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LA Ink - The Complete Season One
The first thing tattooist Kat Von D did
after her ignoble departure from Miami Ink was to head back to
her beloved Los Angeles and open up a rival studio, wrangling her own
Travel and Lifestyle Channel series in the process.
Actually, the first thing she did was lose
30 pounds or so – she’s markedly more svelte than she was during the
year she spent in Miami. The second thing she did was divorce her
diminutive dirtbag hick of a husband, whose pot bellied
toothpick-sucking ways caused no end of consternation in my household as
my flatmates continually screamed at the screen ‘But why would
she marry him, for fuck’s sake?’
The third thing she did – allegedly – was
send Ami James, the Jewish owner of Miami Ink with whom she frequently
butted heads, a publicity shot adorned with a swastika, a flaming Star
of David and the words ‘Burn in Hell Jewbag.’ Though she would later
vehemently deny the charge, Miami Ink’s Chris Garver, formerly a close
friend of Von D’s, told TMZ she handed him the note personally, and a
handwriting analysis concluded with 99% certainty the writing was in
fact that of the hotheaded Von D.
At any rate TLC decided to stand by their
newly TV-skinny starlet, and LA Ink opens with Kat in the process
of building her dream studio and hunting for the perfect artists with
which to fill it.
In the former regard things don’t go
entirely according to plan, with her builders taking substantially
longer to realise Von D’s vision than scheduled and throwing a few
spanners in the works in the process, but when it comes time to lure the
ideal tattooists into her glossy Hollywood web Kat knows exactly what
she’s doing.
Joining Von D are Chicago-based artists
Hannah Aitchison and Kim Saigh, both highly skilled in a variety of
pin-ups and specialty designs, particularly Aitchison, whose colour work
is, without hyperbole, some of the finest in the world. The sole male
of the crew is the highly respected Corey Miller, known, with good
reason, as ‘the Godfather of black and grey.’ Also along for the ride
are Kat’s good friend Pixie, who eagle-eyed viewers may remember from an
episode of Miami Ink in which she had a variety of colourful
foodstuffs like cupcakes and lollipops tattooed on her ribs.
The almost all-girl atmosphere of LA Ink
marks it as something of a rarity in the tattoo world, and the series
certainly proves the polar opposite of Miami Ink in this and
several other regards. For one thing the budget appears significant
higher, and everything from the title sequence to the studio itself is
infinitely ritzier than it was on Miami. The storylines are also
more substantial, the settings more varied and the characters much more
rounded than was previously the case. This was evidently at the
insistence of Von D, who thought the manner in which the four artists of
Miami Ink kept their private lives cloistered from viewers was the
primary deficiency of the show (‘Boring’ was her exact description). At
any rate it seems to have worked. LA Ink consistently rated
higher than its predecessor, is more dramatic, more interesting and much
less repetitive.
It also provides a more honest reflection
of its central character, who isn’t afraid to let viewers in under the
surface, as it were. From her distinctive Los Angeles vernacular
(sample dialogue: ‘Kim Saigh is this rad tattoo artist who would totally
vibe with LA. She’s this laid back chick who’s really into yoga, which
is cool’) to her no-bullshit approach to her working and personal lives,
Von D is refreshingly devoid of pretence. The show is actually an
interesting dissection of the struggles and pitfalls of owning a
business in your 20s – though not everyone will have celebrity clients
and the might of a cable TV station behind them, every fledgling
entrepreneur needs to deal with overheads, staffing problems, tardy
tradesmen, troublesome customers and the like. Added to that the fact
that some of the best tattoo artists in the world are here gathered
under one roof, the designs are more complex and visually arresting than
ever and there isn’t so much as a koi fish in sight, and you’ve got the
makings of a pretty damn perfect reality show.
The Other Stuff
LA Ink also fixes the principal
technical deficiency which plagued its predeccessor on DVD, namely a
shimmery and frequently rather soft transfer. This time around picture
quality is pristine, the image is sharp and vibrant throughout and the
sound quality is top notch too, with a strong, no nonsense DD 2.0
proving more than adequate. Once again there are no real special
features of note, but with a running time of 19 hours spread over 11
discs there’s little chance The Complete Season One will leave
you feeling short changed. It’s great stuff, from the lavish
tattoo-themed foldout packaging to the artistry inherent in its 26
episodes, and a must for body art enthusiasts and lovers of top notch
lifestyle television alike. |
