March 2020 was a crazy time. With COVID-19 having made its way through Europe and into the UK, a national lockdown was put in place driving many of us from our places of work and splitting families apart. It was a terrifying time for everyone across the world, but yet in a time of great darkness something unexpected united us and gave us unimaginable confusion and joy. That something was Tiger King.
Animal parks in the United States are big business and few can claim to have as big a business as parks showcasing big cats. Lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, and many more varieties of exotic cats can draw in huge crowds and are money making machines for the people who run these “sanctuaries”. One of the most prolific big cat keepers is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, or his stage name ‘Joe Exotic’. Joe owns the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park and documentary filmmakers Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaiklin have been chronicling the parks daily running and challenges for this documentary.
However, as time goes on Goode & Chaiklin discover that there’s far more at play here than just Joe and G.W. Zoo. Joe has been the target for animal rights activists for years, including rival big cat park owner Carole Baskin. As well as this, Joe surrounds himself with a colourful cast of individuals, each of whom bring their own problems to the table. The further Goode & Chaiklin dig the more secrets they uncover including various money related federal offences, sex cults, suicides, hired assassins, and potentially the truth behind a disappearance that went cold twenty years ago.
Animal parks in the United States are big business and few can claim to have as big a business as parks showcasing big cats. Lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, and many more varieties of exotic cats can draw in huge crowds and are money making machines for the people who run these “sanctuaries”. One of the most prolific big cat keepers is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, or his stage name ‘Joe Exotic’. Joe owns the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park and documentary filmmakers Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaiklin have been chronicling the parks daily running and challenges for this documentary.
However, as time goes on Goode & Chaiklin discover that there’s far more at play here than just Joe and G.W. Zoo. Joe has been the target for animal rights activists for years, including rival big cat park owner Carole Baskin. As well as this, Joe surrounds himself with a colourful cast of individuals, each of whom bring their own problems to the table. The further Goode & Chaiklin dig the more secrets they uncover including various money related federal offences, sex cults, suicides, hired assassins, and potentially the truth behind a disappearance that went cold twenty years ago.
Tiger King really is the gift that just keeps on giving. You start this show expecting a critique of animal parks in the U.S and what you end up getting is a true crime thriller so crazy that it seems impossible to be true. As the series progresses and people start turning on each other, there’s nothing to do but sit back and watch in amazement at how on earth any of this could be real.
Joe is the star of the show of course; a charismatic redneck tiger lover with two husbands and a desire to murder rival park owner ‘That Bitch’ Carole Baskin. It starts out silly enough but as the show goes on it becomes clear just how dangerous this man really is as it becomes a race against time to put him behind bars.
Carole puts up a cute and cuddly façade but she’s also out of blood. She’s prepared to go to any lengths necessary to get Joe and parks like his shut down for animal cruelty, all whilst touting how her park is so much better (but is basically the same thing, she’s just in favour with PeTA). But Carole’s former husband Don Lewis went missing two decades ago and the circumstances surrounding it are extremely fishy with many pointing the finger at Carole for foul play.
Doc Antle, much like Joe, is a charismatic big cat park owner, but is his park just a front for a sex cult for him and his increasing number of attractive female park assistants?
Then there’s the likes of Jeff Lowe, Allen Glover, and James Garretson who claim Joe has tried to hire multiple people to have Carole assassinated over the years, all whilst they stage a grand takeover of the G.W. Zoo right under Joe’s nose.
Trying to sum up all of Tiger King’s craziness in one article is damn near impossible, but from one episode to the next the stakes are raised exponentially and no matter how crazy it gets, it just finds a way to get even crazier. That’s the real magic of Tiger King, and Season One is incredibly well put together as it chronicles Joe’s fall from grace and both in his personal life and professionally too.
Joe is the star of the show of course; a charismatic redneck tiger lover with two husbands and a desire to murder rival park owner ‘That Bitch’ Carole Baskin. It starts out silly enough but as the show goes on it becomes clear just how dangerous this man really is as it becomes a race against time to put him behind bars.
Carole puts up a cute and cuddly façade but she’s also out of blood. She’s prepared to go to any lengths necessary to get Joe and parks like his shut down for animal cruelty, all whilst touting how her park is so much better (but is basically the same thing, she’s just in favour with PeTA). But Carole’s former husband Don Lewis went missing two decades ago and the circumstances surrounding it are extremely fishy with many pointing the finger at Carole for foul play.
Doc Antle, much like Joe, is a charismatic big cat park owner, but is his park just a front for a sex cult for him and his increasing number of attractive female park assistants?
Then there’s the likes of Jeff Lowe, Allen Glover, and James Garretson who claim Joe has tried to hire multiple people to have Carole assassinated over the years, all whilst they stage a grand takeover of the G.W. Zoo right under Joe’s nose.
Trying to sum up all of Tiger King’s craziness in one article is damn near impossible, but from one episode to the next the stakes are raised exponentially and no matter how crazy it gets, it just finds a way to get even crazier. That’s the real magic of Tiger King, and Season One is incredibly well put together as it chronicles Joe’s fall from grace and both in his personal life and professionally too.
But Season Two of Tiger King is undeniably disappointing in comparison. Season Two seems to feel like a bunch of stuff that didn’t make the cut for Season One squeezed into its own show with a handful of new interviews. But what really makes Season Two underwhelming is just the lack of direction is has. It brings in so many random people for interviews who have the most fleeting of connections with Joe and the rest of the crew to try and give more depth. But a lot of what we’re told is stuff we already know, and what is new isn’t anywhere near as shocking or surprising as what Season One had to offer. It’s crazy to think that a documentary could possibly jump the shark the same way fiction does, but Tiger King did it.
Tiger King is best enjoyed with a beer in one hand and a bag of popcorn in the other. Whilst it’s key to remember that at the core of all this are some extremely poorly looked after animals, and some very traumatised staff members, but it’s also impossible not to enjoy Tiger King for the crazy thrill ride it is.
Once you start you won’t be able to stop, and it is worth getting a Netflix subscription just for this show. Who knew wildlife documentaries could be so outrageous.
Tiger King is best enjoyed with a beer in one hand and a bag of popcorn in the other. Whilst it’s key to remember that at the core of all this are some extremely poorly looked after animals, and some very traumatised staff members, but it’s also impossible not to enjoy Tiger King for the crazy thrill ride it is.
Once you start you won’t be able to stop, and it is worth getting a Netflix subscription just for this show. Who knew wildlife documentaries could be so outrageous.