‘Ink Master’ season 6, episode 3 review: Battle of the Kraken, St. Marq raises the bar

Last time on “Ink Master” season 6 we saw some interesting game moves happening with the artists. Dave Clarke in particular surprised us as he took on the judges for his mentor when he felt that they were harping on a bad critique a little longer then was needed and then Earl Noble in turn surprised us by later telling Dave he didn’t want his help. Will Dave’s move hurt him moving forward since we know the judges like to play favorites and do not like to be questioned?

Flash challenge: This week the artists are being tested on contrast and they will all be tattooing a very familiar and frightening image… at least to us: A Kraken. For those of you who don’t know what a Kraken is, its a mythical sea creature that is very much like a giant squid that had the ability to pull down giant ships. To make this a real challenge, the artists will have to tattoo the hands of the canvas while working in teams of two and will each be tattooing one hand at the same time.

No one will be paired with their master or apprentice – which we think is fair considering that MV and St. Marq have both lost their apprentices. Since the tattoos on both hands must fit together as one tattoo, who ever ends up with St. Marq on their team is in for a treat since this is something he specializes in. While Miami and St. Marq’s tattoo was stunning (and Katie’s was so good we are going to have nightmares about Kraken eating our face off tonight), it was hard to deny that Erik and Chris’s tattoo was the clear winner of the day.

Elimination tattoo: While still testing contrast, the elimination challenge is to create a stained glass tattoo… which is something we’ve never seen before. The head to head aspect is back for this challenge where one artist will win and one will lose but it will not be master vs apprentice, it’s Erik and Chris’ choice… and boy did they give us some really good match ups including Chris taking on MV.  We were very surprised that Big Ceeze decided to do a black and grey tattoo and even though Tyler tried to warn him that he should do color, he wasn’t hearing it. Miami had a challenge with his canvas since he wanted very little stained glass making us nervous that Miami is going to go home because he’s not meeting the challenge requirements.

Judging: This challenge was incredibly difficult and the  craftsmanship we saw from all of the artists was impressive. The winners were: Craig, Katie, Erik, Matt, Chris, Earl, St. Marq, Kruseman and the artists in the bottom were: Big Ceeze, Duffy, Tyler, Kito, MV, Marisa, Dave, Miami. As for who was brought back for judging we had Big Ceeze, Kito and Miami with Big Ceeze being voted in by the human canvas jury. While there were problems with all of these tattoos, we were sure that Big Ceeze was in trouble with the black and grey cross that wasn’t lined up straight so we were shocked and really disappointed to see Miami go home.

There was some interesting background on Craig and Miami tonight as it was revealed that not only did they meet in prison, but it seemed that they each helped each other move forward into a better life. It was a really inspiring story and it makes us love these guys even more then we already did. We also have to take a moment to give praise to St. Marq’s tattoo in the stained glass challenge… this is one of the most magnificent pieces we have ever seen on the show. There has never been anything quite as dynamic as this tattoo and if St. Marq is not in the finale then it will be a total travesty. Episode grade: A-

Were you surprised by tonight’s elimination of Miami? Leave us a comment below and tell us what you think. If you want more on “Ink Master” season 6 then head over to the link here where you can get reviews, previews, podcasts and interviews with the eliminated artists. Also, if you want more great TV news sent your way then be sure to sign up for our weekly CarterMatt newsletter. (Photo: Spike TV)