'Black Ink Crew' - Episode 8 - Heading South

It's O'S**t's first day in charge of the shop and not only did he arrive on time, but he brought everyone breakfast!

He's got a new tattoo, a dollar sign next to his ear.

"I can hear the money calling me," he says. Now that I'm listening, I can hear the money, too! Now if I could just see it...

He's motivated and it looks like things are off to a great start. Puma feels vindicated by O'S**t's positive direction.

Puma regularly backed up O'S**t when Ceaser doubted him.

The conversation turns to Dutchess and Cease. "Does he have to have a sword fight with her pops, though?" Puma asks.

He means with REAL SWORDS!

Down south, Dutchess and Ceaser are just arriving in North Carolina. Cease and Dutchess' brother RJ meet for the first time.

"Does your whole family got dreads??" he asks. Dutchess is hopeful that city boy Cease will love the fresh air and trees in North Carolina. But she shouldn't get her hopes up too high because Cease looks like this:

Going to North Carolina is a big step in Dutchess and Cease's relationship."Now we can go to North Carolina and stroll, instead of running," says Dutchess, and the way she says "stroll" makes you want to walk real slow. "I need to know from people that love me, do I need to invest my time and my energy into this."

Ceaser finally arrives at the family home and meets her father, whose arms resemble Arnold Schwarzenegger's.

Not only does half of Dutchess' family have dreads, they also have tattoos.

Ceaser is promptly grilled by Dutchess' sister about every imaginable intention he could have with her sister. He seems to get smaller and as he tries to disappear into his hoodie.

Dutchess' dad, who apparently has the ability to kill men with his bare hands, wants a word with Cease on the back porch. He lets Ceaser know he should be careful with his "number one seed." Then he tells Ceaser they'll be heading to the shooting range soon to assess his skills with firearms.

Cease is skeptical but game.

Back at the shop, O'S**t is running things like a machine.

"It feels amazing to know I can just knock out all these tattoos, and run the shop."

"I feel like I can do what I need to do to get my life in order and get my  daughter back."

O'S**'t client is the back, the one who waited on him for hours the day O'S**t got fired.

"I've got to bury this tattoo, I've got to kill it," O'S**t says.

A "thundercat" (pretty young thing) comes in to leave O'S**t some cupcakes.

O'S**t shows a huge amount of restraint when he says he's trying not to make the shop a hangout, like it was before.

When Puma takes a bite out of his cupcake, he loses his tooth again!

O'S**t's client has to give him a little bit of grief about making him wait for hours when he came in before. That was a bad day, but now O'S**t is back on point. "I'm pushing the limits of my creativity. I haven't felt this good... ever."

Check out the results of his hard work!

What do you think?

Ceaser must have made a good first impression on Dutchess' father because next they are heading to the shooting range.

Hopefully, he's not picturing Cease in his mind as he points his gun at this:

But Ceaser is extremely relieved when he finds out Dutchess' dad hit nothing with any of his shots!

But the question can only be avoided for so long --- what are his intentions with Dutchess??

Ceaser reveals that her temper has something to do with his reluctance to get into an long-term relationship with her. But he wants to "make something beautiful" for now, and that's good enough her father. He shows Cease some of the tattoos Dutchess has given him.

Very nice! Cease considers allowing Dutchess to tattoo him at some point.

At Black Ink, business continues to flow and O'S**t is handling things. Puma and Sassy are very proud of him.

Pause this, because I love Sassy's outfit here!

O'S**t lets everyone know he's going to see his friend "K.B." later. Oh, those initials stand for Krazy Bitch, if you're wondering.

Teddy Ruks had been trying to stay hands-off during O'S**t's weekend as manager, but he stops in, just to take a look around for himself.

He steps into the back of the shop to talk to O'S**t, and we find out that the true identity of "K.B." is ALEX! Teddy asks O'S**t a personal question -- did he hook up with Alex?

O'S**t has says nothing and has a perfect poker face, so who knows?

Ceaser's work is never done and even when he's away from the shop he must tattoo! All the Lattimore family members are required to have the name permanently inked on their body. "I hope I'm in the family now," says Cease.

In New York, "K.B." aka Alex is back on the scene.

O'S**t wants to know why she suddenly disappeared from the shop.

"What the hell happened?"

It doesn't take long before Alex is accusing O'S**t of slipping a Roofie into her drink last time they hung out. Wait, up until now we thought Alex and S**t were friends? Is there a pattern developing here of Alex making outrageous accusations?

"Man the f**k up," and admit you put something in my drink, she demands.

O'S**t completely denies slipping Alex a Mickey at that or any other time. Does anyone believe her story?

Back in North Carolina, things have gotten intense between Dutchess and Ceaser. Dutchess has prepared him a romantic meal in a closed diner so they can be alone and talk about the future.

Then there's this sign that we don't know what to make of:

"I thought she was going to propose to me, like WTF??" says Cease. He appreciates the gesture, but he feels a little overwhelmed. Is it too soon to be making a commitment to a future with marriage and kids?

Dutchess is slightly disappointed but when he says "I really want to make you happy," she is smiling again.

Adding to a series of umcomfortable experiences for Cease, Dutchess takes him to church the next day.

You can tell Cease is an inexperienced church-goer when he makes this doodle:

This may have been the final straw to make him want to flee North Carolina. "Honestly, I couldn't image living down there. That shit is cool for Dutchess, but it ain't cool for me."

Back at the shop, Walt has a message from a Bronx police precinct on behalf of "Mr. Richard Duncan". "Who the f*** is a Richard Duncan? Why are you playing me this message?" Ted asks.

Teddy can't contain himself when he finds out it's O'S**t's real name!

But that's beside the point. O'S**t is in jail!

Still, Dick Duncan is a pretty funny name. "It's like the blind leading the blind in here. One's in jail, and the other keeps losing his tooth," says Walt.

Meanwhile, things are more relaxed in North Carolina, where Dutchess' dad is partaking in a Southern custom of cooking outside. Not grilling, but actually frying stuff.

When Ceaser's phone rings, he has a feeling it's bad news. It's Ted and Walt, letting him know there's no one to do tattoos, because O'S**t's been arrested.

It's time to get back to real life in New York. Did Cease make a mistake letting S**t run the shop?