All language subtitles for Ink.Master.S16E10.en

[Male Narrator] This season
on Ink Master,

OG's versus Young Guns.

- Whoo!
- [cheering]

[Narrator] Sixteen new artists
enter the competition.

There's not
a single weak artist here.

Sharpen your blades
and take out these opponents.

Battle to the death.
I'm here competing with my son.

Against my son.

I'm still kicking his ass.

[Anthony] James is
the biggest threat here,

but I know everything
that he does.

He's taught me everything.
I have to beat him.

Most people are ready to throw
me under the bus.

You're a strong player.
You know, one of the best here.

If not the best.

Now's the time to try and do
the best thing possible

to fucking take out James Tex.

James and Anthony
should be worried,

because we're coming for them.

These girls are playing
the game.

This is definitely not how I was
planning to make my debut back

from maternity leave.

In the trenches, babe.

[Cat] Everybody else
is competing against each othe,

but this is me in a competition
against myself.

Cat's a threat.
She's really good.

[Kat] Did they just throw me
a bone right now?

This tattoo, it was close
to perfect Cat.

Thank you, guys.

[Narrator] One by one,
they were eliminated .

Love, Johnny.

Manny. Andy.

Elena. Jenna.

Jarell. Joseph.

Trevor. Lucy.

Jade. Pony.

Stephanie.

None of you have what it takes
to be Ink Master.

[Narrator] In the end,

two OG's and one young gun
were left standing.

To prove you deserve the title,

you must create a 24-hour
back piece.

Shit.

You can tattoo any subject you
want in any style you want.

Bring it on.

For your second Master Canvas.

What?

You will have 12 hours
to create a tattoo on the leg.

The opposing team gets to call

the style and the subject
that you must tattoo.

Shit.

Cat, what style and subject must
James and Anthony tattoo?

Black and gray photo
realistic lion.

Horseshit.

I have to make this
a $250,000 fucking lion.

OG's, what style
and subject must Cat tattoo?

- American traditional.
- Lion.

Thirty-six hours of tattooing.
Only one Ink Master.

[Narrator] Tonight,
on the season finale,

the finalists will reveal
their Master Canvases.

This is a big swing for me.

They're father/son.
So I'm up against the family.

Most people don't
have the opportunity to go

head-to-head with their mentor,
their father.

This is what I came here for.

[indistinct]

If I have to beat him to win
the title,

So be it.

[Narrator] One artist will
win the $250,000 prize.

[whispering] I'm so proud.

But I still hope he fails.

...And the title of Ink Master.

It's all happening tonight

on the season finale
of Ink Master.

[theme music]

You do have...you do have what
it takes to be Ink Master.

Welcome to the season finale.

Big. It's gotta sound big.

- Hey, man in black.
- Hey, guys.

Damn, Joel, you're looking good.

Thank you very much.

[Ryan] What are you doing
in here all alone?

- It's the finale.
- [DJ Tambe] Oh, exciting night.

I'm just here, you know,

taking a moment,
reflecting on the season.

- It's been a wold one.
- Yeah.

Some amazing tattoos
this season.

Young guns, OG's.

How much do you think experience

played into getting
these artists here tonight?

We watched a lot of these young
guns go home early in the game

and watched
a lot of these OG's dominate.

We also saw tattoo-ers
with 20 plus years of experience

- go out before Cat did.
- Yep.

There is an 18-year
experience gap

between James and Cat.

That's a legal adult.

Think about how much you learn
as a human in 18 years.

- All of that knowledge.
- For sure.

But you know what? Cat kept up.

She learns
and she adapts quickly.

And I think it's made her
an overall

really well-rounded competitor.

What about James and Anthony,
first father -son duo,

seeing them compete
head-to-head?

Legendary, right?

Yeah, it hits to the heart,
you know,

and anyone that has kids, I
mean, this is the dream, right?

James is definitely living
the dream through his son

and being here himself.

Being in Anthony's shoes,
being taught your whole life

how to do something and then
going up against your master,

that's got to be
a crazy feeling.

Well, I can't wait to find out

who's going to be
the next Ink Master.

You guys ready to kick this off?

- Oh, let's do this.
- Ready.

