Deanna comes in wanting a tattoo to help her feel calm and peace after a couple of rough years. She chooses Japanese Kanji characters that represent happiness and inner peace – or so she thinks. She got them off the internet, but fortunately Yogi is there to tell her that these characters are outdated and incorrect. Deanna comes back for her tattoo, and she’s shaking with nerves. Nunez’s first line was a bad sign – Deanna was in excruciating pain. Between the whining and the crying, Ami is shaking his head and later says, “Even a 5 year-old could take more than this.” Nunez says that although Deanna was cute, her cuteness quickly turned into “Oh, this is gonna take forever.” He has never had a client cry until now – amazingly she sits through the whole thing and is pleased with the result.
Bridget walks in the door and heads straight for Ami. She’s been told by people that she’s a heartbreaker and she apparently takes this as a compliment and wants a tattoo of a sexy mermaid. She feels the mermaid appropriately describes her because in folklore, they would seduce sailors and then destroy their ships and kill them. Bridget decides that Ami will be her next victim. Ami says, “I guess Bridget believes that she’s very seductive, but – I’m not a sailor.” Bridget does her best by wrapping her arms around Ami and digging her nails into him during her tattoo session, which really just makes Ami even less impressed with her.
Darren is having some domestic issues with his wife, Carolina. She lives in Connecticut and he’s there working in Miami and has decided he really wants to stay. That means he expects Carolina to quit her job, drop everything and move away from everything she knows and be with him. He says bottom line she is his wife and he wants her with him – what is there to discuss? I think the “teddy bear” just grew claws.
Nicole comes to see Garver for a special tattoo. She has been playing guitar since she was very young, and one of her very first guitars was a Fender Stratocaster. She doesn’t have any pictures of it, so Garver looks some stuff up and they are able to create a picture that looks just like it. Nicole is extremely happy with the results and says she got even more than she was expecting.
Of course, every show has to have its drama and this time it’s Ami that’s creating it. The hurricane is three days away and Ami decides he’s leaving town to go to New York to see his mom. He hasn’t seen her in 3 years (no, you’re not crazy if you recall his mom coming to visit in the last episode – one of the show’s failings is that it’s not chronological). The crew, especially Nunez, is annoyed that Ami always seems to find a way to skip out when there’s a natural disaster coming. Nunez says the Captain is supposed to go down with the ship, not jump ship.
Ivan enters the shop and talks to Darren about the tattoo he wants. He’s going through a divorce and is having severe separation anxiety from his 3 kids, and it’s clear that they are the world to him. Ivan is a Leo, and wants a tattoo of a lion with 3 cubs. Darren says he’ll work on a drawing, and Ivan comes back after the hurricane to get the tattoo. It looks really great and Ivan says he has to leave before he cries.
Tim Hendricks is a friend of Garver’s and fellow tattoo artist from True Tattoo in Hollywood, CA, (also where Kat Von D is from) and he’s in town to give Garver a tattoo. He’s an amazing portrait artist, and Garver chooses a Japanese ancient theater Noh mask of the character Hannya, a beautiful bride whose jealousy caused her to turn into a hideous monster. Tim does such a great job bringing this evil face to life, Garver jokes that he might be afraid to look at it before he goes to sleep at night.
The next client is John – a firefighter who lost a good friend and fellow firefighter, Charles "Chip" O’Hara, in a boating accident. John is really broken up talking about Charles, and he sees Ami about a memorial tattoo with their battalion insignia as well as a dragon and tiger to watch over him. This tattoo comes out really awesome, and is my favorite tattoo of this episode.
Wilma hits with all her might, but the shop doesn’t sustain any damage. Ami returns, but it’s not a warm reception. Nunez is still mad and Garver asks Ami if he plans on doing this every time. Ami gets defensive and can’t believe Nunez is really mad at him. Later on, though, he admits he was wrong and says he will stay and take care of the shop if Nunez wants to take a vacation for a few days.
Next Episode: Kat's Return, Ami's Ride - Kat Von D visits the shop and is having issues about her personal image, and Ami recalls a previous motorcycle accident and wonders if he should ride again.
Miami Ink airs on Tuesday nights, 10/9c, on The Learning Channel.
