‘Tiger King’: A beginners’ guide to Netflix’s craziest show
With everyone locked down in quarantine, they’ve taken to exploring various streaming platforms for some truly fascinating series to binge. Nothing has taken over our lockdown lives such as Netflix’s Tiger King. There are memes, there are tweets, there are memes of tweets all about the wild story of Joe Exotic and how he got initiated a murder for hire plot.
While the internet has lost their minds over the series, some people have yet to watch it in its majestic and insane glory. Possibly because they could be a little weirded out by it all. Mainly because it could look more meme fodder than anything else. If you’re curious, but unsure if you want to watch Netflix’s Tiger King, then here is a beginner guide to help you out.
How long is Tiger King?
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is seven episodes long with each episode clocking in at about 40 minutes. The docuseries is based on a podcast entitled Joe Exotic: Tiger King.
Now the episode count will change from seven to eight. Netflix has not officially announced a new episode is in the works, but people are saying that it is happening. According to the participant of Tiger King, Jeff Lowe, the episode will be released later this week.
We’ll have to see on that front.
What is Tiger King about?
Well, that’s a loaded question in and of itself. Simply put, Tiger King follows zookeeper, musician, and big cat enthusiast Joe Exotic, who put out a hit on bat cat conservationist Carole Baskin. The real focus of the series is on the small and interconnected world of the conservationists, Baskin, who accuse the collectors, Exotic, of exploiting and abusing their animals.
Like technically that’s all what Tiger King is about and then you watch it and you just go down a rabbit hole that leads to a fugue state. Next thing you know it’s three am and you’re covered in Doritos and humming one of Joe Exotic’s songs under your breath. It’s really something to witness rather than try to explain.
Who are the key players of Tiger King?
Joe Exotic: The man, the myth, the legend. Exotic, real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (né Schreibvogel), was an owner and operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. Exotic has run for public office, tried to have a music career, has several husbands, and claims to be the prolific breeder of tigers in the U.S. He’s serving time for attempting to murder Carole Baskin.
Carole Baskin: Baskin is a big cat conservationist and is the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida. A big focus of Tiger King was the feud between Exotic and Baskin, but also whether or not Baskin killed her second husband, Don Lewis (missing and now legally declared dead). Basking was not a fan of Tiger King, saying the series “had the sole goal of being salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers.”
Doc Antle: Real name is Mahamayavi Bhagavan “Doc” Antle. He identifies as a big cat conservationist and operates The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), a wildlife preserve in South Carolina. He also, however, runs a tour through the preserve, Myrtle Beach Safari. Antle was also not thrilled by Tiger King, saying that he wants to be left out of it.
Jeff Lowe: When Exotic went to prison, Lowe took over ownership of the park. The series frames Lowe as having tricked Exotic out of ownership of the park. He’s also not a big fan of Tiger King but he is one who mentioned the new episode. He has said his portrayal was “unfair”.
Kelci “Saff” Saffery: You’ll hear about an employee who had her arm bitten off during the series. That’s Saff, who seems pretty chill all things considered. Saff worked with the park and with the animals. Yes, a tiger did bite her arm off.
John Finlay: Ex-husband to Joe Exotic, Finlay is seen without his shirt and missing a lot of teeth. He also revealed in the series that he is straight. In the aftermath of the series, he’s not thrilled with how he was portrayed in the series.
Robert Kirkman: Kirkman was hired by Exotic to make videos for his YouTube channel and wants to turn the entire thing into a reality series.
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