Netflix's Tiger King Review: 8 Things We Learned
5. There's More To Carole Baskin Then Meets The Eye
At first glance, it may seem that Carole Baskin is the protagonist of the series, especially when compared to the more heelish Joe Exotic and Doc Antle. After all, she repeatedly criticises her contemporaries for the way they treat both their animals and their staff.
Unlike Antle and Exotic, Baskinc claims that she does not engage in the practice of breeding her big cats and only rescues animals from private ownership rather than buying them.
So, so far so good right? Seems like our story has a pretty clearly defined babyface in this situation.
Well, not exactly.
After several of those interviewed reference Baskin's considerable wealth during the early portions of the series, a bombshell is dropped at the end of episode two where an allegation is made that the sanctuary owner may have had some involvement in the unsolved disappearance of her multi-millionaire husband Don Lewis during the mid-90s.
The claims are compounded with the now presumed-deceased Lewis' children from a previous marriage stating that they believe that Carole was involved in the death of their father.
Joe clearly buys into this theory, and his obsession with asserting that Carole fed her late spouse to her tigers is a recurring theme in the later episodes.
It should be mentioned that Baskin has vehemently denied the accusations following Tiger King's release, penning a 3000-word blog detailing her frustrations with the series.