Let's go.

Let's bring in the finalists.

Representing the OG's,

Tattooing for 13 years,
Anthony Tex.

[Anthony] My whole life
since James started tattooing

has come to this moment.

I finally get to go head-to-head
with Pops.

I really want to show who I am
in comparison to who he is.

I'm here to fucking beat him.

This is what I came here for,

to get the title

and prove to everyone
that I am an amazing artist.

I'm coming in swinging.

Also representing the OG's,

tattooing for 26 years,
James Tex.

[James] I've spent the last 26
years working so hard

to build a tattoo legacy
for my family.

Winning the title of Ink Master

will prove that I still have
that fight

and that fire within me.

I've been through the gauntlet

in this competition to make
it to the spot

and now we go to war.

And finally, representing
the young guns,

tattooing for eight years,
Cat Castro.

[Cat] I want to prove
that I belong here.

I worked
my ass off this competition.

I pushed through
so many struggles.

I'm doing this for my son.

I'm doing this for us.

I want my son to be able to say,
"my mom won Ink Master."

Congratulations on making
it to the finale.

- Good job, guys.
- You did it.

Each of you
had to complete not one,

but two Master Canvas tattoos.

I can't believe we did it,
actually.

36 hours of tattooing

over the course of the last
three days.

A lot of tattooing.

It's wild.

Based on those
two Master Canvases,

one of you will walk away
with $250,000

and the title of Ink Master.

- This is it.
- Right there, within reach.

It all comes down to this.

Sweat buckets, that's for sure.

But there is one
more thing you should know.

[Cat chuckles]

No more tattoos.

Tonight, the judges are not
the only ones

you need to impress.

Shit.

What does that mean?

A spot in the top two will be
in the hands

of a jury of your peers.

- Uh-oh.
- Oh, shit.

Are they here?

From the OG's,

Stephanie, Pony, and Lucy.

From the young guns,

Jade, Trevor, and Joseph.

How you doing, big dog?

[chuckles] What's up, Trevor?

Here we go.

Welcome back, artists.

- Thank you.
- [Lucy] Thank you for having us.

I'm so excited to be here.

Feels like I just left.

[Ryan laughing]

All season long, these artists
battled it out alongside you.

- This is wild, man.
- Holy shit.

They also, more than likely,

want to be sitting
where you are right now.

I have no doubt
that they will hold nothing back

when it comes to critiquing

the tattoos of the artists
that took them out.

Well, that's not good.

No, it's not good, is it?

Here's how it's gonna work.

The jury of peers will
deliberate and vote

for the artist they think
deserves a spot in the top two.

Should have been nicer to me,
James.

The judges will
then determine the second artist

in the top two.

The artist who does not receive
a vote from the jury

or the judges
will be eliminated.

Our fate's in their hands.

I've been doing a lot
of talking,

and I'd rather be looking
at amazing tattoos.

- Yeah, same.
- Let's do it.

For your first master canvas,

you had 24 hours
to tattoo anything you wanted.

Goddamn.

A whole back piece to prove
your strengths and show us

why you deserve the title
of Ink Master.

Wow.

Anything you want.

Let's see how it went.

Bada-bing, bada-boom.

- Anthony.
- Yeah, dude.

That's a 12-hour tattoo for you.

I know.

[James] Now that Anthony's in
the finale with me,

it's gonna be a dog-eat-dog
fight.

[imitating cat noises]

Or a dog-eat-cat.

Your cat noise is sick.

I only got one. Mewlk.

Mewlk.[chuckles] Those are two.

- Hey. I'm your messy canvas.
- Hey, I'm Cat. Nice to meet you.

So what we're doing today
is gonna be this sexy,

beautiful sorceress, but kind
of deadly, and then having,

like, this ghostly skull come
out that she's summoning.

- That's awesome.
- It's gonna be massive.

You ready for just
a big old couple days here?

I'm ready for a big couple days.

I think I'm gonna do a crane.

I love it.

[Anthony] I think just,
for me, readability.

Look across the room, you know
exactly what the hells going on.

What do you think?

- That is sick.
- Just a striking image.

I think it's gonna pay off
in the end.

100%, yeah.

