What happens when a mullet-wearing, gun-toting zookeeper becomes the center of a tangled web of exotic animal trading, murder plots, and a bizarre feud with an animal rights activist?
It’s a fever dream of true crime and human absurdity that you simply can’t look away from.
Trailer for “Tiger King”
Watch “Tiger King”
You can watch “Tiger King” on Netflix at https://www.netflix.com/title/81115994
Ratings:
- My Rating: 95/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 83/100 (Users); 84/100 (Critics)
Release Date:
My Review of “Tiger King”
I love this docuseries and binge-watched it when it came out at the start of the COVID pandemic.
The wild world of “Tiger King” is like nothing you’ve seen before.
Directed by Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, this seven-episode doc dives headfirst into the strange, chaotic lives of big cat owners in America.
At the center is Joe Exotic, a gun-toting, mullet-wearing zookeeper who’s more than just a little eccentric. His real name? Joseph Maldonado-Passage, but no one calls him that.
Joe Exotic runs the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, and he’s got a flair for the dramatic.
He’s also got beef—a major one—with Carole Baskin, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida.
Joe Exotic’s zoo is a madhouse. Over 200 big cats, tigers mostly, live in enclosures that look like something out of a dystopian novel.
Visitors pay to pet cubs and take selfies, unaware (or maybe uncaring) of the murky ethics behind it all. But Joe isn’t just running a zoo; he’s building an empire.
He’s got a web series, a failed political campaign, and a country music career—yes, really.
But “Tiger King” isn’t just about Joe Exotic. It’s also about Carole Baskin, who’s made it her mission to shut Joe down.
Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue is a sanctuary for abused and abandoned big cats, or so she says. Joe and his allies accuse her of being a hypocrite.
They claim her sanctuary is just another zoo, and that she’s not as squeaky clean as she pretends.
oe even suggests she might have had something to do with the disappearance of her second husband, Don Lewis, who vanished in 1997. Lewis’s whereabouts? Still a mystery.
The feud between Joe and Carole escalates quickly. Joe takes to the internet to rail against Carole, and things get ugly.
Really ugly.
We’re talking death threats, lawsuits, and at one point, an attempt to hire a hitman to take her out. Yes, Joe Exotic actually tries to have Carole Baskin killed.
Spoiler: it doesn’t work out. Instead, Joe gets busted by the feds and ends up in a legal mess that lands him in prison.
What makes “Tiger King” so compelling is the sheer absurdity of it all. It’s a documentary, but it feels like a dark comedy. The characters are larger than life.
There’s Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who runs another big cat operation in Myrtle Beach and has a harem of women who live and work at his compound.
There’s Jeff Lowe, a conman who swoops in to “save” Joe’s zoo, only to turn on him later. And then there’s James Garretson, the informant who looks like he walked straight out of a mob movie.
Each episode peels back another layer of this twisted world, revealing more secrets, lies, and betrayals.
The directors, Goode and Chaiklin, keep you hooked with a mix of interviews, archival footage, and, of course, the animals themselves. You get to see tigers up close, sometimes too close, as well as the people who keep them in captivity.
The doc doesn’t shy away from showing the grim realities of the big cat trade in the U.S., where thousands of tigers live in backyards, roadside zoos, and private collections.
One of the lesser-known anecdotes involves Joe Exotic’s political ambitions.
In 2016, he ran for president—yes, really—and when that didn’t work out, he tried his hand at a gubernatorial race in Oklahoma. He actually got 19% of the vote in the libertarian primary.
Joe’s campaign manager, Joshua Dial, who had zero political experience, was pulled from behind the counter at a local Walmart.
Dial’s journey from retail worker to political strategist is one of the many bizarre side stories that make “Tiger King” so addictive.
Another nugget not widely discussed is the role of Allen Glover, the supposed hitman Joe hired to kill Carole.
Glover, who worked for Jeff Lowe, never made it to Tampa to carry out the hit. Instead, he took Joe’s money and skipped town. Glover later testified against Joe, sealing his fate. His involvement is murky, but it’s clear he played a pivotal role in Joe’s downfall.
“Doc” Antle’s operation is another rabbit hole.
The doc hints at the cult-like atmosphere at Antle’s compound, where young women change their names and devote their lives to caring for big cats under his guidance.
But the full extent of what goes on there is only briefly touched upon, leaving viewers with more questions than answers.
“Tiger King” isn’t just a spectacle; it’s a commentary on the American fascination with fame, power, and animals. It’s a world where the lines between right and wrong, hero and villain, are constantly blurred.
Joe Exotic is both a victim and a perpetrator, a man who loves his animals but is also willing to exploit them for profit.
By the end of the series, you’re left questioning not just the people involved, but the system that allows this to happen.
The U.S. has more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild worldwide, and “Tiger King” shows us the dark side of that reality.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc