Ink Master

The first season, I really liked this show. It was about a tattoo competition. Some of the ink was even good but even when it wasn't it was focused on the art.

Unfortunately, things began to go down hill in the second season. One of the judges, Chris Nunez, became snarkier and snarkier. He seemed to be trying to humiliate and put down the contestants who didn't measure up rather than pull them up to do even better.

Each season, there was a jerk added to the mix. They were someone who would try to "play the game strategically" to get ahead. It became very annoying to watch the petty politics and insults.

The show completely jumped the shark when they announced in the fourth season finale that everyone on the show would have a rival, someone brought in to fight with. Great, pre-made arguing. What a joke! That was the death moment of the show. As soon as they announced that contestants are going to be chosen not on the basis of their art work but on the quality of their enemies I knew the show was dead.

I love reality competition shows. I am also fascinated by the art tattooing, albeit thus far I am an abstainer. The first season was the best--huge egos but genuine talent. (My favorite did not win.) Since then the show has devolved to showcasing some of the nastiest, untalented people on TV. The number of bleeps per episode is irritating; the talent sub par. Is the industry so tapped out that this is the best it has to offer? I also wonder about the psychological stability of the human canvases, many of whom are left with truly ugly, permanent "artwork" on their bodies. In the latest episode, these canvases wanted a anatomically-correct human heart morphing into either a lion, clock or hand grenade. Really? Are they paid to do this or just guaranteed a cover-up on the series Tattoo Nightmares?

If you intend to watch this show to see some amazing tattoos, don't waste your time: search for them on Google Images. Believe me, you will be saving a lot of time. "But what's so bad about it?", you might ask. Well, I can summarize it.

1. The time given to actually show the pieces is very short. F*ck, it is supposed to be a tattoo show! Show the goddamn tattoos!

2. The majority of the episodes focus on little stupid quarrels among the competitors. It's just like watching some grown-up people acting like children in the kindergarten. Sometimes it is very hard to avoid the thinking that it is planned. It is just annoying and embarrassing to watch.

3. The judging is ridiculous. Needless to say, it is unacceptable for a competition show. Here, it is clear that it is not only the tattoo that is being judged. There's usually a favorite of the judges, and this person will magically stay among the best of the day repeatedly. It does not matter if the tattoo doesn't meet the criteria of the challenge or if it plainly sucks.

I always had complaints about this show, but kept on watching it for the tattoos... But now I realize it is not worthy. Just go for it if you enjoy watching some bizarre human behavior and twist endings.

I will continue watching this show no matter what happens just because I love tattoo's and I just love watching creative people. About the show itself it could be much better if there was not that constant feel of everybody acting. You're not actors, you're tattoo artists. Every episode you see them speaking bad of and/or to each other and I can only conclude that they are acting. If anybody would talk to me like that, or being in my face all the time, I would just be in a fight every single episode. So to me it's all acting and I don't get why they chose that concept. The challenges are sometimes pretty stupid as well. I would rather watch them tattoo a lot more, with a lot lesser arguing. Some of the artists are also very arrogant and even if some are good I certainly never would go to any of those arrogant bastards. I have a lot of tattoo's and all of the artists I went to were friendly guys. Anyways, if you like tattoo's then the show is worth a watch. But don't watch it for the judges or the game itself because that's pretty boring. I don't even care who's winning, I just want to see nice tattoo's.

This review is for the revived version of Inkmaster. I have watched every season of this show and loved every minute of it, and I was crushed when it was canceled at Paramount, then thrilled when I learned it would be coming back. I knew Oliver Peck had been fired so I didn't expect him to come back, and I even expected Ryan Ashley to take his place if the show were to return. Well, it returned with new judges- Ryan Ashley, Nikko Hurtado, Ami James, and hosted by Joel Madden. Since Dave Navarro has "long Covid" and is unable to put in the hours necessary to film the show, Madden takes over as host and Dave pops by via video.

Well, the contestants are good, a bunch of retreads we have seen before- each of them interesting and irritating in their own way, but it's the judges that are hurting this season.

Ryan Ashley is so meek, I thought she would be a stronger personality, but she seems to eager to please.

Ami James is simple a mute. He has about a 15 word vocabulary and says very little during each episode. Nikko Hurtado is the best addition to the show- he appreciates the art, but is not afraid to get into the technical details- he is the closest this version of the show comes to the previous. Joel Madden does a decent job as host, and Navarro's video visits feel like those videos you see while you're on line for a ride at an amusement park. The fake interaction with the judges is obvious- we know he is not live, people, so please stop trying to fool us.

This show REALLY misses Chris Nunez. He was so good with his critiques, he didn't miss a single detail, and he didn't need to drop an F-bomb ever other word to get his point across. Even Oliver is very much missed here.

Finally, since this is on the streaming service, the curses aren't bleeped out. The old show's bleeps could get annoying, but this is way, way, worse. Every other word is an F-bomb and it's almost like they have been told to say it as often as possible in an effort to appear edgier than the old show. It's not edgy, it sounds uneducated and childish.

However, I hope the show comes back for more, and I sincerely hope at least Nunez returns (he could replace Ami and the show would be hugely upgraded). This is still a fun show to watch and seeing the artists at work is always the best part of it.