Artists, you have 24 hours for
your master canvas back piece,

and your time starts now.

Let's do this.

This is the only part that'll
feel kind of nice.

That's perfect.

I've seen a lot of back pieces,

but have I seen a lot
of $250,000 back pieces?

Not really.
I want my mind blown.

I want my head to literally

explode off
my fucking shoulders.

Mind gone.

Hoo.

Later.

Sick. Thank God that went
on first try.

This is the worst part.

We have two OG's
and one young gun,

but at this point,
it's anybody's game.

All three of us have been
on the top and the bottom.

It's been a roller coaster.

[DJ Tambe] The battle is on.

Who's got what it takes?

Good luck, bud.
We got this.

Go time, buds.

I was just super excited
for this piece.

My crane is fucking badass.

Cranes are one
of my favorite things to tattoo.

It's a crane in motion
with energy.

This tattoo is gonna show
who I am and separate what

people think of James and myself
because I'm my own artist,

and I'm fucking ready
to crush this shit.

Is this the,
oh, that's gonna be a fun part?

Give me a couple fun parts.

I'm tattooing a sorceress that's
conjuring up this deadly energy.

It's a skull that's coming out
at you,

and it's glowing onto her face.

I feel like we're all doing
completely different styles.

I was the girl that was scared
to pick up a tattoo machine

in the first challenge,

and now look where I am.

This character is the embodiment
of what I want to be.

I want it to be strong
and powerful

and show everything that I've
learned since being here.

You're doing awesome.

You have 20 hours remaining.

My tattoo is a medusa.

There's a lot of things that can
go wrong with this tattoo.

The face. It has to be bang on.

The hand,
that has to be perfect.

And I'm not gonna hold back
on the snakes.

I'm gonna show dimension,
twisting, turning.

I know
in this tattoo I'm showing off,

but this is the time
to show every trick I have

and leave it all in the skin.

Oh, fuck.

Oh no.

You've got some shmutz on you?

Another pair of jeans gone.

They're father/son.

So I'm up against the family.
[chuckles]

I thought the lid was closed.

He does this every day back
at home.

I look good.

You've got 14 hours.

[tense music]

Artist, we have reached
the halfway point.

Day one done.

Tomorrow's just fucking hard.
We're really tough.

It looks like you have
a cape on right now.

Superpower is just
dealing with pain all day long.

All right, big guy.
Let's get you all wrapped up.

- I'll see you tomorrow?
- We'll see you tomorrow.

Hey, there they are.

How's it going?

[Cat] Back to it.

I guess we're gonna clean you up
there, big guy.

Yep.

- You managed to get some sleep?
- Yeah, a little bit.

You've got 12 hours.
You're halfway there.

Get comfy.

And your time starts now.

[Cat] I'm competing against
some titans right now.

This is so intense.

James and Anthony are gonna
stick right in their wheelhouse.

Illustrated color.

But I'm hoping that I can
still showcase myself

as essentially a black
and gray artist.

I'm gonna make sure
it stands out and outshines

their color tattoos by having
really dramatic lighting.

This is a big swing for me.

All right, artist, you
have eight hours remaining.

I love the look of back pieces.
It's pretty rad.

Most people don't
have the opportunity to go

head-to-head with their mentor,

their father, someone
who gave me all the knowledge,

all the tools.

Now I get to try
and take him down?

This is what I came here for.

Whoa, graphic.

Boom.

Very cool, man.

So much is on the line.

Not just the title
of Ink Master,

but to prove to everyone
that I can out-tattoo

and outlast fucking anybody.

Anthony's is pretty cool.
It's a big wing.

I'm so proud.

But I still hope he fails.

Hands down, Anthony is one
of the toughest competitors

in this competition.

But if I have to beat him to win
the title,

so be it.

I'm gonna do the snake
and head last, okay?

If you want anything in life,

you have to go out
and get it yourself.

Because no one's
gonna give shit to you.

I battled my way here,
and he battled his way here.

So we're not gonna stop now.

He's gonna have to try to beat
me to win that title also.

Only one hour left.

Still need to do highlights,

then we'll find out.

And add a tiny bit of shading
on this corner.

24 hours is almost up.

