] Bolding a line,
so it's like, ugh,

like I'm not going bold.

[Eliza] Stop doubting yourself.

Fear is not real. You're just
making it up in your head.

Freaking lines hecka hard.

[Joseph] Trevorewskie.
How you doing, bud?

[Trevor] I'm thankful that you
guys lobbed me a softball.

Yeah, you're supposed
to kill this, bro.

[Trevor] I wanna make
this team so badly,

I'm gonna do
whatever it takes.

I've always been told
that I'm neo-trad,

so I'm just gonna do
what I always do right now

and come out
and do a sick tattoo.

Would you be up to changing
the color palette in the flower?

[Trevor] Why would I do that?

[Jenny] They're not
classic neo-trad tones.

Especially that lime green,
right?

I've used this color palette
so many times.

It looks fucking sick
when it's done.

You don't do
neo-trad tattoos,

so why're you trying to tell me
to do a neo-trad tattoo?

It's probably gonna be
loud as shit.

It's gonna be good, right?

I wanna prove it to myself

that I can stack up against
the best artists in the world.

This is for $250,000.

It's a big deal.

[Joel] All right, guys,
there are three hours left.

[Cat] Oh, no.

[pulsing music]

-You having fun over here?
-Yeah.

[Johnny] I think I had
a little bit too much fun

yesterday with my design.

[Nikko] Hey,
that's all right.

You got a second chance
at life.

[Johnny] So I'm trying to keep
it a little simpler.

I wanna make sure
everything has

those little neo-trad aspects,
like a flower.

And then there's
this gnarly eyeball

that's just chilling
at the bottom.

It's risky,
but just put it there

because it looks neo-trad.

I don't wanna get too crazy.

Just do it
how it should be done.

That's how my brother
would say it, for sure.

He'd be like, "You don't always
gotta go crazy all the time."

I work alongside
my two brothers, so I work...

[Nikko] Your brothers
tattoo as well.

That's cool, though.
So a family of artists, huh?

[Johnny] I came
to Ink Master to show

that you can follow
your dreams

and not be scared
to jump through that portal

of freaking going for it.

I get that courageousness
from my mom.

She supported us,
told us we could do anything

and chase our dreams,
and I believe that.

She made it believable for me.

And I hope my little brother
does the same one day.

Takes the risks.

How's it going?

[Cat] I'm a little nervous,
a little shaky,

but I'm trying
not to overwork. I'm like...

[Ryan] You just went through
this huge transformation

and this huge evolution, right?

And now you're coming back in

looking for the same person
that you were before.

And what you should be
looking for

is the new evolved
version of you.

Maybe now is the perfect time
to come out like a Phoenix,

bigger and stronger.

Yes.

I know what to do
and I just need to do it.

All right, guys,
you have one hour.

[dramatic music]

[moans nervously]

Scary.

[Joel] Five, four,
three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.
No more ink.

All right,
we did it.

Good shit, dude.

[Man] That looks
fucking insane.

You fucking did it.

You're awesome, dude.

Hopefully, it'll
be good enough

to get me on the team.

I think I like it.

[Trevor] Dude,
that was brutal in there.

Especially with only being
three tattooers

and knowing that one of you
three that are going home?

It's $250,000 on the line.

Yeah, you could cut the tension
in there

with a fucking knife,
bro.

I tried listening to all
the things

that you guys told me.

Anywhere that I could pivot,
I did.

You better get
on the team.

I was going through
this identity crisis

of being a tattoo artist
and being somebody's mommy.

I feel guilty
that I'm enjoying this

because I'm not with him.

I have two kids, right?
It gets better

because you have
so much more motivation

because you have to do it
for your baby.

You don't wanna come home...

And say, "Mommy sucked 'cause
she didn't give it her all.

She gave up."

[Jenny] And we want you to be
a kickass member of our team.

We need your drawing skills.
You can't leave us.

You are so amazing.

I wanna be on the team.

I have a lot to prove.

[music]

Today, you had to face off

tattooing neo-traditional
human faces.

Let's see how you did.

Johnny, you're up first.

This one's a lot more readable.

And you can really tell
what's going on.

But this piece
looks a little stiff.

[Ryan] Since you pulled the hair

in such a compartmentalized
sort of way,

I think you missed
a lot of movement in the tattoo.

I took that route to go

a little bit more sticker
and flat.

