History Series / TigerKing

* MurderByProxy: Joe Exotic is found guilty of a plot to kill his rival Carole Baskin, hiring one of his own staff members to do it. To illustrate how [[StupidCrooks poorly thought-out this plot was]], said staff member hated Joe and was paid such a measly sum that he decides to just take the money and blow it at a strip club.

* RatedMForManly: Jeff Lowe seems to wear nothing but Affliction shirts, leather jackets, and baseball caps over head bandannas. He drives a flashy Ferrari and makes a big deal out of using tigers to attract babes with his swinger of a young wife.

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Mrs. Tabraue points out that "Doc" Antle is actually a "doctor" of "mystical science." This may have been a joke; on his websites he claims he has a "doctoral degree in Chinese medicine" he earned when he lived there. Although, anyone familiar with "Chinese medicine" will know that it's about as scientific as astrology and might as well be a PhonyDegree.

* BewareTheSillyOnes: It's hard to swallow that a figure as ridiculous as the sparkly, mullet-having Joe Exotic could commit some of the actions he did.

* BlatantLies: Joe and Doc both claim that they ''never'' euthanize animals. Even for the very best zoos that's an impossible goal.

* CoolPet: The show is a deep dive into the strange world of people who have become obsessed with "exotic pets." From snakes to lemurs to tigers, some people just can't get enough of them, and tourists will pay big money to traipse around in their menageries. However, this is also deconstructed, as the documentary makes clear that these animals are likely bred in bad conditions and can be dangerous.

** Don Lewis (Carole Baskin's husband who went missing) mentioned in his will about his "death or disappearance", which seems to raise red flags with a few people, raising suspicion that Carole did something to him. His lawyer Joseph Fritz says he's never seen any will worded that way before. But as Devin Stone of ''WebVideo/LegalEagle'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbePI5_OijY points out]], such a phrasing isn't that uncommon, and isn't as suspicious or ominous as the makers of the documentary make it out to be.
** Joseph Fritz also claims that Don Lewis' restraining order against Carole was denied by the authorities because she only ever ''threatened'' to kill him, but never actually physically hurt him--since death threats are protected as free speech (''"We don't restrain free speech in this country, we punish it after it's done"''). While he's correct that it's a lot more difficult to get a restraining order in the absence of physical violence, death threats are ''not'' protected under the First Amendment; many US states have specific laws against "Communicating Threats", and credible threats of violence (or incitement to violence) can absolutely get a person arrested.[[note]] Don's biggest problem in this instance isn't that Carole never physically hurt him, it's that he couldn't ''prove'' that she threatened to kill him, meaning that his account would likely have been dismissed as hearsay; if he'd been able to get a recording of Carole's death threats, his restraining order would likely have been approved.[[/note]]

** Joseph Fritz also claims that Don Lewis' restraining order against Carole was denied by the authorities because she only ever ''threatened'' to kill him, but never actually physically hurt him--since threats of violence are protected as free speech (''"We don't restrain free speech in this country, we punish it after it's done"''). While he's correct that it's a lot more difficult to get a restraining order in the absence of physical violence, "Communicating Threats" is ''absolutely'' a crime in many US states, and credible threats of violence (or incitement to violence) can absolutely get a person arrested.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Don Lewis (Carole Baskin's husband who went missing) mentioned in his will about his "death or disappearance", which seems to raise red flags with a few people, raising suspicion that Carole did something to him. The main lawyer shown in interviews says he's never seen any will worded that way before. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbePI5_OijY Devin Stone of LegalEagle though comments]] that such a phrasing isn't that uncommon, and isn't as suspicious or ominous as the makers of the documentary make it out to be.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: For only a seven part docu-series, there sure are a ton of names to remember, as several new important interviewees are flung at us per episode.

* IAteWhat: An employee outright confirms that the meat used at Joe's on-site pizzeria came from the same trucks of expired meat they fed to the animals. The employees don't see it as a big deal since they were already eating the meat themselves.

** The name, Joe ''Exotic''. He's American, and born and breed in Kansas where he still lives. And in disposition, he is local in the ''extreme''--aggressively redneck.

** Joe's increasingly vicious videos make fun of Carole Baskin in misogynist ways, making an effigy of her and shoving a dildo in it's mouth.

* FirstLove: Season 2 talks about Joe's first husband, Brian Rhyne, who died of AIDS in 2001. Family friends agree that Brian was good for Joe, and kept him in line, and that Joe became far worse after loosing him.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Carole brother ''was'' certainly a member of the sheriff's department at the time of Don's disappearance. Some have speculated that he made the investigation go easy on her.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Joe gets his comeuppance by the end, but the number of times he gets away with truly awful behavior is nothing short of astonishing.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Joe. It helps his business but ends up being his FatalFlaw because he can't stop grandstanding or playing the victim. [[spoiler:Notably, when Saff gets his arm ''torn off'' by one of the cats, Joe's immediate reaction is to state that the incident will ruin him financially]].

* JailbaitTaboo: Joe Exotic recruited his husbands "fresh out of high school", but some of the other big cat people went even further. Both Doc Antle and the late Don Lewis have had relationships with multiple underage girls, which is illegal. Antle's third wife Radha even admits that Antle felt attracted to her [[PaedoHunt since she was eleven years old]].

* JailbaitTaboo: Joe Exotic recruited his husbands "fresh out of high school", but some of the other big cat people went even further. Both Doc Antle and the late Don Lewis have had relationships with multiple underage girls, which is illegal.