'Ink Master: Turf War': Did Emac get eliminated because Arlene used her medical condition as an excuse to stay?
This week's 'Ink Master: Turf War' episode began with judges Oliver Peck, Chris Nunez, Dave Navarro tasking the 18 remaining contestants with the flash challenge, in which each team had to use postcards to create an image on a tour bus.
The South team, with its beach sunset piece, won hands down and earned itself the opportunity to select a contestant that the team thinks deserves to be at the bottom. Also, the winning team got to pick canvasses for everyone, including themselves.
This puts the South team at an advantage. How? Every artist would be judged on the fundamentals of tattooing, which is how straight their lines are and how on-point the coloring is.
Creating a compass rose is a tough task, especially in certain areas of the body — sternum, chest, torso. Cashing in on the uncertainty of the circumstance, the team assigns difficult canvasses to the contestants. While some ace the challenge, others fail to impress. Especially the bottom three — Emac, K and Arlene.
All the three artists were critiqued on their lines, most of which were not solid and wonky. K was specifically questioned about her choice of shading. Oliver thought it was just very randomly filled, to forcefully give it a finished look.
Arlene's pearls that entangled her compass were not up to the mark because again the lines were shaky and didn't do justice to the challenge. Emac wasn't severely attacked, with the judges having issues only with the lines of the ship's masts. They wished he could have brought to them a complete piece.
Amid all this, Patrick voluntarily asked himself to be put in the bottom ranking because he was deeply disappointed with Jason questioning his line work. As the judges tried to understand the situation, Arlene intervened with an explanation as to why she wasn't able to perform that she'd hope to.
She has narcolepsy, which causes her to lose muscle tone and to be able to not suffer an episode she needs to be in a calm environment. Because if she slips into one of the episodes, she won't be able to tattoo.
However, the conditions haven't been favorable for her, with the flash challenge getting the better of her. Medics were called on set to treat her condition.
After a thorough discussion, the judges sent Emac packing. But he didn't take it to heart and promised to use the knowledge (he gathered on the show) in his life ahead.
Meanwhile, fans think judges didn't eliminate Arlene because she used her condition as an excuse to step out of the danger zone. "Oh come on, it's not her, it's her OCD, Narcalipsy, ADH, ADHD, PCP, LOL, OMG disorders she has! Can't wait to see what ails her next week? #InkMaster #greatseasoninstire," a fan posted.
"Using my illness as an excuse, but I'm also a b**tch. Way to go Arlene #InkMaster," another pointed out. "I feel bad for that Arlene gal's family.. she must use her condition to excuse everything #InkMaster," a viewer wondered.
