Black Ink Crew Chicago Recap: Don Goes Off + Kat Considers Leaving LA

Freeze My FUPA!

Ryan returns to the shop.

Ryan took six weeks off from the shop to recover from what he says was a heart attack. He tells the gang that it put everything in perspective and he now wants to put his family first.

After Charmaine asks him if he’s just been laying low at home, Ryan confirms that is the case.

Charmaine updates the gang and confirms she got her radio job back.

Don has been racking up piercing bookings. The extra money has really been helping keep Ashley at home, who is currently pregnant.

Charmaine, Danielle and Cobra are still on bad terms over Cobra losing Danielle’s watch, even though Cobra paid her back.

Toni Romiti is an upcoming female rapper who wants a tattoo but Ryan would have to travel to LA to do it. So he decides to let Kat handle it.

Cobra and Lily go on a double date.

Cobra and Velvet are still hitting it off and they go on a double date at a bowling alley with JR and Cobra.

In a green screen interview, JR says things are going good with Lily because she’s gotten better with her jealousy issues.

“I haven’t been in a relationship in three years…we’re just taking things slow to see where it goes.” – Lily

Velvet expresses her annoyance with Danielle and Charmaine over the watch situation, and Lily says that Danielle and Charmaine’s opinions don’t matter since they aren’t even managers at the shop.

Cobra agrees and decides to no longer let the issue get under her skin.

Phor gets a special request, things go left.

A woman comes to the shop and tells Phor she wants a portrait of her deceased son on her face.

“I’m so sorry, man.” – Phor

The woman cries in the shop and Phor agrees to do his best work.

Phor tells the woman he’s never done a portrait based tattoo before, but he’s done face tattoos before. In a green screen interview, Phor says the request is a big deal considering the circumstances, but he will do his best.

After Phor finishes up, he lets the woman look at the tattoo in the mirror, and she says the tattoo doesn’t look like her son. This confuses Phor because the woman approved his sketch.

Her daughter comes in and tells her the tattoo looks like her brother.

“I’ve never had this happen to me in eight years of me tattooing.” – Phor

The woman still doesn’t feel the tattoo looks like her son and she tells Phor, “Kiss my a*s,” on her way out the shop.

Ashley and Don get an ultrasound.

Everything looks good and the couple listens to the baby’s heartbeat.

Don says in a green screen interview he’s overwhelmed seeing the baby but he realizes how blessed he is to “have a beautiful family.”

JR tells Ryan that he’s having issues with Lily again.

He says he saw her hugged up with some other dude on Instagram and he doesn’t know if she’s just trying to make him jealous.

Cobra says she knows who the guy is and he’s been to their apartment.

In a green screen interview, Cobra says she thought it was odd that Lily was in the bedroom with her ex boyfriend.

JR is furious.

Kat is still doing well with her shop in LA.

She says she’s glad she’s away from the drama and she and Ryan slipped up after too many drinks and hooked up at the lake house.

She’s happy he told Toni Romiti to go out to LA and let Kat tattoo her.

Phor gets blasted on social media.

The woman who asked for a face tattoo of her son gets on social media and blasts Phor.

The comments on the post get nasty and Van is angry because he feels like Phor did an amazing job.

“From an artist standpoint, that sh*t hurt. I wish I never did that tattoo.” – Phor

Phor says the situation has him questioning if he wants to keep doing tattoos. Van thinks that is absurd but Phor says he just feels guilty and needs some time away from the shop.

JR confronts Lily.

He tells her Cobra told him she had her ex boyfriend over and he saw that she posted him on her Instagram account and said she loved him in the caption.

“We’re just hanging out. I don’t know what’s the big deal.” – Lily

JR tells Lily she is hypocritical to accuse him of flirting when she’s been spending time with her ex behind his back.

“Did you f*ck this guy or not?” – JR

“Yeah. One thing led to another and it is what it is.” – Lily

She tells him it happened months ago and she did it because she thought JR was sleeping with his client.

Although Lily apologizes, JR tells her he got to know the real her and he doesn’t want to be with her anymore.

Ryan has a get together with his family, including his parents who happen to be separated.

He’s glad to be spending time with his loved ones and his mother is urging him to have a healthier lifestyle. She also questions when Ryan and Rachel are going to tie the knot.

