‘Ink Master’ season 8 finale: A look at Gian Karle Cruz, Kelly Doty, Ryan Ashley Malarkey’s journeys (video)
On Tuesday night, the “Ink Master” finale is going to air on Spike, and while we never want to go into such superlatives as “closest finale ever” or anything of the sort, we do think that this is going to be a good one where it’s anyone’s game to win. You’ve got three really great artists left, and there are some interesting stories that have been crafted into this, as well. For example, we’ve got the strongest chance of there being the first female winner in the history of the franchise, but at the same time, we’ve also got an underdog story in Gian Karle Cruz given that the women and their alliance has been so dominant. These forces are colliding, and only one of them is going to emerge as the champion.
If you look at the videos below, you can see spotlights on all of the final three, complete with some of their strengths that we’ve seen in the competition to date.
Gian Karle Cruz – What makes Gian so interesting as a competitor entering the finale is how steady that he’s been. He was never in the bottom at any point during the competition, and you know that he’s going to be able to come out and do great work. Maybe he doesn’t have the most overwhelming story this season, but if he takes it home he will be known as the versatile artist who managed to conquer an incredibly powerful alliance.
Ryan Ashley Malarkey – She was the first person that Oliver Peck picked to be a member of Team Peck, and it’s easy to understand why. She’s almost reminiscent of our recent champ Anthony Michaels in that she hasn’t been necessarily tattooing for that long compared to some of the other artists, but she’s become an expert at what she does very quickly. She’s had a few ups and downs this season, but also produced some of the best tattoos of the season and proved herself to be exceptional at game strategy.
Kelly Doty – Like with Gian, Kelly’s shown herself to be incredibly versatile all season, though she seems to shine the best doing new-school tattoos. She also really showed herself to be a fighter all season long, overcoming adversity and delivering really strong work even when some of the odds were stacked against her. Even if something goes wrong for her in the final tattoos, we know that she’ll be able to turn it around and deliver something great.
If you do find yourself interested in scoring some other news right now on “Ink Master” leading up to the finale, we suggest that you head over to the link here. Also we want to hear from you! Who do you think is going to win this season of “Ink Master”? Leave us a comment in the box below with your pick. (Photo: Spike.)