“Joe vs. Carole” is a black crime drama series that revolves primarily around the feud between Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (née Schreibvogel) or Joe Exotic (John Cameron Mitchell) and Carole Baskin (Kate McKinnon). It explores their respective personalities, lives and experiences that made them who they are.
These two were moderately well-known people in their respective fields, but after the release of the Netflix documentary “Tiger King”, their fame skyrocketed. “Joe vs. Carole” offers a more candid and less sensational version of the story. If you’re wondering how true that is, here’s what you need to know.
How much of Joe versus Carole is true?
The “Joe vs. Carole” disclaimer reads, “Although this program is based on actual events, portions of it have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes only and are not intended to reflect any person or a real entity.” This sums up “Joe vs. Carole’s” approach to the story of these remarkable, larger-than-life people. Etan Frankel, the series creator, said in an interview that he wanted to explore these characters in a unique way and praised Mitchell and McKinnon for completely transforming into their characters.
“It’s a fun, rich journey into the history of people who live very extreme lives,” he said. “When I took on this project a year and a half ago, I found Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin utterly fascinating, and this crazy story about two big cat lovers quickly became an important story to tell.” “Joe vs. Carole” offers a much more sympathetic portrayal of Carole. Its format allows creators to immerse themselves in the character, highlighting the difficult life she led. This includes his first two marriages, his seemingly endless fights with private zoo owners such as Joe, and the aftermath of the Netflix documentary’s release.
Simultaneously, the series isn’t shy about portraying her various eccentricities and the fact that she runs the Big Cat Rescue as if she were a ruthless CEO, even though a considerable number of workers there volunteer. “Joe vs. Carole” deals with the mysterious disappearance of Carole’s second husband, Don Lewis. However, unlike “Tiger King,” the Peacock series doesn’t speculate too much about Lewis’ fate, choosing to focus on her relationship with her third and current husband, Howard Baskin.
Joe gets more or less the same treatment. As with Carole, her past before the feud is explored through flashback scenes. Her relationship with Brian Rhyne, her first husband, is portrayed with great restraint and sobriety. As in the series, Rhyne died of complications related to AIDS in real life. The show portrays Joe’s relationship with John Finlay, Travis Maldonado and Dillon Passage with equal care. As the series shows, Joe married Finley and Maldonado in a three-way wedding in 2014, but Finley has since said in various interviews that the ceremony was “fake” and a “publicity stunt.”
The description of the conflict between the two main characters is also quite faithful to what happened in real life. Carole won her case against Joe and eventually took possession of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. Meanwhile, in January 2020, Joe was sentenced to 22 years in prison for hiring two people to kill Carole, breaking the Lacey Act and violating the Endangered Species Act. In January 2022, Joe was sentenced to 21 years, which makes the endnote that he should be released in 2036 accurate. Additionally, Joe was diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer.
Is Joe vs. Carole Really Based on the Tiger King Documentary?
No, “Joe vs. Carole” is not based on the “Tiger King” documentary. Instead, it’s based on the second season of Wondery’s “Over My Dead Body” podcast. According to McKinnon, she signed on to the project before the Netflix series was released. While appearing on “The Tonight Show,” McKinnon told Jimmy Fallon that while she never met Carole in person, she rigorously watched the videos the other woman uploaded to her YouTube channel, documenting his entire life.
McKinnon thought these videos helped her understand Carole better. She hoped “Joe vs. Carole” would also give audiences a better understanding of Carole Baskin. “People haven’t really come away with the fullest picture of who she (Carole) is, what she talks about and what she’s been through,” McKinnon said. noted.
Read more: Shows like Tiger King
