McMillion & Tiger King

Streaming Flicks by BRIAN MILLER

If ever there was a time to embrace the practice of binge-watching, this is most certainly it. As citizens across the country are forced to stay home, whether they want to or not, they are struggling for ways to while away the hours. If you dig the true crime genre, but are looking for something a little more light-hearted than the devastating Netflix doc THE TRIALS OF GABRIEL FERNANDEZ, there are two compulsively watchable series available right now that are begging to be binged.

The first aired on HBO, and will appeal to just about anyone who ate at McDonald’s in the 80’s, 90’s, or early 2000’s. If you were anything like me during that period of time, you were certain that you were going to hit it rich by playing the Monopoly game at McDonald’s. With only one ticket to find before the grand prize was won, you no doubt upgraded your fries to get a couple of more pieces. Little did any of us know, that we were never going to win a grand prize. No matter how many super-sized buckets of soda you bought or how may Big Mac’s you consumed, it was impossible for you to get that million dollar prize or that sweet new car. This is because it was, basically from its inception, rigged, and the winners were chosen by those in on the fix.

MCMILLIONS is an enthralling, entertaining, and downright baffling documentary series. Within the six episodes, it tells how the scam ended up on the FBI radar, and introduces you to the principal players in the shocking saga. From the charismatic and hilarious FBI Agent Doug Matthews (I promise you, this isn’t that last we’ve seen from the delightful Agent Matthews), to the strangely stereotypical and sad mobster wife Robin Colombo, there are an endless array of characters that seem as if they were plucked directly from a Christopher Guest mockumentary.

The details of the scheme are astounding, and the series, written and directed by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, presents them in an engaging and exciting way. Playing out as a whodunit thriller, it utilizes archived footage and interviews from virtually everyone involved, giving the viewer an expansive look into an elaborate and unbelievable crime that likely impacted them directly, whether they realize it or not.

The world of big cat collecting is chock full of strong, brash, and bizarre personalities. I suppose it shouldn’t come as a shock that those who choose to collect lions, tigers, panthers, pumas, and leopards are a built a bit different than the majority of the population, but the clash of egos amongst the prominent players in this bizarro world goes beyond mere jealousy and gamesmanship. In the case of the born-forreality-TV Joe Exotic (real name Joe Shreibvogel) and his nemesis Carole Baskin, however, the battle goes beyond mere words. From lawsuits, to insinuations, to an alleged murder plot, these two brash cat lovers are genuinely obsessed and consumed with the downfall of one another.

Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin have bequeathed us with a series that provides a perfect distraction when we need it the most. Netflix already delved into the weird and intermingled world of cats and murder in the thoroughly unsettling DON’T F*CK WITH CATS, but TIGER KING is far less intense and therefore, much more embraceable. Despite having a bevy of unsettling aspects such a breeding, euthanasia, theft, arson, and murder, it plays out as a compulsively watchable, thoroughly entertaining doc that feels more like a comedy than a tale of deception and spite.

This is, in large part, due to the absurd world that these people have crafted for themselves. Whether they are breeding tigers because people will fork over fistfuls of cash for an opportunity to play with a cub, or they are operating under the guise of a rescue group that just so happen to have its own gift shop, and doesn’t pay its employees because they are ecstatic volunteers, there is a network of eccentric entrepreneurs who are willing to risk their own lives, and the lives of others, to make a buck. The poster-child for this way of life is Joe. He is charismatic, confident, and endlessly ambitious, but in equal measures, about as shady as they come. Because of his outgoing nature, you genuinely want to like the guy, but when he’s not busy being a bit goofy, he is duplicitous and dangerous. Armed to the hilt and fearless in the face of conventional boundaries, he is impossible to trust, and fueled by an insatiable sense of self preservation. He has an “us against the world” mentality that is summed up succinctly when he unabashedly exclaims that his facility is a “ticking time bomb if somebody thinks they’re gonna walk in here and take my animals away. It’s gonna be a small Waco.” While this may seem like mere dangerous rhetoric coming from some, when Joe says it, you wholeheartedly believe him.

Despite its serious story, TIGER KING is tailor-made for the meme-loving world. Though the feud between Joe and Carole takes center stage, there is an array of supporting players who are equally engaging. There are a litany of laugh out loud moments, and countless, viral-worthy quotes unleashed in every single episode.

As was the case with MCMILLIONS, I simply couldn’t get enough of TIGER KING, and the only disappointment I had in the production, was the sad fact that eventually it had to end.

MCMILLIONS- A (Available now on HBO GO/HBO Now)