[intensifying music]

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.

No more ink.

We fucking did it.

A 24-hour back piece.

That is so sick.

Hopefully this brings
me the win, man.

- You killed it.
- Fucking stoked.

Let's take
it off if you don't want it.

[both laughing]

I think this one's gonna take
the win.

When we come back,

we will critique
the Master Canvas back pieces.

And we haven't even talked about
the 12-hour leg tattoos yet.

- What?
- Oh, my God.

There's so much more to see.

This is an exciting night
at Ink Master.

Welcome back
to the Ink Master season finale.

Three finalists remain,
and tonight,

one of them will earn a quarter
of a million dollars

and the title of Ink Master.

- It's right there, guys.
- So close.

Unbelievable.

The time has come to critique

your 24-hour Master Canvas
back pieces.

The style and subject were
completely up to you.

I'm shitting my pants right now,
man.

James, you're up first.

- Whoa.
- That's nice.

[Ryan] In the history
of this competition,

no one chooses a Medusa

because they're usually
the kiss of death.

Not only do you
have to render a female face,

you have to render multiple
snakes.

One of my favorite subject
matters is tattooing

female form, and no reference,
it's right for my head,

so I'm pretty proud of that.

There is so much beauty
in the composition.

The glowing flare in her eye

is centered with the center
of the back,

and then you have that perfect

bend of the snake right
under that.

So even though this composition
is asymmetrical,

you still have this perfect line
up that spine.

It's so successful.

Anatomy is beautiful, bro.

The angle of her head is

with her hand
and holding that snake.

It really has a beautiful,
timeless look.

I love the underbelly
of Medusa's throat,

which matched that underbelly
of like a snake.

It's really subtle.
It's really cool.

I also like that you brought
tails into this.

You think of a regular Medusa,
you know,

those snakes kind of grow
from her head.

I do it so there's not
so many snakes.

Big, readable snakes
have better effect.

[Joel] It's a bold choice.
It could go really wrong,

and this went really right
for you.

It's a great tattoo, James.

Thank you.

- So good.
- Thanks, Cat.

Anthony, you're up next.

This is sick.

The colors you chose
for this are beautiful.

The composition, I love.

It's laid out really nicely.

The legs of the crane are
in such a dynamic pose,

like it's just taking off,
and one of the claws comes down

onto the butt cheek,
and it fits so well.

This is a dominant tattoo,

but as it comes down
in that asymmetry,

the fact that the one branch

just breaks that negative makes
it delicate.

It's elegant and powerful
at the same time.

There's a ton of leaves on here.

They're all different shapes
blowing different directions.

You know, they're not just
that stagnant, stiff sticker.

They have life themselves.

[DJ Tambo] I love the moon.

It's got great readability,
and I know when this heals,

the background's gonna soften up
so nice,

and this bird's just gonna jump
out at you.

It's a beautiful tattoo,
and in 24 hours, man,

you were soaring just like
this bird, dude.

I can't even believe you did
that in 24 hours.

Thank you, Anthony.

I wonder who's next.

And finally, Cat.

You're a G
with your illustrative realism.

You pull it off really nicely.

There's a lot of areas
in here that are really smooth.

You nailed contrast.

You're really good with light
and shadow.

You have a lot of really cool,

open, negative skin
that really gives the impression

that it's glowing.

I love that bottom arm.

The darkness of the bottom
of the hand is great.

You're not afraid
to do everything in shadow

and commit to your darks
and commit to your shadows.

I really love the shoulder

and the material
and the back arm.

That material feels puffy
and feels like light,

and I love the way
the light's hitting it.

It legitimately looks like
there's a gust of wind.

It's blowing this hair up
in both directions.

I love that the earring
is blowing with the gust.

It's not just hanging down

and dangling like
it's unaffected.

You crushed.

Definitely is tattoo sorcery.

Thank you, guys.

- Good job, Cat.
- She killed it.

This is not going to be
an easy decision.

Three badass back pieces.

I don't see one tattoo
that's short of amazing.

The amount of coverage
and detail and sophistication

you all pulled off in 24 hours,
was super impressive.

You guys blew me away
on this one.

Damn.

But as you know, being
an ink master is about

more than just proving
your strengths.

