Ink Master season 12 episode 7 review: A Hannya mask showdown
In the end, what matters most is whether or not you can execute a tattoo when the chips are down. This is what doomed Tito Zambrano to be eliminated at the end of the episode. Tito found himself in the bottom after first choosing strangely to battle one of his own team members in the first part of the episode; then, he just didn’t hammer in his traditional Hannya mask tattoo in the same way as some of his fellow competitors. The traditional style of the art was a big part of the criteria, but as we’ve seen over and over again, there is a complicated formula the judges look at — following the challenge is important, but so is the quality of the tattooing.
While we don’t think that Tito’s tattoo was a perfect presentation of traditional Japanese art, it was more in line with Dani Ryan or Ash Mann, who were both in danger with him at the end of the episode. Tito’s problem was that both of their tattoos were better to look at visually and by a solid margin. We know that there will be people out there saying that Ash deserved to go, given her struggles throughout the season and her making the dubious decision to incorporate gray into her mask. Yet, it did still look like a cool tattoo and despite the color issue, you knew what it was. We don’t have any problem with the decision tonight, but that being said Tito is a solid tattooer, and we do appreciate his story and how much he’s fighting for within his career.
Do we have a dominant alliance?
It does seem like something is forming between Creepy Jason, Cam Pohl, and Laura Marie. They are three of the stronger artists this season and they recognize that in each other. While we’re not sure how much it helps them to identify that they’d like to make it all far, this is a story to watch and it does give us artists to focus on. We do think that Laura had one of the coolest tattoos of the day in the first round, as she drew an alien holding the milky way galaxy in its hand – she is someone we could easily see winning the show this season. What we’re learning about Cam these past couple of weeks is that when he stops being defensive or fighting with the other guys, he’s a great artist! He’s one of the most talented people there and that’s why he has been able to stick around.
CarterMatt Verdict
We wish that the final task had been something different than Hannya masks since it made the end of the episode all about looking at variations of the same thing, especially when all of them (save for Ash) made their masks the same color. We love it, however, when the first challenge of the night is so creative and also competitive. You get artists going head to head with cool ideas and you actually learn a lot more about what they like than at any other point in the competition. We’d take more of that over flash challenges any way.
While Tito was a great artist, we do recognize that this was probably his time. He was going to face an uphill battle in order to win this competition.
Related News – Check out more scoop on Ink Master, including additional updates on what’s next
What did you think about Ink Master season 12 episode 7?
Do you think that the right person went hoe? Be sure to share in the comments, and remember that we will have more reviews, previews and interviews with the eliminated artists all season long. (Photo: Paramount Network.)
This review was written by Jessica Carter. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.