Ryan says that he and Rachel have been on and off for a long time, but they aren’t quite ready for marriage.

Cobra and Lily have another altercation.

When Lily gets to the apartment, she confronts Cobra for telling JR about her messing around with her ex boyfriend.

Cobra is annoyed because she feels Lily told on herself with her Instagram actions.

“You stand for nothing. You have no loyalty.” – Lily

“I’m not the fake one. I didn’t f*ck anybody to get where I’m at.” – Cobra

They start fighting, and after getting restrained by security, it is revealed that Lily has a busted lip.

Lola From Nola Recap

Kat tries to party away the stress.

Owning her own shop and dealing with the complaints from her boyfriend Zach has become very stressful, so Kat decides to spend the day partying with her assistant.

When they start turning up too much, people around them start shooting them dirty looks.

Kat decides to ask the moody bystanders to join them.

They turn her down.

“Oh my God. Some people in LA take themselves way too seriously. Like take the stick up out your a*s and turn the f*ck up. It’s different here.” – Kat

She gets an email which informs her that rent for her shop will be doubling. She makes a phone call to get to the bottom of things and she is told the new management company is upping the rent to reflect the property’s true value.

The man on the phone says she can agree to the increase or move out by the end of the month.

Phor is still unsure of himself.

After a grieving mother blasted him on social media for the face tattoo Phor did of her deceased son, Phor still lacks confidence in his abilities.

He has a client coming in for a cover up but he’s unsure of how things will play out.

Ryan reminds Phor that he tried to quit five years ago to do music only but Ryan talked him out of it because Ryan felt like Phor is too talented to walk away.

In a green screen interview, Ryan says Phor needs to push through his anxiety.

His client, Jade, tells him she got a tattoo on her lower back when she was young, and she feels it’s time for a change.

She wants a clock with two second hands to honor the times her twins were born.

Jade ends up loving the tattoo once Phor finishes.

“I love it. I absolutely adore it.” – Jade

Phor is thankful she’s happy with the tattoo and realizes he can’t let one unhappy client make him doubt himself as an artist.

Ashley gets some news on her health.

Ashley and Don go back to the doctor to get Ashley’s blood test results. After complaining about feeling like she’s going to faint daily with her current pregnancy, her doctor confirms that she has Anemia.

He warns her that her low iron levels could keep the baby form getting oxygen.

He prescribes her some iron pills and warns her to be committed to taking them so we won’t need a blood transfusion and suffer from other major complications.

The doctor tells Ashley she’s having a high risk pregnancy so she really needs to take it easy.

Don says in a green screen interview that he’s worried about Ashley and their baby, but Ashley promises to do what she has to do to stay healthy.

Charmaine gets some help from Danielle.

Charmaine has a photoshoot coming up for her radio job, so she has Danielle style her.

After doubting Danielle’s vision at first, she ends up loving the look.

At the shop, Don comes clean to Ryan and Cobra about Ashley’s high risk pregnancy. He also tells them that his sister is in the hospital battling mental issues. His sister tried to kill herself, and she’s been struggling since she was 14.

Cobra tells Don she understands because she’s been battling with depression for a very long time.

She also reveals that she thinks about killing herself often.

Don tells her that he’d prefer she talk to him when she needs to talk than kill herself. Ryan also offers support.

Don hugs her.

Kat gets annoyed with Zach.

Kat tells Zach about her shop rent being doubled. She vents about how hard it’s been to adjust to life in LA.

Zach asks her if she’s trying to have a pity party because a lot of people n LA are going through the same things.

She feels judged out in LA and wonders if she belongs.

Kat tells Zach she just wants his support and he tells her that he’s not going to tell her what she wants to hear

Kat get frustrated and ends the conversation.

Nikki wants more from Phor.

While spending some time at his place, Nikki asks Phor when he will give her a key.

Phor tells her that it already feels like she’s moved in since her things all over his place, and he’s not ready to take that step because he wants to still have his own space.

He says they can work to getting to that point.

Nikki accepts this for now.

Lily starts trouble.

Lily gets back to the shop and tells the gang that she got into another fight with Cobra because she told JR that Lily had been spending time with her ex boyfriend behind his back.

She tells the group that she’s gotten to know Cobra better now that they live together and she says “all kind of nasty sh*t” about all of them.