It's about proving you can take
on any challenge any day.

For your second master canvas
tattoo,

you had 12 hours to tattoo
in the style and subject

determined by the opposing team.

I wonder what they did.

Cat called a black and gray
photo realistic lion

for the OG's.

[laughing]

Playing the game.

The OG's called an American
traditional lion for Cat.

Flip the script.

Let's see how it went.

- Hi.
- Hi, I'm James.

- I'm your master canvas.
- Nice to meet you.

Me too. We're going to be doing

an American traditional lion
today.

Awesome.

I'm so excited.

Ready for some lions?
I'd be lion if I wasn't excited.

This is the lion down here.

This looks amazing.

There's
no real like line work in this.

We're just going to shade.
It's going to be like.

Oh, yeah. Easy peasy.

Artists, you have 12 hours
for your second master canvas.

You're tattooing lions on legs.

And your time starts now.

Good luck out there, guys.

[DJ Tambe] These artists have to
do a 12-hour leg tattoo

that another competitor called.

It's time to go.

Shut that other artist up.

- Anthony's crooked.
- You're crooked.

Show them they got the tricks
and techniques to take them down

with something they chose.

- So we do have 12 hours.
- Yeah.

I think we do.

This is going to be brutal.

[Kat] You ready for this?

Ready.

There's actually like a lot that
goes into American traditional.

James and Anthony knew what they
were doing by throwing me this

American traditional lion

because it's a lot harder to be
really impressive

with American traditional.

Is white incorporated
with American traditional

or not usually?

And I love using white
highlights,

but we're not doing
it for this one.

They're supposed
to be straightforward,

flat, solid tattoos
that are super simple.

I've tattooed in this style,
but not this imagery before.

So that'll be something new.

I'm not known for super simple.

So I really have to hold back
on this one.

There are seven hours left.

Would you say James has been
your biggest competition?

These two for sure.
The whole time.

- The whole time?
- Yeah.

Cat, she's good with black
and gray realism

and stuff like that.

So this is kind
of her strong suit.

Cat assigned me a
photo realistic lion.

This is some hard shit.

It's almost harder
to find references

than it is to fucking draw.
We kind of want to make sure we

weren't doing the same fucking
lion 'cause that would suck.

Then it would be even harder
of a critique probably.

This is more straight on.

I found this one, I was like,
fucking light source is rad.

Me and James,
we're both doing realism.

It's almost hysterical
because it's like the final

showdown going head to head,

seeing who actually is the king
of the jungle on this one.

Five hours remaining.

The tougher you are,
the better it's going to be.

The last time I had to do photo
realism in this competition,

I was on the bottom.

So this is not what I want
to do as a finale tattoo.

But here we are.

I'd be lion
if this wasn't cool.

And I'm out of here.

What's hard about black
and gray photo realism

is it's monotonous detail.

It's just over and over doing
the same thing,

hair upon hair upon hair.

It's very easy to get lost
in the details.

Chipping away slowly, right?

So I can make sure you last.

Yeah. Exactly.

You've got two hours left
for these lions.

[Cat]American traditional gods,
help me.

Sorry, my tattoo face is like.

No, I get it.

Yeah.

It's just the hair

and some of the deets I'm going
to be doing, but...

Staying in there.
We're getting through it.

How's yours doing?

I was panicking there for a bit.

It's going to get
a little better now.

Sometimes it's up,
sometimes it's down.

Ahh.

What a way to end the season,
man.

Let's see.

I think it needs
that background.

Let me see.

I'm going to match
the color yellow to the color

that's on your skin.

Instead of doing it super solid,
I may like fade it out.

All right. This is it.

Wrap them up.

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.

No more ink.

All right. I think we're done.

Big, bold, colorful.

That is so gorgeous.

This is going to bring
me to the win, I think.

That's phenomenal.

- What do you think?
- Yeah.

Look at that. You just did that.

I just did that.

It's going
to win you Ink Master.

Fuck, I hope so.

Talk about the lion's den.

But there is more than just
pride on the line tonight.

When we come back,
the judges will critique

the second master canvases

and the jury will deliberate
and vote.

The first artist
into the top two.

