Netflix's Tiger King: Murder, Madness and Mayhem pretty much says it all in the title. The seven-episode docuseries details the arrest of Joe Exotic, who ran the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, and his subsequent 22-year imprisonment for plotting to kill Carole Baskin. The latter, an animal rights activist who runs Florida's Big Cat Rescue shelter, has been in the trenches with Exotic, winning a million-dollar lawsuit against him for copyright infringement.
For Baskin fans, Exotic has gotten his just due as he's behind bars, while for his supporters, Baskin has seemingly been exposed, with the internet pointing fingers at her in the disappearance of her ex-husband, Don Lewis. However, while most of the episodes go back and forth on their war, by the time the series ends, it's painfully obvious the show's biggest victims receive no justice at all.
KELCI SAFFERY
Saff was a handler at Exotic's zoo and one of his most trusted allies. He worked with Exotic from the time the eccentric cat-lover decided to open the park, and what shocked fans was a few years in, Saff actually lost his arm after being mauled by a tiger. Doctors indicated a surgery could save it but Saff would be on the shelf for five months. He opted against it as he knew Exotic was short on staff and resources. Five days after Saff's arm was amputated, he was working again.
The remarkable thing is he held no grudge against the animals as he felt the accident was due to negligence on his part, but more so, he didn't want the media to demonize the animals. Which makes it so heartbreaking when it's revealed Exotic paid people like Saff less than 200 bucks per week to literally risk life and limb. It's so heartbreaking seeing someone so loyal, who didn't get caught up in mudslinging, never get compensated, especially after Exotic gave the park up to business partner, Jeff Lowe. "Nobody wins. Everyone involved in this is a so-called animal advocate. Not a single animal benefited from this war," he told Oxygen, revealing he's moved on from the zoo and wants nothing to do with this drama again.
ERIK COWIE
Cowie was the head zookeeper for Exotic, opting for a clean start in life after bad experiences with drugs and jail. He also worked so hard for a nominal fee and to see Exotic rewarding him the bonus of getting to pick expired meat up that was trucked for the animals was pretty telling how these people were used. Cowie eventually had to testify in Exotic's case about him illegally euthanizing big cats, which really hurt him as he bonded with them so tightly.
"I knew what was going on. I'm [not] stupid," Cowie said during the trial. "I knew cats were getting shot. You know those cats trusted me, so when they died, I was the guy that was right there. That means a minute to me. A heavy minute." What made him someone you wanted to root for was that he didn't care about any of the wild antics of Exotic and his peers, evidenced when he told off interviewers for asking him about Doc Antle's polygamy. Cowie left when Lowe took over the zoo too and was seen making burgers at an Oklahoma restaurant in the final episode of the series, also wanting distance from the stress Exotic brought.
JOHN REINKE
Reinke lost both legs in a bungee jumping accident in Texas and moved to Oklahoma to join Exotic in 2007. He worked as a manager until Exotic's arrest but during his tenure, he tried to remain focused on the animals. However, he was taken aback at the double standard with how Baskin got away with running a similar -- albeit more pristine -- operation.
He also left Lowe took over and what really tore him up was how he lost his animals. "Unless I had shitloads of money to dump into Jeff's lap, I'd never get my animals back. So I just had to walk away from them," he said. "I'm 52 years old, I'm done with this he-said, she said stuff. I live on my own now." The zoo had taken a huge toll on his personal life and decades-old marriage, resulting in him separating from his wife and now living in a trailer. He's currently working as a welder and while he wants as far away from the zoo, he still laments not getting to say goodbye to his animals.
THE G.W. ZOO
The zoo fell into Lowe's lap just before Exotic was arrested and the show ends with hints business is rough. Lowe was building a new zoo closer to Texas, but he fell out with his business partners. He also struggled to land investors due to his long rap sheet as well, plus as an informant who flipped on Exotic, he broke a rule in the fraternity which made people avoid linking up with him for evolving the G.W. Zoo.
He recently admitted he's running on fumes, so everyone's wondering about the state of the creatures there. There were even rumors he was euthanizing them the same way Exotic was. Lowe admitted before the COVID-19 pandemic, business was slowing down, so with less traffic now, that's less money and more mouths to feed. Lowe said the zoo was floundering even before he took over, which Exotic did admit to in the series, and as Saff, Cowie and Reinke all reiterated after their departure, the real victims of the fallout are the creatures.
All episodes of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness are currently streaming on Netflix.