I do think it's a lot
of stuff crammed together.

You got the halo, the flower,
the jewel, the eye.

There's a lot going on
in a small tattoo.

There's a lot of tricks in there
that could've been simplified.

-Cat.
-No. Sorry.

-You two were corrected.
-[Joel] You're up next.

Hi, guys.

You are
a very talented illustrator.

I love the shine
on the nose.

The lips
are great.

I love the eyebrows.
The eyebrows are crispy.

Any female comes out
the eyebrow place

looking like that, she's like,
"Damn, these are perfect."

[Nikko]
But it looks unfinished to me.

It looks more illustrated
to me than neo-traditional.

That's where you maybe
added stuff in

that wasn't as necessary

for things that would've
screamed more neo-traditional.

[Ryan] You fixed the problem
we had with you yesterday

when it comes
to overworking it.

But I think
you're really overthinking it.

And last up, Trevor.

The ask was a face.

I think you could've focused
a little more on that.

This face is playing
peekaboo right now.

Like, "Here I am."

But I really like
the style of this one.

It has that good darkness
coming into the light

where the rose
is glowing.

There's only two eyelashes.

What it seems like is you stuck
one eyelash in there

and wasn't sure.

Either fully commit
to eyelashes

or commit
to one beautiful one.

Color choices
are awesome.

Obviously,
you do it neo-traditional.

And you hit the mark
with that.

[Joel] Based on your work,

two of you
will secure your spot

on the Young Guns team.

One of you
will be packing your machines.

I think we have
a tough decision.

I know that I'm versatile.

I can do
a bunch of different styles

that will lend me
to the team well.

Trevor, he can bang on
a solid tattoo.

Playing the game already.

I like that.

We're trying to secure
somebody

who makes up
for some of our weaknesses

so that these guys
don't whoop us.

It's hard to argue with that.

He's a solid tattooer.

I think my biggest pro
was that I got

outside the box,
creative mentality.

I'm always trying
to think about something

a little bit different
or maybe something

that you never thought of.

They can also find a lot of
value in drawing abilities

and design and dimension,

and somebody who can
bust that out

and I think that's something
that I can really contribute.

It's time to determine
who's going home.

I think Trevor absolutely hit
neo-traditional.

Even though it has issues,
that's 100% neo-traditional.

Cat's tattoo, I personally
loved the face.

I loved the illustration.

It looks unfinished to me.

It looks a little unfinished
to me.

-[DJ] I can see that.
-And then Johnny's.

[Nikko] It does look finished.

I will say
the tattoo looks finished.

But I do think it's a lot
of stuff crammed together.

And it just falls
a little flat for me.

[Ryan] As opposed to Cat

who brought what we loved
about her artistry yesterday

fixed some
of the technical mistakes,

and so I think
Johnny took a step back.

Cat took a step forward.

And so, for me, my vote
is for Johnny to go home.

Cat, I think you did
a great illustration.

And, Johnny, I think you like
to do everything you got

in one tattoo.

It's hard for you to just
reel it back in a little bit.

My vote's for you, Johnny.

My vote
is for Johnny.

The judges
have decided Johnny.

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

I just wanna say
thank you to everyone.

I'm taking my notes
and I'm gonna make sure

I apply everything
that I've learned here

and continue to learn, so...

You're super early in
on your career.

It all just takes time.

[Nikko] It takes a lot of guts
to come in here,

taking that swing.
You're gonna go far, bro.

Please pack your machines
and head home.

I'm beyond proud
of myself.

Even though I left
earlier than I wanted to,

chase your dreams.

I have a 12-year-old brother.

I want him to be able
to see this

and know he can go for it
too,

so go for your dreams.
Make your dreams come true.

[Joel] Congratulations, Cat,
and Trevor,

you have secured your spot
on the Young Guns team.

Thank you, guys.

OGs, hopefully, you've all
been paying attention.

Ready to go.

Tomorrow, all of you
will be battling for a place

on the OG team.

-Let's do it.
-Do it.

Get some rest.
You're gonna need it.

[Narrator] On the next episode
of Ink Master...

[Man] The cobra
is in a pit.

Don't talk the talk until you've
walked the walk, OGs.

You're going in huge
with your tattoo.

If they don't kill it,
there's no excuse.

It was a ballsy move and I don't
think you pulled it off.

You used a crutch
to keep yourself safe.

Holy shit.

[music]