The battle for $250,000
is far from over,

but it will end tonight
on the Ink Master season finale.

Welcome back
to the Ink Master season finale.

Finalists, the time has come

to reveal
your second master canvas.

- Shittin' bricks.
- Good luck.

You had 12 hours to tattoo
in the style and subject

determined by the opposing team.

Lion time.

Cat, you're up first.

You had to tattoo

an American traditional lion
called by the OG's.

[Ryan] The closer you get
to this tattoo ,

the more you can appreciate how
beautifully saturated every

single color
is in this entire tattoo.

The roses are sick.
I love the mouth, the teeth.

The eyes are really cool.
But I do think...

that the sun gets away
from American traditional

because it has no outlines,
just like the shape.

I wonder why you didn't go
bigger in 12 hours.

What I think is that you got

tripped up a little bit
on the style.

This lion could have had on
boxing gloves with a crown.

He could have had anything you
wanted to do because you're such

a good illustrator

in an American traditional
style.

I would have loved to see

more of that Cat creativity
in this piece.

A little bit more of you.

James, you're up next.

You had to tattoo a black
and gray photorealistic lion

called by Cat.

There's a lot of areas
of great detail.

Under the chin, you create a lot
of good texture.

The whiskers,
they're not overpowering.

But as far as the photorealism,
you took a little bit of liberty

to illustrate
into it a little bit.

When you have the tattoo next
to the photo reference,

you have those really deep,
dark pockets.

I wish you would
have pushed those dark lights

a little bit more and really
commit to black to create those

silhouettes that you see.

[Ryan] You approach this more
as an illustrator

and less as a replicator.

And that's where Cat got you.

That's fair.

It is sick.

It was a tough day, man.

Finally, Anthony, you also
had to tattoo a black and gray

photorealistic lion called
by Cat.

[Ryan] There's a lot of nice
moments in this tattoo.

The sharpness
of the whiskers is really nice.

That reflective light under
the chin is really pretty.

The way all those details,
they're so intricate.

But you miss the peppery texture

under the eye, on the snout.

The way that you render this
is really smooth.

But in that smoothness,

you lose the illusion
that things are textured.

I can see why you chose
this image.

The front of the lion
has this cool,

aggressive black contrast
with the light.

But I think it was
the wrong choice of a photo.

The farther I get away from it,

it starts to kind of look like
a koala.

I think it was
that lighting that was probably

like drew me in and then just

didn't even think about
the other things.

I do think for your second
photorealism tattoo ever,

you can tell the growth.

We're not doing this.
You guys did really well.

I'm just going to go do lions
every day now until I nail it.

Three incredible artists,

but there can only be one
Ink Master.

Jury of peers, based on
or both of the master canvases,

you must deliberate and decide

which finalist you are voting
into the top two.

The judges will then determine

the second artist
in the top two.

The finalist who is not chosen

by the judges
or the jury will be eliminated.

Jury, head to the shop
to deliberate.

Finalists, while the jury
deliberates,

we have one
more small surprise for you.

What is this?

Trust me, you're going
to like this one.

- Hi, Anthony.
- Hi, Anthony.

Look at you on the finale
of Ink Master.

Wow.

It's crazy to think that when
you were graduating high school,

you came to dad and I,
and you asked if you could take

a year off school so you could
join dad at the shop.

And you have proven that

this was
the right career path for you.

And I'm so proud of you.

I'm so proud of you.

And someone else
is really proud of you too.

And would like to come
and say hello.

- It's your boy, Yuri.
- It's Yuri.

Say hi. Good luck, Anthony.

We love you.

Hey, Sweetie Pie.
I just want to say I'm so,

so proud of you.
I know you're killing it.

I know that your creative side
is coming out.

I know that you are just doing

everything that you've always
wanted to do.

I'm so glad
that you took this challenge.

You're all the way
in the final right now.

Who would have thought?
Love you.

Keep it up.

And wish we could be there
with you.

Besos.

Hi, Mommy.

We're so proud of you making
it to the final.

We know you can do it.

- We love you very much.
- We love you.

So proud of you. Love you.

So cute.

- Guess who?
- We're back.

Hi, Dad.

