S04.E08: Ink Master Explosion

[halgia]

Artists use gunpowder to make art in The Flash Challenge; gory tattoos of demons.

[EC Amber]

Really?? All that hype, that build up... just to find that they already showed us everything that happened. Bait and fucking switch. Kinda pathetic. 

Sausage's canvas was a thorough and massive asshole. I don't think I've seen a bigger pain the ass. I don't know why but the whole "man of faith" thing just seemed... off. Not that I don't believe it of him, I just thought it was kind of a contrived way to introduce a rather irrelevant fact about him. I do think he deals with his contestants poorly. Not just in being a little delusional thinking he should get special treatment because he's "nice." Thing is, I really admire how his priorities are. That behavior should have positive consequences and that there are principles regarding competition... but holy fuck does he have some self-righteousness problems. He redeems himself by being a superior artist. But this idea that being nice means you should get picked for easy pieces is just unrealistic. What the hell did he expect? And then you see his work. WOW. He is definitely at the top of his game and put Scott and Halo in their place. Well done. 

GentleJay seems pretty ridiculous thinking he's targeted when he's as much of a non-entity as Lydia and Melissa. 

Melissa - I really liked hers. Turtle demon... yeah, funny. But it was pretty awesome. The jury was way off. 

Matty might be my dark horse. I've been enjoying him through this whole season, but frankly he places fourth in terms of best artist. Overall though I think I enjoy him the most. 

Halo - normally puts out amazing work and this one was just falling way short. 

Scott - I still hate you. Your personalty is ugly, arrogant and almost intolerant. Can you tattoo? Yep. But I wouldn't let you near me because I just couldn't sit there listening to you. 

LOVE Rob Zombie. Just big hearts. 

I felt bad for Lydia... this was her time to shine and for whatever reason she dropped the ball. Too bad, I really enjoyed seeing her. I suspect she is a great professional and puts out some excellent work. 

On a personal note - I think most of these people have a seriously inflated view of their job. "It's your job to lead them" is crap. I approve of Melissa's opinion that if someone wants something that you give it to them. People have different senses of style, aesthetic... it's ridiculous to put yourself in judgment of the person coming to you. I get trying to assist people get their ideas fleshed out (no pun), but it's played off so heavy handed on this show. 

[niklj]

But this idea that being nice means you should get picked for easy pieces is just unrealistic. What the hell did he expect?

Seriously, it's like Sausage hasn't seen this show before. Halo said it all: "We're not trying to screw you [meaning, I believe, sending you home], we're just trying to keep you from winning!"

Help me, I actually found Scott funny tonight.

And that was the lamest fight. Poor Dave looked so distraught, like "This is too hardcore even for me" during that whole fight lol. Pretty sure Chris would not have been able to take on Kyle, but Kyle really needed to get off this show ASAP, not because of the quality of his tattoos, but for his mental health.

The gunpowder challenge was pretty neat.

[EC Amber]

So is it Scott that cheated? I wouldn't be surprised... it seems like something he'd do. Just a guess here... any other guesses on who cheated? (and how did GJay find out?)

[ipens]

Oh, if only they'd let Kyle unleash on Nunez. As much as Nunez postured there, intermixed with his passive-aggressive 'why are you even mad, bro' shtick, it seemed pretty clear to me that Kyle would have laid him out with no problem. I would have found that immensely satisfying. Good on Kyle for walking away.

[Erin Withans]

Lord, am I ever ready to retire the various forms of "take it like a man" and "be a man" and "like a man" that will. not. stop. coming out of "gentle" Jay's mouth. I'm glad Kyle is off the show for the sake of his mental health, but all of GJay's bits about how if you "back a dog into a corner it's going to bite" and whatnot seems like some serious toxic masculinity bs.

[Monty]

Kyle does not seem cut out for the strain of being on one of these shows. But he was on the show last season, and while he was a jerk, he didn't seem this angry about how the basic idea of being judged.

[EC Amber]

Is it awful that I mostly wanted Kyle to beat Nunez down? ipens, You nailed it: he was totally passive-aggressive. This idea that "I was just talking about the art, it's not personal" rings very false. Sure, he tried to rationalize it as "he gets better when I'm tough on him" but clearly Kyle doesn't get better when he's being pointed out. I honestly think it got to be a habit for the judges to come down a little harder on Kyle than everyone else. And I saw that last year with Tatu Baby. She cracked as well - though not to Kyle's extent. 

After seeing this and thinking about it a bit, I really hope Nunez doesn't have any male children. I can see him pulling the same "if I'm tough he'll be a man" bullshit and end up with a kid that he doesn't understand and hates him for being a shitty father. 

[OriginalCyn]

Gentle Jay is working my last nerve -- I am so sick his attitude that his shit don't stink when his work has been mediocre at best.

Re: Kyle vs. Nunez -- quite frankly, I was rather sick of both of them.  Kyle has been definitely more unglued than he ever was last season, and his constant "The judges this - The judges that" got old by the 3rd episode.  I've no doubt that Kyle would have knocked the living shit out of Chris had they actually come to fisticuffs; Nunes was almost asking for it with his excessive needling of Kyle, topped off with that petty bullshit of having one of the inktestants deliver his message that Kyle should have been at the elimination.  I mean, seriously, WTF?  This isn't the 6th grade, dude.  

