Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83
Last week on Black Ink Crew: Chicago, Ryan confronted Steven for not living up to his guest spot obligation, and Prince went ham on his boss Charmaine and her husband, Neek. This week Ryan decides to gather the crew for some team-building in hopes of bringing everyone together.
Prince Is Done With 2nd City Ink
This week’s episode opens up with us being introduced to Ryan’s artist Shogun. The 9 Mag captain breaks down the 2nd City Ink drama to Shogun, explaining that he believes Charmaine doesn’t truly understand her mistake by firing her lead artist Prince. Ryan also believes that for Charmaine to be a successful tattoo shop owner, she needs both Prince and Draya to thrive in the industry. But, in the same breath, he understands Charmaine being upset about Prince bringing Draya to the shop while dealing with her dying father.
Following last week’s blowup with his boss Charmaine and his now pregnant ex-girlfriend Miriah, Prince is cleaning out his booth at the shop. Prince feels his relationship with Charmaine is beyond repair after she called him a b*tch and made him seem untrustworthy to Miriah, pretty much ruining his relationship. His co-workers make a valiant attempt at trying to convince him to stay, but Prince is ready to close the 2nd City Ink chapter and bounces.
Time For Some Team-Building
Speaking with Brittany Slam, Ryan reveals he wants to try once again to get the crew back together and help Charmaine’s shop. Ryan takes a page out of Ceaser from Black Ink Crew: New York’s book and decides a team-building trip is what is needed. Ryan believes Charmaine and her crew can benefit immensely from seeing his crew work together and hopefully can get past any issues and get back to making some money.
Just like the struggle dinner, Ryan sends out another mass message, this time in the form of a video telling everyone to meet him at the shop at a certain time. Everyone arrives on time except for Charmaine and her cousin Danielle.
Charmaine tells Ryan that her tardiness is due to severe morning sickness when secretly it was just her not wanting to ride on the bus with Draya and Prince. She tells Ryan that she will meet them at the retreat. Following one team activity that put the tension between Charmaine, Draya, and Prince on full display, The Black Ink Crew: Chicago crew sat down for lunch.
During the session, Prince tells Charmaine he wants an apology from her for calling him a b*tch. Charmaine obliges and does apologize, admitting she handled the situation wrong. But, during his confessional, Prince says he felt Charmaine’s apology was not sincere enough for his liking.
Ryan & Kitty Finally Confirm Their Worst-Kept Secret
We knew Ryan and Kitty’s beef had to be deeper than just her making him mad about something she said to him about Anthony. Ryan and Kitty decided to hash out their differences during the retreat, and we quickly learned why they had issues. Kitty explains during a trip to Orlando for one of Don’s bodybuilding competitions what went down. She felt Ryan hit her up and another woman simultaneously, trying to see which one of them would bite first. Ryan vehemently denied that being the case, explaining he felt they should have communicated because they have history. They both finally admit they were intimate with each other during their confessionals, confirming what we knew all along.
It’s A Wrap For Draya & Charmaine
When it comes to Draya and Charmaine ever working together, you can forget it. Draya tells Charmaine that she was hurt after her former boss accused her of sleeping with Prince during dinner. Charmaine takes responsibility, admitting that she was wrong, but in the same breath says she feels Prince, Draya, and Kitty never want to take responsibility for their actions when they are wrong. Another argument breaks out with Draya claiming that Charmaine blames everything issue in the shop on her.
Charmaine explains that she wants nothing to do with Draya and can no longer work with her. Draya says that’s fine and breaks down in tears explaining she only wanted to see Charmaine win because she believed in the idea of seeing a tattoo shop run by a Black woman succeeding. During her confessional, Charmaine doubles down on her stance with Draya, confirming she is no longer welcomed in 2nd City Ink.
Miss Kitty & Charmaine Come To An Understanding
Where one bridge is burned, another one is saved. Miss Kitty and Charmaine decided to have a much-needed conversation among themselves. Kitty tells Charmaine her issues with her were never personal, just more on the business side. For Charmaine, it was personal because she believes Miss Kitty was not there for her when she was dealing with her dying father. Both women agree there is still love for each other and decide to share a hug, signaling that not all is lost between them, and the episode ends.
You can peep reactions to the episode in the gallery below.
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Photo: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83
1.
No lie.
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We been knew.
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That’s what friends are for.
