Tiger King 2 review: the Joe Exotic story continues, without much new to report

What was 2020’s Netflix sensation Tiger KingWhat was it really all about? Did it take us on a wild ride through an eccentric group of entrepreneurs and conservationists that exhibit large cats at private zoos. Or, was it a true crime tale about Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin and their bitter rivals, which may have been involved in different, strange murder plots. The docu-series was released right at the time people started to settle down and avoid a pandemic. What made it so addictive?

These aren’t idle questions. They’re what Tiger King directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin surely asked themselves before starting work on the series’ five-episode second season, now available on Netflix. They didn’t have the right answers, judging by their output. These are the facts. Tiger KingThe sequel is an incontinence. It lacks the same gripping storytelling as the first.

It’s hard to figure out what this second season is intended to be. It is the most hopeful episode of the entire batch. You can see the entire thing from a wider perspective. Tiger King It recalls how the series swept through the United States in a strange year, both for America as well as the world. The episode captures the many ways that the documentary’s subjects became almost like fictional characters to the public, some of whom dressed up like Joe and Carole for Halloween, or fiercely debated the guilt or innocence of the series’ participants.

Image courtesy of Netflix

Then episodes two and three change course, disappearing once again down the rabbit hole of the accusations against Carole Baskin, who — as covered fairly thoroughly in season 1 — has been suspected of foul play in the 1997 disappearance of her wealthy ex-husband Don Lewis. Other than a few new interviews with individuals who repeat a lot the same information over and over, this material does not add much.

The episodes four and five are pivotal again and act the most as a true sequel to the original. Tiger King. The first season exposed the lack of governmental oversight at “wildlife encounter” tourist spots, and drew demands both from animal-rights activists and from ordinary concerned citizens that the government shut down these sketchy operations. Two episodes from season 2 show how pressure was placed on Jeff Lowe (the Joe Exotic-like owner of the zoo) and Tim Stark (the last episode). Lowe and Stark, despite being determined to win the next, become increasingly desperate, making desperate decisions as federal agents arrive on their property to remove their animals. Their scenes are easily the most exciting of these five episodes, though like the rest of this season, their stories aren’t especially well woven into the whole.

Throughout all the episodes, Goode and Chaiklin return regularly to Joe Exotic, still sitting in prison, where he’s been following what’s gone on since Tiger KingHe debuted. We hope someone from his past will come forward and exonerate him of charges that he employed a hitman for Baskin’s murder. The new season covers the failed efforts to get Joe a presidential pardon, including some startling footage of the team behind the campaign unfurling a banner at a January 6th D.C. “Stop the Steal” rally, and drawing some angry reactions. Lawyer John Phillips eventually moves from representing Don Lewis’ family (and losing their trust after convincing them to appear in an ad during Carole Baskin’s appearance on Dancing with the Stars() To represent Exotic and to try to convince all those who hate him to stand by him.

But just as Exotic’s case seems about to take a turn in his favor, the season abruptly ends, suggesting that somewhere down the road, like it or not, we can expect a Tiger Kingseason 3. Goode and Chaiklin then tag on an epilogue that’s almost like an afterthought, revealing the potentially happier futures for all the big cats seized from Stark, Lowe, and Exotic.

The epilogue communicates at the very least the purpose of the episode. Tiger KingAlthough it is a bit trashy, season 1 highlighted some horrific animal abuses and season 2 shows how some good can be done. But the epilogue also smacks of self-congratulation — as does the season’s prologue, which celebrates the large audience the series drew when people were suddenly stuck at home last year, anxious for any kind of fun shared experience.

They also doubled down on the worst elements of the original run. They let the subjects make unsubstantiated allegations of criminal conduct, disguised as gossip. They turn real people’s lives and deaths into the stuff of soap operas, for viewers to laugh at, gasp over, and scrutinize.

It almost feels like episode 1 at the very least. Tiger King is going to be self-critical, getting into how the series’ subjects have been handling their newfound fame — which in some cases has meant having terrifyingly hateful comments directed at them, online and in public. One of the most controversial characters, Carole Baskin (who is currently being sued by Netflix) refuses to meet for another interview. Some of the new episodes’ most provocative moments return to this idea that sudden celebrity can obscure the lines between fact and fiction, like when Don Lewis’ family sets up a tip-line about his disappearance, and it’s inevitably gets flooded with calls from people who want to share theories they developed only from watching Tiger King.

Image courtesy of Netflix

And sure, the team behind this show still has a sense of what kind of weirdness their fans want to see, whether it’s a psychic hired by Don Lewis’ family vomiting as he walks around what he swears is the place where Lewis was killed, or it’s Jeff Lowe building a little strip club in the middle of his zoo, complete with a hot tub suite for when “Shaq and Flav” drop by. The people in this microcosm are still perversely fascinating — and perhaps none more than Tim Stark, who comes across like the poster child for 2020s “live free and die” American life, as he insists that no one can tell him what he can and can’t do with any animal he owns.

Still, the first season put all of these bizarre ducks in an orderly row, and told a story with well-timed twists at almost every episode’s end. Season 2 continues certain parts of this story but repeats other pieces, scattering them across 200-plus minutes. We may need to call the feds again. Please, someone step in and free the fun parts. Tiger King?

Season 2 Tiger KingYou can stream Netflix right now