Princess Sparkle

I guess we’re doing this again

I can't believe they couldn't get Dave to record that and put it in. Or just put a black screen up with the info like they ended up doing for RuPauls Drag Race this season.

Jimmy mentioned on his Instagram that they didn’t finish their tattoos, so that’s why it had to be this way.

Based on this Instagram post, this will actually end up serving as the finale. Bummer for the contestants but also the right thing to do — most shows have a clause that they don’t pay out the winnings until the show airs, and who knows when that would be at this point

So...we’ll see!

Jerrel got screwed out of a win. Angel's was good, but before the challenge, they took such care to describe how it was a "realistic" challenge, but then said hers was an illustration. I also thought Frank's, while not great, was better than Hiram's and was baffled he wasn't in the conversation for the bottom. Jessa was the right choice to go though. Bummer, because I liked her, but I think hers was a tad worse than Bob's. I'm starting to wonder if Nunez and Oliver are ever going to use their pardons. This season is going to go on forever if they do.

Man, I love Snaz Daddy. When was the last time we saw a competitor— not on the same team — help out someone they were directly up against? And the rest of those guys are full of shit; they all took something in their wheelhouse given the option — except for Hiram, who got stuck because he was the last to pick. Color me surprised, I thought for sure Ink Master was going to keep at least one person from each team — I’m glad they didn’t! I think the blind judging helped. Jessa’s glee at taking out Jason was amazing. I love her — I don’t think she’s going to win, but I hope she sticks around for awhile. I want Jimmy to win, but I think Hiram is a dark horse. He’s been quietly consistent. I can see those two guys and Jerrel as the final 3.

Daniel Craig returns as host; The Weeknd as musical guest. I’m going to go ahead and guess they booked this before the James Bond release date was moved

K wasnt winning, but Jason is lucky as fuck that he’s the only one left on the West. That’s the only thing keeping him around. Because guarantee, if anyone else got a pardon and kept fucking up, they’d get sent home immediately. Speaking of which — I bet someone from the west or Midwest goes home soon. There is no way they’re letting all of them get to the finale I will take supportive Snaz Daddy all day, every day. Even hyping up the Midwest during the flash challenge and telling Kelly that his medal wasn’t dumb. I love him. ETA: I am surprised Kelly didnt get tattoo of the day. I preferred his a tad over Jerrel’s (though both were great)

Man, Jason talks a big game for someone who is so wildly mediocre. He was lucky as shit he didn’t end up in the bottom. Sadly, I bet he sails to the final four now, because guarantee producers want one person from each team in the final four. That being said, I love Kay, but she was lucky not to go home. Her tattoo is pretty, and I would love it on me, but I also don’t like new school so it’d be perfect for me. That being said — after Nunez (I think it was Nunez) said that the one thing looked like poo on Jordie’s, that’s all I could think of. It really did look like that.

John Mulaney comes back for a third time, his Sack Lunch Bunch co-star David Byrne is the musical guest

I never would’ve guessed this in his original season, but I really really like Jimmy and am hoping he wins (or at the very least makes it to the end). He’s no drama, he’s supportive of his team members, and he genuinely seems like a nice guy. So many people make themselves look worse when they come back; he’s the rare exception where he improved my initial impression of him. I would actually love if the entire East team made it to the finale, but I know that’s not gonna happen. But the East team that is left is one of the most cohesive teams that I think has happened in this format. And it’s emblematic of what I’d prefer to see on Ink Master — people who like and respect each other and just want to make good tattoos.

Mod Note: Let’s move on from the Paris discussion and if it’s a cheap or expensive vacation. I think we’ve exhausted everything there is to say about it

It was an homage - the line "So you know, and your children will know, that that's the night the lights went out in Georgia" is a famous line from Designing Women

The amazing RuPaul and unfortunately Justin Bieber is the musical guest.

I knew someone on the Midwest was going home because they had the only intact team — fine that it was Jake. But how terrible of a teammate must Jason be that Jordi actually said “It’s cool if you send me home”. It didn’t seem like the competition was getting to him; I had the feeling he just didn’t want to be around Jason anymore. It never fails to make me laugh when Jason tries to antagonize Frank and Frank is all “Eh” I appreciate that, for once, the teams picking the subject and style did something that would produce good tattoos instead of a ton of shitty ones. I think that was due to Jimmy saying “let’s give them a fair fight” off the bat. His hair drives me nuts, but he seems like a pretty good dude and I think the relationship he has with his teammates is great. The East is probably the team that works best together.

The yearly athlete host is JJ Watt; musical guest is Luke Combs

Ok, I must admit - I have multiple tattoos, but I have no idea what makes skin better or worse for tattooing. Is there some skin thats really better than others? Because more so than normal, we heard a lot of "The skin is too soft", "The skin is causing blowouts", "I can't work with this". Was that all just excuses (which is what I'm guessing) I felt bad for Bob's canvas; the design was cool but some of those dots were just ridiculously blown out. Jordan was lucky too; there's a closeup of her tattoo on the Ink Master instagram and it is ROUGH. Her top tattoo was fine; the bottom one was a total mess.

I felt so incredibly awful for the Round two human canvas for the South. She was clearly in so much pain over their “brilliant” plan and I’m shocked the judges didn’t make any comments on it. They usually say something when they make the canvases uncomfortable, and especially when they’re doing something causing pain. Frank is my overall favorite this season, but I love how everyone on the East is supportive of each other and that Jimmy helped his teammates get their tattoos right. We’ve definitely seen other teammates who wouldn’t do the same.

Its a week later, but I'm realizing I forgot to mention my favorite part of the episode - Nunez wearing a robe from the Blanche Deveraux collection at the judges table.

SNL returns with Adam Driver hosting and Halsey as the musical guest

I actually cannot believe Arlene didn't go home this week; her compass rose was a mess. I also didn't necessarily think Emac's was all that bad. I think he got screwed because his canvas rejected his designs for literally half the time. That is one of the only times I think the "coaches" can be helpful, and when maybe the judges should step in - to try and smooth things with some of the extremely difficult canvases. Hiram got screwed out of a win; I loved his. I don't particularly like new school or traditional, but his is one piece I would actually want on my body.

Finally catching up on both episodes. I remembered liking Jason in his previous season - what the hell happened? Frank I remember loving, so I'm glad he's here and hopefully doesn't do anything to change my opinion of him. I thought for sure no one would end up going home after that one guy quit. I guess that means at some point this season, we'll have a non-elimination episode.

We finish out the year with the return of Eddie Murphy, and musical guest Lizzo

Guys: Let's end the "who is hotter" debate. I think everything has been said.