The Mosley Review: Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness

This documentary series is something that has taken the world by storm. Not because its great, but the presentation of a lifestyle and problem that is prevalent across the country. I myself have been to a zoo in my life and I have to say that it was memorable because of the animals I saw. Monkey's, snakes, hippos and over course a tiger was present. Now I never understood why there's so many people obsessed with wanting to own exotic animals. I get that it would be cool to bring friends over to play with your pet hedgehog or python. I even knew a guy who owned a prairie dog without telling his landlord which made it illegal to have in his apartment complex per the lease agreement. So why would you want to own a tiger? This documentary tells the story of the most famous and infamous tiger owners in the country and it was fascinating, infuriating and weird.

Joe Exotic is the star if the show and he truly was a charismatic, charming and sometimes smart owner of tigers. The man had a music career and I felt the ear worm of his biggest hit "I Saw A Tiger". Joe truly did care for all the animals he had under his umbrella and it was sweet to see. The darker side of him was on display as well and most would consider him as one of the craziest people in the business. He was a gay, gun toting, drug addicted, animal lover that you did not want to cross. He loved the lens of a camera, but always went too big with his ideas without considering the risk. Of course when you become super famous, you tend to make alot of friends and even greater enemies within in any industry. Bhagavan "Doc" Antle is another exotic animal owner and Joe was a great friend to him. Doc has his own story to tell with the more subtle way he runs his animal preserve. His personality is more controlling and manipulative towards humans. I won't spoil anything about him because there’s so much I want you to see about him. If there's a sequel series, I want it about him because I don't think we've even scratched the surface with his household and the many wives he has. As far as enemies go, Carole Baskin is the main antagonist to Joe and their feud is stuff of legend.

Carole Baskin is beyond what you call a cat lover or even a crazy cat lady. She said herself that she has had more of a connection with cats than humans. She had experienced some extreme trauma in her life and that propelled her to make crazy life decisions. After her split from her first marriage, her second husband became her world. Now at some point he mysteriously disappeared and that has led to murder allegations and investigations. Joe Exotic found out the situation and it has been a constant back and forth between them. Joe wants to expose her while Carole wants to destroy him. Both run an exotic zoo, but Carole's is a lot worse in my opinion. She says she wants the animals she has to roam free and have a comfortable life out of captivity, but they are living in small cages and there aren’t really any places for them to run as shown in the image above. The documentary shows that and even Joe had done some investigating. There are constant death threats from Joe towards Carole and it gets intense. I honestly believe they're both crazy and should be considered dangerous, but Carole is the most dangerous of the 2. I believe Carole did kill her husband and took all of his money. Some day the truth will be revealed and I hope it's soon. There is another antagonist in the saga of Joe Exotic's life and he is the best definition of a con artist. His name is Jeff Lowe and the man led Joe to make some ungodly expensive decisions that ultimately led to his downfall. I won't say everything that was done here, but if there's anyone saying that they’ll bail you out for a piece of your business, DON'T trust them.

As far as docuseries go, this was the most engaging, fun and thrilling limited series I've ever seen. Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin have made a masterpiece of a docuseries. If you've been wanting to know the origin of all the memes and jokes about tigers, then this is it. If you haven't watched it all ready, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is now streaming on Netflix. This is a must watch and binge.