“Tiger King” has become a worldwide phenomenon during the coronavirus pandemic, and the wild docuseries added an extra chapter over the weekend with the release of “The Tiger King and I.”
In the special, which features short interviews with Erik Cowie, Jeff and Lauren Lowe, John Reinke, John Finlay, Kelci “Saff” Saffery, Joshua Dial and Rick Kirkham, the people who knew Joe Exotic the best reflected on the outcome of his court case, and on how their own lives have changed amid Tiger King-mania.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the extra episode has a very low-budget setup. Joel McHale conducts video interviews that serve mostly as an excuse for McHale to crack as many jokes as he can, and there are absolutely no shocking tiger footage or mind-bending twists – the main reasons the show became a smash hit in the first place. The cast members fans likely want to hear from the most – Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin – do not make appearances. In all, “The Tiger King And I” is very skippable, and doesn’t come close to matching the entertainment value of the docuseries.
There are a few interesting takeaways, however. Here are all the notable things we learned in “The Tiger King and I.”
1. No one is on Joe’s side
It’s difficult to root for any of the main characters of Tiger King, but none of the people McHale interviewed felt that Joe Exotic was unfairly jailed for his behavior.
Saff pointed out that Joe did plenty of good deeds that weren’t necessarily highlighted by the show, such as his Thanksgiving dinner, but no one is calling for Joe to be released from prison. Erik Cowie, for one, didn’t mince words.
“He’s going to die in there. Good riddance.”
2. John Finlay now has teeth and some ridiculous facial hair
Finlay, one of Joe’s ex-husbands, is best remembered for being shirtless all the time and generally looking like a NHL bruiser in the dental department. He’s now got a new set of teeth, and looks great!
Tiger King: Where Are They Today?
Find out now with the all-new aftershow: The Tiger King and I pic.twitter.com/JB84nPx77b
— Netflix (@netflix) April 12, 2020
3. Saff identifies as male and was misgendered in the show
Kelci “Saff” Saffery was one of the heroes of the series, and tragically lost his arm in an accident with a tiger. Saff is referred to as “she” throughout the series, but said that he wasn’t particularly bothered by not being portrayed accurately in the show.
“I don’t think it bothered me as much as it bothered everybody else. I didn’t really pay it any mind.”
4. Rick Kirkham has some heartbreaking Joe stories
Kirkham is the producer who was filming a Joe Exotic reality show but lost all of his footage when Exotic’s studio burned down. He shared some incredibly dark stories, and said that while Exotic claimed that he only euthanized tigers that were sick or injured, he witnessed Exotic kill two healthy cats simply to free up cage space.
Kirkham also recalled a time when a woman brought her horse to Exotic’s zoo and asked if he could take the horse and allow it to live on his grounds. Exotic agreed and told the woman the horse would have a great life at his zoo, but as soon as she left, Exotic shot the horse and fed it to his tigers.
5. Joe Exotic is “terrified” of big cats
Kirkham also said that the “Tiger King” is, in fact, absolutely terrified of big cats.
“In the shots that you see in there, where he’s in with the two tigers, the white one and the other one. The white one is blind and the other one is on tranquilizers.”
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