HBO’s ‘The Vow’ season 2: What else will it cover about NXIVM?

The season finale of HBO’s The Vow dropped last night, covering Keith Raniere’s flight from authorities & arrest in Mexico. The docuseries shines light on NXIVM and aims to show, not tell the viewer, how intelligent, high profile upstanding members of society can fall for a cult. 

The first season of The Vow covers NXIVM’s fall from grace, as former members expose DOS, a sex cult within its walls that engages in branding, sex trafficking, and extortion. Through the episodes, viewers go from seeing NXIVM as a goofy but “harmless” self-help group (as members saw it) to a tyrannical, extortion scam where leader Keith Raniere controlled everything. 

Due to the docuseries’ popularity, and there being more to the story, The Vow was greenlit for a second season. Here’s what we know so far. 

What The Vow season 2 will cover

The Vow season 1 ends with the arrest of Keith Raniere in Mexico in 2018. Season 2 will follow Raniere’s federal trial in Brooklyn, where he was convicted of all seven counts he was charged with, including sex trafficking and racketeering. He’s still in the MDC in Brooklyn awaiting sentencing, where he could receive up to life in prison. He will be sentenced October 27th. 

Via People Magazine, The Vow season 2 will narrate opposing sides of Raniere’s trial. Season 2 will follow the defectors through the trial, including season 1 faces like actresses Bonnie Piesse & Sarah Edmonson and filmmaker Mark Vicente. However, People Magazine revealed they will also follow NXIVM leaders & supporters. 

Will we see Allison Mack?

Smallville actress Allison Mack was one of the founders of DOS, the secret sisterhood that was a sex cult. Allison Mack was a “grandmaster” in DOS, taking on slaves who then took on slaves of their own in a sex trafficking pyramid scheme. Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering in 2019 and is still awaiting sentencing. 

Allison Mack has been keeping a low profile since her arrest in 2018. She’s been taking classes online dealing with subjects like sexual trauma. Although this could be proof Mack’s turning over a new leaf, students were understandably uncomfortable with her presence in an intimate class addressing sexual violence. 

In The Vow season 1, Allison Mack appears in old NXIVM footage, but is never interviewed in the docuseries directly. However, it’s possible she could appear in Season 2 and we could gain more information about her turn (or continued support) of NXIVM. 

NXIVM supporters

Despite the evidence against NXIVM, Keith Raniere supporters remain, and could appear in The Vow season 2. Five Raniere supporters, including Battlestar Galactica actress Nicki Clyne and Michele Hatchette went on CBS to make a case for NXIVM. Marc Elliot, a NXIVM supporter who credits Raniere for curing his Tourette’s, also defends Raniere. 

NXIVM’s supporters have been dancing outside Keith Raniere’s cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn weekly. Calling themselves “We Are As You”, or “The Forgotten Ones”, they claim to dance to change the U.S. legal system. However, the group was formed for NXIVM members to support Keith Raniere. Season 2 could take a closer look at the dancers. 

Of course, Raniere’s defense team will also be featured in Season 2, as People Magazine describes the second season as “opposing views on justice” between federal prosecutors and Raniere’s defense team. Even if Raniere’s legal team doesn’t appear, the Vow season 2 could delve into their sentencing memorandum – they composed over eighty pages defending Raniere & NXIVM. 

India Oxenberg’s story

The Vow season 1 features Catherine Oxenberg, Dynasty actress and mother of former NXIVM member, India Oxenberg. Although India never appeared on camera, Catherine’s struggle to get India to leave was a major plot in season 1, and texts between mother & daughter were featured in The Vow. Season 2 could delve more into India’s escape and healing from her time in NXIVM. 

To get her daughter back when Raniere was arrested, Catherine Oxenberg banished the film crew so her daughter wouldn’t feel scared to come back. Catherine later revealed India came back home after Raniere’s arrest. Catherine welcomed her daughter back with open arms, saying she “had a whole recovery team ready for her as soon as she took the first steps forward.” 

India spent the next two years in therapy to heal and deprogram herself from NXIVM. Now, India Oxenberg is telling her side of the story in a new Starz documentary, Seduced: Inside The Nxivm Cult, and an exclusive look from People Magazine. As for why she’s speaking up now, India told People. “I knew too much about what happened, and I had a moral obligation to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else.”