Lily tells Charmaine that Cobra can’t stand her.

Cobra then walks in the shop.

Lily tells Cobra to say everything she’s been saying at the house about everyone in the shop.

In a green screen interview, Charmaine says she still doesn’t believe Cobra lost Danielle’s watch.

Cobra tells Danielle and Charmaine that she did tell Lily that she felt like they were being fake to her because they made her think they were back on good terms but still keep bringing up the watch situation.

Danielle and Charmaine tell Cobra that it’s not cool that she’s been messy behind their backs.

Cobra gets fed up and walks out the shop, and says she refuses to sit back and let Lily set her up.

Lily smirks.

Cobra later meets up with Velvet and tells her that Lily’s actions make her question if she needs to keep working at the shop.

She also feels like the whole gang doesn’t want here there either. Velvet tells her to drink her problems away and they decide to leave the club to get frisky.

Charmaine’s boyfriend Neak vents his frustrations.

After Charmaine gives Neak an update on the shop drama and her radio life, Neak asks her why they always have to talk about work stuff. He wants her full attention when they are together and Charmaine tries to assure him he’s number one in her life.

He tells Charmaine to step it up and this annoys Charmaine.

Neak says that he’s out if things don’t change.

Nikki causes drama while Phor is in the studio.

Phor has Jhonni Blaze come in to record a track he’s been working on to surprise Nikki.

There’s a part of the song that requires Jhonni to moan, and she struggles with this, so Phor gets in the booth to give her some tips.

Nikki walks in at this point, and says the song sounds like trash.

“Babe, I don’t understand why she’s even moaning. And why are your touching her?” – Nikki

“Are you kidding me? I’m trying to get her in character. This is called work.” – Phor

Phor tells Nikki he didn’t even know she was coming to the studio and she tells him she can come when she pleases since they are in a relationship.

Phor explains he was making the song for her and Nikki tells him she still doesn’t like it.

Jhonni walks up to speak, and Nikki is cold towards her.

Phor asks Nikki to step outside to finish their conversation.

When they get outside, Phor tries to explain that the track was supposed to sound s*xy.

“That don’t sound s*xy. My momma sound better than that.” – Nikki

Nikki starts mocking the moans and ends up pushing Phor.

Phor’s friend comes out and asks Nikki to leave because she’s ruining the vibe. They argue and Nikki eventually leaves after pushing Phor once more.

Don Goes off.

At the shop, Charmaine tells the group about her clash with Neak and that she’s making things right by pleasing him with her mouth. Ryan walks in at this point, and immediately gets uncomfortable.

He tells everyone that Urban Ink wants them to do a spread.

Everyone is excited about this.

Charmaine asks if Cobra has to be a part of it and Ryan gets annoyed and explains everyone will be included.

Charmaine then says she doesn’t understand what Cobra does besides be messy.

“She’s shady as f*ck.” – Lily

After Lily says Cobra is just “mentally f*cked up,” Don gets heated.

Don tells Lily that he just thinks Cobra is misunderstood and says Cobra should be there.

“Y’all sound phony as f*ck.” – Charmaine

Don questions how he’s being phony and Charmaine says Cobra is nothing but messy.

Danielle says Cobra doesn’t know how to be herself and worries too much about what others think.

“Well, she’s trying.” – Don

In a green screen interview, Don says he feels like Lily, Danielle and Charmaine are just being petty. And their reasons for not liking Cobra are “bullsh*t.”

Don finally snaps and breaks the table.

“I get it! She be f*cking up! But y’all don’t get it. She has bigger f*cking issues! I don’t talk to her about no watches. I don’t talk to her about no personal sh*t. I talk to her about what’s going on with her mentally and physically. We ain’t seeing that sh*t! I got a f*cking sister that been in the f*cking hospital because motherf*ckers misunderstood. All y’all gotta do is look deeper! Half of the sh*t she do is a cry for attention! Swear to God! It ain’t because she really want to hurt somebody. That’s all the f*ck I’m trying to say, G. We can’t do what the f*ck we doing because it look like we f*cking bullying her.” – Don

In a green screen interview, Don says he feels like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to bash Cobra and he’s tired of it.

Don then says before leaving out the shop that Cobra just wants a family.

What are your thoughts on the episodes?