Tiger King 2 dropped on Netflix, Wednesday, Nov. 17, and while it isn’t as insane as season one, it certainly did not disappoint. In the first episode, we are caught up on what everyone is up to since Tiger King became so popular before the second season moves to give the viewers a different perspective of events.
As we all know from season one, Joseph Allen Schreibvogel, A.K.A Joe Exotic, is now in prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot against Carol Baskin and animal abuse. The second season digs into Joe’s continued pleas for innocence from behind bars while simultaneously criticizing all those who attempt to free him.
John Reinke, Eric Love, Jeff Hoover and Fancisco Hernandez work tirelessly to get Joe out. Their main plan was to get a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. They do this through social media and gaining notoriety with their Free Joe Exotic private jet, charter bus and car. They even attended the rally at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020, to catch Trump’s attention. Their ‘Free Joe Exotic’ sign infuriated some attendees, due to it not being relevant. The Joe Exotic crew was soon cast out when several rally participants grew agitated over their presence.
Jeff and Lauren Lowe continued to run the G.W. Zoo despite countless investigations, reporters and contractors trying to visit. The couple hired an ex-military man to guard their zoo from trespassers. When 68 of Lowe’s animals were seized and the zoo was in danger of being shut down, it came out by the admission of Allen Glover, the alleged hitman hired to kill Baskin, that Lowe had intended him to kill Joe, not Carole.
Carole Baskin took a hard hit as well since the first Tiger King documentary. Fans bombard her website and call line with enquiries about where her ex-husband is. One Tik Toker even created a parody of Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Savage” poking fun at the theory that Carole fed Don Lewis to her tigers. The publicity wasn’t all bad for her though as she ended up competing on Dancing with the Stars.
The question of Don Lewis’ whereabouts was another main storyline. His daughters, Donna, Lynda and Gale, were the loudest voices in the search. They even ran an ad asking for the public to come forward with any information on their dad. The icing on the cake was it would play during commercials while Carole was performing on Dancing with the Stars. They even hired a supposed psychic medium, Troy Griffin, to find clues from Don himself. Griffin claimed to have a vision of Don being killed on his property.
The biggest plot twist in the second season overall was the admission by Don’s former attorney, Joseph Fritz, that he had acquired documents from the Department of Homeland Security stating that Don was alive and well living in Costa Rica. This makes sense when Tiger King reveals all the illegal activity Don was up to and that he would currently be in prison had he stayed in the U.S.
In my opinion, Tiger King 2 is worth the watch. Not only is it entertaining, but it ties up a lot of loose ends from season one. The audience can also get a sense of how Netflix drove the narrative on certain characters. While I am not at all fond of Carole Baskin, I didn’t feel it was fair how they portrayed her as a murderer in the first season without sufficient evidence. Now we are learning that she is not a murderer, just a regular, terrible person. As for the other big cat owners, karma is playing out for their misdeeds, so we will see if there is more to come from the series.
Edited by: Kyle Manthe, Katrina Johnson