I just want to start off

by saying how incredibly proud
I am of you

for being in the
Ink Master finale.

I remember when I used
to come into your drawing rooms

and sit on your lap

and you teach me how
to draw cherry blossoms.

I'm just so proud of you.
I love you so much.

Fuck.

This is amazing.
Just to think when we were kids

and you were drawing
all the time.

You're so talented.

And your determination
is so inspiring.

And we never take anything
for granted

for what you've done for us.

We have been through
so much together.

And I'm so proud of you.
Good luck.

Love you, Dad.

I got so something
in both my eyes.

That's nice.

You have all put your lives
on hold to compete.

And you all have amazing people
in your corner cheering you on.

Hopefully, the jury is also
in your corner.

- Hopefully.
- Pfft. Hopefully.

[music]

We're here as the jury of peers
to determine which artist

to send to the top two.

Let's take a look at Cat's.

I really like the hair.

I love the amount of negative
space that she used for it.

I think that that shit's sick.
This skull is super cool.

I do think it got
a little bit dark.

First, when I look at it,

I didn't even see
the hand in the front.

I have to go really close
to understand,

oh, there is a hand.

I'm not a huge fan
of the bottom part of the skull,

like the jaw area.

All that should have been just
so much lighter.

Anthony's,
I love the composition.

It's awesome, dude.

I think it's just hard to read
in some spots because there's

not enough separation.

The background, the cloud, it's
going all different direction.

And then the branch
is all different direction.

I feel like it's just competing
with everything

because there's
so much going on.

James's back piece is way
more readable.

The way he left
so many negative spaces.

With skin highlight,
it's really, really dynamic.

The eye is so good.

The mouth is so good.
The nose, neck is incredible.

Yeah,
and those snakes are ridiculous.

How they twist and turn.

They look like
more than 24 hours,

- this tattoo.
- For real.

How do we feel about his lion,
though?

There's a huge contrast issue
on the left side of the face.

But when you compare
Anthony's...

Is that a lion?

It doesn't strike me as,
like, a lion right off the bat.

It would have been nice to see
some teeth and an open mouth.

You know why he didn't do that?
Because he's not experienced.

- I think he just played it safe.
- Yeah.

Compare the rest of the two.

James's tattoo, at least, reads
as the best-looking lion to me.

The tattoo could have been way
bigger.

That's clearly a six-hour
tattoo, for sure.

- I have my vote.
- [Lucy] Me, too.

I have my vote.

The jury has almost reached
their final vote.

The artists are waiting.
The judges are waiting.

This could go in any direction.

The one thing we do know
is when we come back,

someone will win $250,000

and the title of Ink Master.

Welcome back.

We are moments
away from naming a winner.

- Yeah.
- It's time.

It's now time to find out
which one of you

is one step closer to $250,000

and the title of Ink Master.

All right.

You guys ready?

Jury of peers.

Based on their 24-hour
Master Canvas back piece

and their 12-hour Master Canvas
leg tattoo,

which finalist are you voting
into the top two?

The jury has decided

that the artist we are voting
into the top two is...

James.

[laughing] Really?

That's awesome.

Congratulations, James.

You have earned
the first spot in the top two.

That back piece fucking rips,
dude.

- It fucking rips, dude.
- It's so cool, dude.

There's
so many cool things about it.

It means a lot, guys.

It's my favorite piece.

- You deserve it, my man.
- Oof.

Oof.

It is now time to take
a finalist out of the running.

Anthony and Cat, one of you will
move on to the top two,

and you is about be eliminated.

The judges have decided...

Anthony,

you have earned
the second spot in the top two.

That means, Cat,

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

Created an amazing back piece,
but as far as overall flow,

layout, and composition,
Anthony edged you out.

Oh, 100%.
Anthony's piece was killer.

It's been amazing being here.
I'm taking this as a win.

I've done things
in this competition

that I didn't know
I was capable of.

I'm just grateful
for everything I've gotten to do

while I've been here.

Cat, this is just
the first step of the journey.

You can be an amazing mom
and a talented,

hardworking, impressive artist
that kicked everybody's ass

for the majority
of this competition.

I can't wait to see you continue

to grow and to evolve
and to find yourself.

