Ink Master season 12 episode 4 preview: Are the guys targeting Cam?

Well, it hasn’t taken too long on Ink Master season 12 for a team to turn on one of its own artists — and here, it’s happening to Cam. Based on the preview that we saw tonight for the next new episode, all of the lasers are pointing directly at him as the next threat, and the person who should be jettisoned from this competition sooner rather than later and that’s saying something considering we are barely into this competition and the men’s team needs strong competitors on their team if they want to take out the women.

So why Cam? What exactly did he do? Well, a lot of it seems to just have to do with his tendency to just stir up trouble around the house. He’s combustible and he’s not always a great to have on their team. Maybe some of the guys are starting to think a little ahead here in terms of their own long game. If Cam on their team means they’re less likely to win Flash Challenges and get the best canvases, they’re all going to be picked off. If they need to throw someone into the volcano in order to save themselves, they’re willing to do so — and it seems like the women would be fine with Cam leaving, as well. Or, at least that’s how it seems right now.

Here’s a fun thought experiment. What if the guys wanting to get rid of Cam causes the women to want to keep him, thinking that he can destroy the men’s team from the inside? That means that we could see them try to give him an easier tattoo if they have a chance … not that we think that Cam needs it. He’s a polarizing guy, but he’s a pretty strong artist from what we’ve seen so far. He made it through tonight despite being hit with one of the harder canvases.

So what else is coming up? We also get a good sense from the preview that Alexis on the women’s team is struggling — something that we didn’t necessarily expect coming into the season, given her crazy amount of experience. Consider this another reminder that experience means almost nothing on this show when you consider all the elements this show throws at the artists. Big Jaz, who was eliminated tonight, has been tattooing longer than almost anyone on the show — including some of the coaches we’ve seen so far! It’s often what you do with the experience and how you adapt it to the competition that matters. Sometimes, tattooing longer means you have more habits that are harder to break — if they’re habits the judges don’t like. Alexis is suffering from a crisis of confidence and unless she finds a way to patch some of that up, she’ll likely find herself on the way out the door soon.

For next week we feel good about Alexis’ chances on moving forward– it’s kind of a standard reality TV rule that the person hyped in the promo rarely ever goes home.

What do you want to see in regards to Ink Master season 12 episode 4? Share now in the comments. For more news, including a review for what happened on tonight’s episode, check out the link here now.

This article was written by Jessica Carter. Be sure to follow her on Twitter. (Photo: Paramount Network.)