‘Monsters of God’ Director Eric Goode Breaks Down the Finale Reveal: ‘He Was Like an Alcoholic Running a Liquor Store’ — SkimNews
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- "Monsters of God" is a five-episode HBO docuseries directed by Eric Goode tracing the history of the exotic reptile trade in the United States; it completed its run on September 3
- "Tiger King" paradoxically became a liability for Goode's follow-up project — reptile dealer Tom Crutchfield said he would never have participated in "Monsters of God" had he seen the earlier series first
- The Safdie brothers' involvement traces back to Goode hiring Josh and Benny Safdie to make PSAs for his Turtle Conservancy around 2014; Josh Safdie and Oscar-nominated "Marty Supreme" screenwriter Ronald Bronstein are credited as executive producers
- Ken McLeod, a former US Fish and Wildlife Service officer, kept a critically endangered ploughshare tortoise from Madagascar in his bedroom with his wife for 20 years rather than contributing it to a breeding program — Goode likened it to "a drug enforcement agent having cocaine in his garage"
- Goode frames the series as "a cautionary tale about the extinction crisis," arguing that "some of the very laws that we put in place to save species actually do more harm than good sometimes"
- San Diego Zoo herpetology curator Tom Schultz — who knew international smugglers Anson Wong and Tom Crutchfield and moved reptiles through the zoo — would not sign a release, denying the documentary his perspective despite multiple interviews
Why it matters: Goode explicitly distinguishes "Monsters of God" from the freakshow mode of "Tiger King" — and the Ken McLeod finale reveal is the vehicle for that distinction. McLeod's 20-year private possession of a critically endangered ploughshare tortoise reframes the exotic animal trade from a story about warring personalities into a systemic critique: the enforcers, the dealers, and the curators can occupy the same moral space. For HBO's documentary slate, the piece also settles a real tension around Goode's post-"Tiger King" access, with Crutchfield confirming the earlier series actively deterred participation.
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