Glad to see some fire from the top four (Halo, Scott, Mattie, and Snausage).  Loved that Scott and Halo's "master plan" to get Snausage booted backfired on them -- their reaction when they found out that he talked his client (I refuse to call a person a "canvas") into putting the tat on his chest rather than that wrinkled, saggy stomach was fucking priceless.  That being said, I wish Snausage would cease with the whiny "I've been nothing but nice to you!" bullshit.  As much as I think Scott can be an ass at times, he (and Halo and Mattie, for that matter) have known from the get-go that being "nice" isn't going to win someone the hundred grand.  They were right - it wasn't personal, and Snausage needs to suck it up, be focused on doing the best work possible, and leave the petty crap behind.

As for the preview for next week and GJ's accusation that someone is tracing, I suspect that it may be Scott.  His demon tattoo from this week is identical to this picture of Barbara Steele from the 1960 horror movie "Black Sunday":

How this slipped past Rob Zombie is beyond me.  I'm not even much into the horror genre and I picked up on this immediately.

Edited April 17, 2014 by OriginalCyn

[Monty]

Yeah, Sausage needs to stop complaining. Somebody needs to get the tough tattoos, and it's probably going to be someone who's shown that they're a threat. 

[Kromm]

Kyle or "Gentle Jay".  Who's the bigger psycho?

There's probably a dead body beat to death and buried in Gentle Jay's backyard.  Kyle seems like he's normally more mouth than action.

Nunez really IS a punk though.  Kyle is a worm, but even a worm can have a point.

[Muffyn]

Kyle will get right into it when he's mad, so I agree Kromm, he might completely snap, scream, yell and posture, but he's not likely to have a freezer full of severed heads.  Gentle Jay seems like he has a blow up doll at home that he abuses to express his overwhelming anger.  

This whole season is a wash-rinse-repeat of whining about how tough the requested tattoos are, whining about who they each have been given, whining about the "canvases" and whining about the judges.  They should keep a big  block of cheese handy to go with all of the whining.

Nunez is an ass.  He likes to poke the crazy then act surprised when they snap.  I am glad they bounced Kyle from the show.  I would hate to see them keep him, hoping he would provide even more fireworks.  The advancing on Nunez and then the two of them puffing up their chests and trying to stare each other down needed ape noises to complete the tableau.  A battle of tools.

And Snausage, it's a competition.  You are talented.  This is a contest.  When you control the skulls, you play the game and try to trip up the stronger competitors.  When they control the skulls, they do the same thing.  You do not get a pass from being on the shit end of the stick.

[Kromm]

Kyle will get right into it when he's mad, so I agree Kromm, he might completely snap, scream, yell and posture, but he's not likely to have a freezer full of severed heads.  Gentle Jay seems like he has a blow up doll at home that he abuses to express his overwhelming anger.  

I think that while I might be scared to be alone in a room with either Kyle or Psycho Jay, I'd probably be able to shrug off Kyle after observing him a bit and determining he doesn't really have any motive to actually hurt anyone who isn't named Nunez.   Whereas Jay seems to me to be the kind of person who gets off on intimidation--actually enjoys it. 

That's probably the only reason Jay DOESN'T have that freezer full of severed heads at home.  Nobody would know about it, thus nobody would be giving him jollies being terrified over it.  

[thewhiteowl]

While there is no doubt in my mind that Nunez is an arrogant tool and having another inktestant deliver his message to Kyle was a punk-ass move, I think Kyle was completely wrong. I think Kyle thought he was a very special snowflake and that was going to get the special treatment he deserved. Well, when he didn't he started to crack and spout his Nunez hates me line of crap. Fact is, I agree with most of Nunez's critiques of Kyle's work. He had a few good tats but most were overwrought, overthought and overworked. Kyle didn't have the confidence, maturity or skill to just do the work and do it well. I'm glad he's gone. I hope he gets some rest and does better out in the world.

I just want to say.. Suck it up, Snausage! It's a freaking competition!

[leighdear]

Kyle Dunbar was a waste of space.  I watched every episode of "Miami Ink" back in the day, and Nunez as a judge is NOTHING compared to the arrogance and demand for perfection that was his old boss, Ami James. (I love Ami, and always will.)

But the main difference is that Nunez and Ami are both incredibly talented artists with discipline and the need to be the best.  Kyle is a mediocre "artist" with a persecution complex who's satisfied to get an OK judging.  If he's judged harshly, everybody else in the world is to blame.  Not him. Not his fault. He didn't fail. It was THEM.

I'm probably the only person here that likes Chris Nunez, so I don't see his desire to see effort, consideration, concern and technique from a competitor as unreasonable.  Especially one on the show for the 2nd time.

I was disappointed that Sausage played the "poor me" card.  I thought he was above that.

[EC Amber]

'm probably the only person here that likes Chris Nunez, so I don't see his desire to see effort, consideration, concern and technique from a competitor as unreasonable.  Especially one on the show for the 2nd time.

I don't personally find it unreasonable. I find his standards satisfying. I don't like him because he's a passive-aggressive bully. 

 

I was disappointed that Sausage played the "poor me" card.  I thought he was above that.

 

Wordy-word word. Disappointing. 

[AnnieBananie]

Sausage's self-righteousness got under my skin because he's a hypocrite. That whole "man of faith" thing? He must enjoy ignoring Leviticus 19:28: don't tattoo yourselves.