Everything We Learned From The Tiger King 2 Trailer

Since Season 1 of the eight-part Netflix docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness" ended (and captivated a world in COVID-19-induced hypnosis), titular star Joe Exotic has remained in jail for a 22-year-sentence in Fort Worth, Texas. He was found guilty on 21 counts, including animal abuse and murder-for-hire (in an alleged plot to assassinate rival and Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin) charges, according to the New York Post. Furthermore, Exotic hit two more speed bumps in the big house. Try as his team did, they failed to sway ex-President Donald Trump to grant Exotic a presidential pardon on the twilight of his term, per AP News. Exotic also announced he had prostate cancer, writing in May on Twitter, "My body is tired, I have lost a tremendous amount of weight." 

Nonetheless, there is money to be made from the hit show. As of January, two fictitious adaptations based on "Tiger King's" real-life events were in the works, including an NBC series "Joe Exotic" starring Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin and John Cameron Mitchell as Joe, per Deadline. Additionally, an Amazon series starring Nicolas Cage as Exotic got greenlit, but Variety announced in July the project is no more. 

Given Exotic's situation, most surprising is the five-episode "Tiger King 2" premiering on Netflix on November 17. With Exotic locked up, what could Season 2 have to offer in the way of (expected) drama?

Netflix's "Tiger King 2" trailer, which was uncaged on October 27, begins fittingly with a plea from imprisoned Joe Exotic for his fans to "speak up" on his behalf. As he says via a filmed phone call from jail, plenty of people have gotten wealthy off his zoo empire after his incarceration. Jeff Lowe, who acquired ownership of Exotic's Wynnewood, Oklahoma zoo, is one. "We have more money than God right now," Lowe boasts in the trailer, clearly shot before August 2020 when he forfeited his USDA exhibitors license and shut down the zoo itself, per Fox Business. 

Ownership of the former big cats park, per the outlet, was transferred to Exotic enemy Carole Baskin. The fan-favorite who made "Hello, all you cool cats and kittens" a national catchphrase will have her missing husband Don Lewis' past further dredged up. "He was dealing with some shady characters down in Costa Rica," one individual from Season 2 is seen sharing. "Don liked to play with dangerous stuff," another revealed. "They'll kill you for that."

The trailer also teases a maybe-proposed truce between Exotic and Lowe against Baskin, with the former advising Lowe they needed to set aside "differences," or "we're all gonna die in here." Exotic even said about Lowe that he "will make a deal with the devil" if he had to. That's a lot of juicy material, even with Exotic behind bars, to pack into five episodes!