By Denise Phillip

Netflix’s new docuseries “Tiger King” has quickly grown into what can only be described as a cultish obsession. It garnered traction after a slew of celebrities including, Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen, weighed in with memes and future dream-casting films on social media.

Released March 20, the show chronicles the lives and scandalous activities of the most infamous big cat breeders in America, and in the process exposes the dark underbelly of the “big cat” world.

Seven jaw-dropping episodes follow the central star: Joe Maldonado-Passage, a roadside zookeeper and eccentric, over-the-top “big cat” enthusiast in Oklahoma.  Also known as “Joe Exotic” or the “Tiger King,” Maldonado is a mullet-wearing polygamist with two husbands. He was a failed presidential candidate in 2016 and a libertarian candidate for governor only two years later and is often depicted as cuddling and wrestling with his tigers, while wearing a gun strapped to his hip.

Maldonado is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for charges, including eight counts of falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violations of the Endangered Species Act. However, the series barely dives into the world of cruelty and suffering the animals endure as part of the breeding and selling process. Instead, it focuses on the drama between Maldonado and his arch-nemesis in the industry, Carole Baskin.

Flower crown-wearing, bike riding animal rights activist, Baskin owns a Florida sanctuary known as Big Cat Rescue. Baskin has devoted her life to saving big cats and lobbies to outlaw breeding and personal ownership of exotic cats in the U.S. Her cat sanctuary business relies largely on unpaid volunteers, despite the funds raised.

Although she was supposed to act as the voice of reason, scandal follows Baskin as well, as Joe accuses her and it was insinuated in the series that she might have killed her second husband, Don Lewis. Lewis was a wealthy man who disappeared in 1997 after attempting to take out a restraining order against his wife. Because of the bizarre twists and turns in her story, it’s hard to know whether there’s any truth to these suspicions. Viewers are left guessing, forced to turn to social media to discuss their theories.

But Baskin and Joe Exotic aren’t the only over-the-top characters in the series. They’re matched by Bhagavan “Doc” Antler, another polygamist who, according to one former employee, coerces teenage girls into working 100-hour weeks at his ranch. If you’re thinking Woah, I agree.

Jeff Lowe also joins Maldonado’s world and brags about using his exotic pets to lure women to his bed. Both Antler and Lowe’s facilities pretend to operate with rescue conservation purposes, when in fact animals are ripped from their mothers immediately after birth and subjected to abuse.

Watching humans and tigers interact on-screen is one of the most appealing aspects of the show. The natural strength and power of the animals are exciting, as is the unveiling of the secrets behind how these cats are used for profit, which is in fact a blatant disregard for their well-being.

However, while “Tiger King” tells an incredibly compelling story, it also turns the events depicted into a large, terrible spectacle. 

Sadly, Netflix dropped the ball by choosing to focus on the perpetuated drama rather than diving deeper into the abuse the animals suffered at the hands of the zookeepers. The series paints Maldonado and “Doc” Antler as colorful, funny, strange characters who are heavy on the shock factor, as opposed to the cruel and villainous men that they are. Maldonado has defended his reasoning for killing tigers, calling it an act of “mercy,” according to the New York Times.

Throughout the series, we see examples of Maldonado’s violent and cruel ways. He fantasizes about torturing Baskin and jokes about sending her snakes for her birthday. He is so often overheard saying, “I’m gonna kill that B*tch,” that the viewer automatically knows to whom he is referring. Operating in a world of misogyny, Baskin is able to hold her own by launching repeated lawsuits his way.

“Tiger King” makes it apparent that there are no heroes. It’s a messy story about drugs, guns, sexual abuse, suicide, embezzlement, and attempted murder. The blatant exploitation and abuse of the tigers and employees leave viewers feeling uncomfortable yet enlightened about the “big cat” industry.  The docuseries is eye-opening, hard to turn away from, and will make viewers think twice about visiting private zoos.