Ink Master: Season 5
Season 5 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Ink Master Season 4.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 5 Progress Shield
Inking With The Enemy
Sep 2, 2014
18 Rival Artists enter for $100k and the Ink Master title. It's their worst nightmare as they're forced to ink with their enemy.
Pin Up Pittfalls
Sep 9, 2014
Semi-nude models bring the heat and a game changing twist is revealed. Jacked pin ups make the critique a bloodbath & rivalries flare.
Head to Headache
Sep 16, 2014
Josh ignites rivalries while two artists receive an advantage no one in the competition has ever had and their cutthroat strategy has tension soaring.
Geishas Gone Wrong
Sep 23, 2014
Vendettas have the artists at each others' throats. The skull pick gets personal and the pressure is on when the artists tattoo Nunez's specialty.
Glass On Blast
Sep 30, 2014
The artists must make incredible art by sand blasting glass while trying to survive working in teams. Rivalries explode when they tattoo head to head.
Cheek To Cheek
Oct 7, 2014
In one of the craziest challenges ever, the artists must ink 12 hour gluteus maximus tattoos. A medical emergency may cost one artist the competition.
Three's A Crowd
Oct 14, 2014
The pressure is on when the artists take on Oliver's specialty - and it’s tripled when they have to work in teams.
Ink My Oosik
Oct 21, 2014
The artists are taken out of their comfort zone when they must scrimshaw walrus penises. One artist totally loses their cool while another artist loses their shot at $100K.
Virgin Blood
Oct 28, 2014
Picky virgin canvases get inked and Jason's anxiety threatens to take him out. The artists battle head to head and Josh plays dirty, putting his opponent on the chopping block.
Cold Blooded
Nov 4, 2014
In the flash challenge, the artists use a different kind of ink to make art... blood. Then, they go head-to-head against guest judge Tommy Montoya while Emily goes over the edge.
Up In Smoke
Nov 11, 2014
Josh causes a controversy that could get him kicked out of the competition for good. The Artists tattoo amputees where their limbs once were.
Heads Will Roll
Nov 18, 2014
The artists fight for an opportunity to ink NFL star DeAngelo Williams as he honors his mother who died of breast cancer. Head tattoos send one human canvas over the edge.
Painstaking Portraits
Nov 25, 2014
Artists go head to head tattooing the same portrait on two family members. Some family members are left with jacked tattoos as the portrait subject overlooks.
Firing Squad
Dec 2, 2014
It's down to the wire as the artists battle for a top 4 spot - to survive they must impress 3 tattoo heavyweights criticizing their every move.
Fight To The Finale
Dec 9, 2014
Emotional outbursts, explosive fights, incredible tattoos and epic fails. It’s the end of the line and the sparks fly as the last 4 Artists standing battle it out for a spot in the
Ink Live
Dec 16, 2014
The final 3 artists reveal their 35 hour back pieces and the sparks fly when all 18 rival artists return to give the lowdown on whose rivalries still burn.