Thank you, Ryan.

They're happy tears, I promise.

You can have a seat.

Thank you, guys.

- You did so good, buddy.
- You did so good.

Anthony and James,
it all comes down to this.

Good luck, buddy.

One of you will walk away
with $250,000

and the title of Ink Master.

I can't believe
this is happening.

James,

you're going up against
your son.

Yeah, this is surreal.

I couldn't be more proud.

Proud of both of us,
but mostly him.

I never thought I'd be going
head to head with him right now.

It's fucking,
yeah, pretty surreal.

To be side by side
with him in this competition

just means so much.

It is time to determine
the winner.

Oh, shit.

Judges, who do you think

has earned the title
of Ink Master?

This is a very, very hard one.

I love both
of these back pieces.

Anthony took more of a risk
with the composition of his back

piece coming
all the way down onto the butt.

The general flow
on the human body,

it's so classic and timeless.

Anthony might
have this larger tattoo,

but look
at how many snakes there are.

Just to render one snake takes
forever.

To do all these snakes
in 24 hours with a face

and a hand
is really mind-blowing.

They both bring emotion
to every little detail.

On Anthony's, each leaf
is interesting to me.

And on James's, every snake head
has emotion.

I mean, even looking
at James's tattoo,

just the circle in the back
and the way it really makes you

look into the face.

And when I look at Anthony's,
it does the same thing,

where these wings pull
everything to the center

to where you see
the crane's head.

It's really astonishing to see
both of you pull off a similar

composition in that way,
where it's subtle, but striking.

Let's talk about the lions.

[Nikko] I see very similar flaws
in each of them.

They're both missing
that top layer,

that detail in certain areas
that you want to see.

[Ryan] They're both
great attempts,

and I think they both absolutely
hit realism.

They're both technically put
in the skin really well.

I do think James edged out
Anthony over the readability.

Right away, instantly,
you see a lion's face.

Where Anthony's,
the front of the snout

kind
of loses itself a little bit.

But I do like
some of Anthony's details more,

in the areas under the eye,
down the snout.

This is tough.

Fucking lions, man.

It's time to vote.

James and Anthony, these back
pieces, I really am blown away.

I got to go with the tattoo
that turns me to stone.

My vote goes to James.

Thank you.

Both of these back pieces are
two of the best tattoos

seen in this competition.

James, your back piece
is badass.

It's sick. It's clean.

My vote...

is for Anthony.

Your back piece,
I just can't stop looking at it.

This back piece is one
of the coolest ones I've seen.

- Good job, buddy.
- Thank you.

That's one vote for James,
one vote for Anthony.

Both you guys crushed it.

My vote...

is for James.

It was this close.

Anthony, James edged you out

a little bit on just
the overall design

has more feeling and emotion.

That's two votes for James.
And one vote for Anthony.

I can't stop looking
at the composition of Anthony's.

James, you could take a couple
notes from your son.

I will.

Looking at this Medusa, every
single piece is so methodical.

It's so well thought out.

Thank you.

My vote is for James.

That means, James,

you do have what it takes
to be Ink Master.

[music]

It is an overwhelming feeling.

[cheering and applause]

Anthony, give us a hug.

You fucking deserve this shit,
dog.

As much as I'm super excited
and proud of winning myself,

at the same time, I'm equally
sad that I had to beat my son.

And you got
a pretty fucking cool son.

- Proud as hell so.
- Congratulations.

[Anthony] Number two is not
going to bring me down.

I mean, it's the finale.

And I'm just
standing by my pops.

Dude,
and it was a hard decision.

Oh, I fucking bet.

I couldn't do it.
That piece is unreal, dude.

It's the make him proud.

I did.

Not 100%, though. 98.

I didn't kick his ass, so.

It was that 2%.

Holy shit.

You fucking got him
at the last minute.

[James] I'm proud of Anthony.

He made it right to the end,
right next to me.

And he gave me a real run
for my money.

I worked my ass off to get here,

not just in the competition,

but also my whole tattoo career,
my whole life.

Cheers to the new Ink Master.

After 26 years, walking away
with the win feels awesome.

[Everyone] Whoo!

[rock music]

[music]

[music]