‘Ink Master’ Season 6 Spoilers: Who Was Eliminated In Episode 5? [RECAP]

The contestants on “Ink Master” better watch their backs. With 14 tattoo artists remaining in the running for Season 6, the competition is beginning to get heated. Enemies are being made, and it’s turning into an all out war in order to be the last artist standing for the $100,000 grand prize.

The drama continued in episode 5 following MV’s shocking elimination. But who is next on the chopping block? If Matt has it his way, then St. Marq will be the next to go – but not because he’s a talented tattoo artist.

“We want to get him out of the house just so we don’t have to live with him,” Matt reveals to the cameras of St. Marq’s ego.

Before the contestants can get to the elimination tattoo, they have to get through the flash challenge first. This week the challenge is testing their ingenuity. Each artist is randomly paired up and tasked to think outside of the box with glow in the dark paints. Their canvas? A butt naked human body. “Ink Master” judge Dave Navarro reveals that they must “make the human form disappear” by completely transforming their human model into something else.

Although Craig wants to knock Big Ceeze out of the competition for previously getting his mentor, Miami, eliminated, he puts his plot for revenge on the backburner when they get paired up together. The pairs are as follows:

• Kito & Tyler
• Erik & Dave
• Duffy & Chris
• Matt & Katie
• St. Marq & Marissa
• Kruseman & Earl
• Craig & Big Ceeze

The top 3 for the episode 5 challenge goes to Matt and Katie, Duffy and Chris, and Craig and Big Ceeze. Ultimately it’s Craig and Big Ceeze who walk away the winners … and land the ability to assign the human canvases for the elimination challenge. Unfortunately for the others, Craig has plans on “changing the whole game.”

“I want to hear them get hit, try to defend themselves and get hit even harder,” he tells Big Ceeze.

Like the flash challenge, the elimination tattoo is also focusing on ingenuity. The twist is that the artists must use their human canvas’ body parts to create an illusion.

Of course, no elimination tattoo is ever easy – and Craig and Big Ceeze definitely has everyone on edge after assigning the canvases. Chris got put head to head against St. Marq and thinks that he has the competition in the bag. However, things take a turn for him when his canvas passes out in the chair before he even begins. When a medic arrives the canvas claims that she was just sleeping, however he refuses to give her clearance to go through with the tattoo. She’s escorted out, and the judges promise to line Chris up with a new canvas. The only problem? She doesn’t like the medusa design he initially drew up. She requests a water goddess/ mermaid – leaving Chris stressed about finishing the piece on time. Eventually they agree on the design, and Chris is more determined than ever to make this a winning piece. However, St. Marq isn’t afraid of what his competition can produce.

“I am an artist with vision,” St. Marq tells the cameras. “It’s going to be hard to stack up next to my tattoo. Chris is going to have to work double time to try and even get close.”

Elsewhere, this tattoo has Kruseman ready to throw in the towel. His canvas wants him to tattoo a pinup girl on the back of her neck and use her hair as the pinup’s hair, but that’s just not something that Kruseman is willing to do. Meanwhile, Earl and Marisa are both suffering with their canvases, who chose to get tattooed on their armpit, an extremely painful area.

In the end everyone’s canvas pulls through – but not everyone comes out with a successful tattoo. Since the artists went head to head with each other, only one came out a winner. Here are the results:

• Craig vs. Katie = Craig
• St. Marq vs. Chris = Chris
• Dave vs. Kito = Dave
• Erik vs. Tyler = Tyler
• Big Ceeze vs. Matt = Big Ceeze
• Marisa vs. Earl = Marisa
• Duffy vs. Kruseman = Duffy

For the judges, the bottom three is Kruseman, Earl and Erik. Kruseman didn’t follow the challenge and the quality of the tattoo was poor. As for Earl, judge Chris Nunez bluntly says that it “looks terrible. And Navarro agrees it’s the “least attractive of the day.” However, fellow judge Oliver Peck thinks that the most offensive of the day belongs to Erik. Kruseman, Earl and Erik all get called to stand before the judges, but they’re not alone – Katie also joins them. The human canvas jury determined that Katie had the worst tattoo of the day.

In the end the judges are torn between Earl and Kruseman. But it’s Earl that ultimately gets sent packing in episode 5 of “Ink Master.”