A distraction in life is important during this trying time and I cannot think of a better way to take a break from the outside world than entering into the life of Joe Maldonado-Passage, who goes by Joe Exotic, or the Tiger King.
“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” is so wild that it almost feels like it is fake. The eight-episode series is easy to binge. I am not sure if I have ever seen a series with so many jaw-dropping moments. The docuseries truly lives up to its title — murder, mayhem and madness are all frequent throughout the episodes.
The docuseries follows the feud between Joe Exotic from Oklahoma’s G.W. Zoo and Carole Baskin of Florida’s Big Cat Rescue. Baskin attempts to shut down Joe Exotic because of his treatment of animals. However, the plot does not limit itself to just a little beef over tigers\; it is so much more than that. Explosives, lawsuits, threats and the overall danger of working with large tigers made the series exciting and scary. People like Doc Antle of Myrtle Beach Safari, who also is involved in the exotic animal scene, and investor Jeff Lowe only add more drama.
Each person in the show carries their own personal history, which at times can be nasty. This specifically is evident in the mysterious disappearance of Baskin’s husband, which raised many theories. After watching I was left wondering who to believe. I cannot speak to the ethics of the docuseries, which has been called into question from Baskin’s statements on what she thought the series would be about — spotlighting the treatment of animals. In addition, multiple people involved were not happy with their portrayals, including Baskin.
The newest installment of the series, “The Tiger King and I,” gives a look into the lives of some of the characters after the series came out, through interviews hosted by actor and comedian Joel McHale. McHale was able to add comedy to the episode, referencing the many memes floating around the internet. It was exciting hearing from cast members after they had seen the docuseries. It felt wrong having the show without Baskin or Joe Exotic to defend themselves, as Baskin, according to Entertainment Weekly, did not even receive an invite to the new episode. If you have gotten through the first seven episodes, I would recommend this extra one just to get a little more of the “Tiger King” excitement.
A large flaw was the way the docuseries’s focus shifted away from the animals, similar to the way Joe Exotic did himself. Getting absorbed in the drama of Joe Exotic versus Carole Baskin made it easy to stop thinking about the treatment of animals, which I think is the most important part of this all. With that being said, everything that the docuseries instead focused on was still very interesting.
If anyone is sensitive toward animals, it would be best not to watch as there are multiple scenes I would classify as disturbing. There are also moments of violence and suicide which can be difficult to watch.
This docuseries is like nothing I have seen before. From an entertainment standpoint, it doesn’t get much better than this.

“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness:” ★★★★☆