The bizarre and salacious nature of “The Vow, ” with its intensely detailed consider the Nxivm cult, produced the docuseries an understandable sensation, so much so that HBO returned for more. While “The Vow Part Two” gives viewers the front-row seat of the federal trial towards founder Keith Raniere , it’s a more fragmented exercise that feels unduly stretched more than six parts.
Just like the original 2020 production , this one draws upon a treasure trove of audio and video material shot by Nxivm members who fastidiously documented its internal workings, even when the particular leaders were counseling them not to discuss information outside the area. Despite Nxivm’s obsession with loyalty, it is a good reminder that will what happens in Vegas seldom stays there.
This second model also features not only extensive access to those people previously interviewed which broke free of Raniere’s influence but additional key figures, such as Nxivm co-founder Nancy Salzman, who offers considerable insight into the way Raniere was able to manipulate those involved. That will extends to his inner circle, among them “Smallville” co-star Allison Mack , who pressured the girl “slaves” to have intercourse with him.
“Allison is a victim who was sent out to do something which she believed has been good because she believed Keith had been good, ” Salzman explains. “And that is how he achieved it. ”
The test gets covered through all sides, along with access to both Raniere’s defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, and prosecutor Moira Penza, in addition to third-party observers their best York Post media reporter Emily Saul. When lacking video, movie director Jehane Noujaim uses animation to help illustrate those segments, which usually doesn’t feel out of place based on the surreal character of what happened.
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You will find, again, stunning and chilling moments, including text messages in which Raniere insists that he requirements “a vow associated with absolute obedience. ” When a female member expresses reluctance in regards to the practice of personalisation herself, as many inside the group did, he texts back, “Don’t you want to burn for me personally? ”
A sense of queasiness also surrounds the particular interviews with individuals members who nevertheless profess their fealty to Raniere, conjuring alibis for their actions and Nxivm’s practice of leveraging “collateral” to apply dominance over the adherents. That checklist includes Nicki Clyne, who co-starred within “Battlestar Galactica, ” adding to the story’s already Hollywood-heavy element.
Nevertheless, “The Promise Part Two” might have been better off dedicating a couple episodes particularly to the trial plus concluding with the verdicts; instead, the later episodes detour directly into fresh material about Raniere’s manipulation associated with two families, before a protracted 90-minute finale that, post-trial, shifts to those nevertheless supporting their incarcerated leader, unwilling – or unable – to let go of the particular misguided sense associated with community Nxivm offered them.
Warts and all, the totality associated with “The Vow, ” including the earlier shows, makes for fairly envigorating viewing. Media protection couldn’t get enough of the “sex cult” angle, as Agnifilo suggests, but that shouldn’t obscure the cautionary tale about how exactly Raniere tapped in to insecurities, inspiring the kind of loyalty and complicity from followers that can make criminality difficult to prove.
As a TV show, though, “The Vow Part Two” delivers a narrower training, one that Nxivm’s founders would have been well advised to pay attention to as well: Recognizing when to quit before the wall space on your hollow act come tumbling lower.
“The Vow Part Two” premieres October 17 at 9 l. m. ET upon HBO, which, like CNN, is a device of Warner Bros. Discovery.