‘Ink Master’ season 6, episode 8 review: Will Tyler Nolan, Marisa LaRen be targeted?
After last week’s battle of the titans on “Ink Master” season 6 we concerned that the rest of the season is just going to be the Chris Blinston show. After all, he took out one of the biggest competitors in a one on one battle while the judges watched on in amazement. Does Chris have any competition going forward? We think he does, as this season is jam packed with solid artists, but that only means something if there is no favoritism from the judges and we aren’t sure that is going to happen after such a huge gold star last week.
Aftermath: While all of the artists are happy that Chris took out St. Marq, he reveals that he didn’t do it for the team, he did it for himself and that it was completely strategic. Some of the artists were surprised to learn that Chris’ move was strategic, but watching from home it was easy to see how this move was perceived by the judges and that it not only made Chris look like a winner, but it made everyone else look weaker for not stepping up themselves to take out the threat.
Flash challenge: This week they are testing composition and the artists will be tattooing postcards. There were some really nice, bright, colorful tattoos, we especially liked what Katie, Matt, Kruseman and Dave produced. With Katie being the only artist to incorporate a postage stamp, we thought she was going to be in the top for sure and were surprised when the judges didn’t even mention her, but instead praised Chris – once again confirming that Chris has this in the bag (to be fair, Chris produced a really beautiful tattoo!). Of course, there can only be one winner and this week that winner was Matt and it was a well deserved win.
Elimination tattoo: The artists will be doing a popular style of tattoo called “trash polka”: Mixing real images with abstract elements to create one cohesive design. This was a really difficult challenge for many of the artists and with Matt handing out the skulls, he definitely wanted to gun for Chris, but he had some influence from Craig as he suggested to Matt that they make the playing field more level by targeting the artists that Craig feels are Chris’ sheep : Dave, Tyler.
Marisa really struggled with her design since her canvas wants their own face, but with Tyler’s help and support she is able to get a design together that works for everyone. We also see the first signs of the blossoming relationship when Tyler gives her a kiss on the shoulder and Marisa admits that she is falling for Tyler. When we see them talking later, they are concerned that because everyone knows they are together, that the artists will target them since they are helping each other get to the end.
Judging: There were some rough tattoos in the bunch and one of them was Chris, but we were pleasantly surprised to see the judges critique him fairly and not praise him for rough work. Tattoo of the day came down to Erik and Craig and the judges went with Craig! His tattoo was fantastic and it was great to see him not only staying during the same week he was eliminated during season 3, but also win this week! Big Ceeze, Marisa, Duffy and Tyler made it into the bottom with the human canvas jury choosing Tyler. How did Duffy end up in the bottom over Chris’ big black tattoo we have no idea, but we ended up losing Big Ceeze so this was a win, win , win for Craig.
We were shocked to see Tyler flipping off the canvas when they were explaining why they were unhappy with their tattoo and disappointed in the judges for not calling out that kind of disrespect towards the human canvas. We feel that there needs to be a level of respect for the human canvases coming on the show, who are taking a big risk getting a design by an artist they don’t know. Julia Carlson got told off by the judges last year for swearing at her client, but nothing happened to Tyler. As a viewer it was really uncomfortable to watch. Episode grade: C
What did you think of tonight’s episode of “Ink Master” and do you think the right artist was eliminated? Leave us a comment below and tell us who you want to see win season 6. If you are looking for more news on the show, then head over to the link here where we have more reviews, previews, interviews with the artists and podcasts. 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)