There’s never been a better time to lose yourself in a new TV series and Netflix has just served up a cracker. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is a smorgasbord of batshit craziness filled with characters Ryan Murphy could only dream of creating.
The seven-part docuseries could easily be mistaken for one of his American Crime Story shows as it chronicles the long-running feud between an eccentric Oklahoman zookeeper and a Floridian animal rights activist, and the unbelievable criminal investigations they are caught up in.
The titular Tiger King is Joe Exotic (real name Joseph Schreibvogel) a mullet-wearing, out and proud gay polygamist who has made a name for himself as the owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. It played host to over 200 tigers, lions and wild cats that he bought or bred on-site, and he made his money by underpaying his hotchpotch of unqualified staff and overcharging the public to see these dangerous animals up close on a tour, as well as offering people the chance to pet the cubs, too.
He caught the attention of Carole Baskin, the feline-loving owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida. She is an animal activist campaigning to end private ownership of wild animals and did not approve of Joe Exotic breeding baby tigers for cub-petting. Her goal is to shut him down but Joe is not one to go quietly, no ma’am, as he uses social media to trash her name.
Seriously, he is OBSESSED with Carole and thanks to his narcissistic tendencies there are hours of video footage showing just how much he hates the woman. He shoots effigies of her, calls her every name under the sun and even recorded a country music song accusing her of murdering her husband. Hate to say it but the man's got some vocal talent.
But if you thought the docuseries was about to paint a clear hero-villain dichotomy then you’d be mistaken as each new episode exposes a shocking new layer of absurdity, including the mysterious disappearance of Carole’s rich husband. Turns out, the cat lover isn’t quite the ‘Mother Theresa of Cats’ she likes to think of herself as.
They aren’t the only curious characters keeping people glued to their screens as the series features interviews and archive footage of the people who worked for and were devoted to Joe, like Kelci Saffery who was super chill about having her arm chewed off by a tiger. Then there are the flamboyant zoo owner’s husbands Travis and John who he has an ominous power over, and Jeff, a skeezy businessman ready to manipulate his way to power.
Oh, and for fans of Napoleon Dynamite you'll be treated to a real-life liger.
This true-crime show has everything: big personalities, big cats, big guns, a Presidential campaign, embezzlement, two murder plots, a polygamous wedding, and even a shocking death caught on camera. It’s hard to believe that these events actually happened but like Netflix’s Wild Wild Country, this larger-than-life series, made by filmmakers Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, has enraptured audiences.
It is all people have been talking about (except for coronavirus) since it launched on Friday 20 March. ‘I was about 20 minutes into Tiger King on Netflix when I went and poured myself a glass of whiskey,’ said one person on Twitter. ‘Because this show is BATSHIT crazy. And I’m here for it.’
Even celebrities have been binge-watching the series in self-isolation. Kim Kardashian says, 'it is crazy' while singer JoJo said: 'if u haven't started watching "Tiger King" yet you're trippin (sic).'
JoJo is right and you will continue to be trippin’ if you don’t dedicate 5.25 hours of this lockdown to the Tiger King. It is the perfect distraction from the anxiety-inducing global health crisis we are living and by the end, you’ll be fan-casting the inevitable Hollywood adaption.
My money’s already on Walter Goggins playing the King himself.
Enjoy!
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