Written by Katie Lowry
The hit documentary series Tiger King has certainly taken the world by storm since the show came out on March 20th.
Hooking viewers from the first episode, this docuseries can easily be watched in a day or weekend, consisting of 7 gripping episodes, under an hour-long, ideal to pass some time during this current pandemic.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness delve deep into the world of cat owners and enthusiasts in America, centred around big cat zoo owner Joe Exotic in Oklahoma who describes himself as a “gay, gun-toting cowboy with a mullet.”
As the story unfolds and as Joe spirals out of control, it is clear there is a huge battle between animal right activists and big cat breeders in the US, which turns this eccentric cat lover into a convicted criminal.
This series comes to you from the producers that brought you ‘Fyre’- the action gripped documentary on the infamous festival. ‘Tiger King’ takes the mantle from ‘Fyre’ and ups the ante even further in terms of a crazy story filled with twists and turns and one Joe Exotic who can be described as anything from naïve to charismatic.
Throughout the show we are met with larger than life characters. Following on from Joe we soon meet Doc Antle- a man that runs cat shows surrounded by multiple wives and the innuendo that he grooms underage girls just as he might his cats before the show.
We soon run into an infamous Ms Caroline Baskin, whose name has filled all forms of social media and gripped the audience. Initially, we are led to believe that this woman is the “Jesus Christ” for all Big Cats.
However, as the story begins to unfold we are met with a more complex situation than first believed. The two and fro between Joe Exotic and Caroline Baskin reveals not only Joe’s nasty streak but also a few shadows in Ms Baskin’s closet. The aforementioned savour is seen to charge people into her ‘sanctuary’ for the big cats. Perhaps showing the lady in light is not as innocent as first seems.
The story soon quickens as we see the army of devout workers Exotics’ arch-nemesis has at her disposal. Working seemingly for free they seem to be almost like a cult with Caroline as the leader. The plot thickens as we have the mystery of what happened to Caroline’s Husband. Accusations emerge that she is a murderer of her beloved- a question we are left to ponder at the close of the series.
In fact, we are left to dwell with a number of unanswered questions as the series reaches its apex. Is Caroline a Murderer? And how in the modern world are these people allowed to run these ‘Sanctuaries’? In a time where the world is a standstill ‘Tiger King’ allows us an option to dive into an unknown world filled with big cats, murder, mystery and all in the richest country in the world.