HBO has released a trailer for the second installment of their popular docuseries,The Vow. The network has also announced that the series will return on October 17, with new episodes airing on subsequent Mondays. The upcoming six-part episode series will cover the federal trial against NXIVM leader Keith Raniere while also providing a look at his closest ties. Cult co-founder Nancy Salzman, who did not appear in the original series, is interviewed for the second installment.
The Vow Part Twois directed by Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, and follows “the legal and emotional journeys of the group’s founders, supporters and defectors as new evidence and stunning revelations come to light, while federal prosecutors and defense attorneys battle with opposing views of justice in a case caught in the national spotlight.”
The Vow Part Twois executive produced by Amer, Noujaim, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Nina Fialkow, Lyn Davis Lear and Mike Lerner and HBO’s Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Sara Rodriguez. Rosadel Varela serves as the series producer, with Mona Eldaief, Dan Hacker, Richard Hankin, John Miller-Monzon, and Claire Reade also producing. The show is co-produced by Marina Nieto Ritger and Hana Wuerker.
The Vow’s first installmentaired in 2020, focused on the cult and Rainier and featured interviews with former members who described the abuse they endured and the cult’s rituals. It was renewed for a second installment in October 2020. The original series gained critical acclaim, finding itself praised by multiple publications, includingThe Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Entertainment Weekly.
The NXIVM Cult
NXIVM was started in 1998 as a multi-level marketing company that offered seminars for professionals in pursuit of better and happier lives. A 2017New York Times articledetailed a secret group within the organization where female members were called slaves, physically abused and branded with the initials of Raniere and Allison Mack, a high-ranking member of NXIVM. According to the report, they were also forced to provide damaging details or pictures about themselves that could be used as collateral should they disclose details.
The group, which has been labeled a sex cult, amassed attention due to celebrity members Allison Mack (Smallville) and Bonnie Piesse (Star Wars: Episode II). Mack, who appeared onSmallvilleas Chloe Sullivan for ten years, wassentenced to prisonafter pleading guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges.
Following his 2019 conviction for racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, identity theft and production and possession of child pornography, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years of imprisonment in October 2020.
Related:Conversations With a Killer Returns to Netflix, Releasing Unheard Interviews With Jeffrey Dahmer
