'The Vow' Episode 2 Preview: Knowledge of hidden sex cult prompts Mark Vicente to leave NXIVM with Bonnie Piesse
HBO's latest docuseries 'The Vow' chronicles the rise and fall of Keith Raniere, a savvy businessman who used his charms and wit to entrap many into his cult, NXIVM (pronounced Nex-e-um). Raniere's cult is the subject of the docuseries, which features former members such as actresses Sarah Edmondson and Bonnie Piesse, and filmmaker Mark Vicente, who detail their experiences becoming part of NXIVM and leaving the cult.
In 2019, Raniere was convicted of multiple federal crimes such as sex trafficking of children, conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor, all related to a secret society within NXIVM. Prior to his conviction, details began to emerge how Raniere and his inner circle would recruit women to be his sex slaves, with Raniere often making some women go on diets -- with Raniere remarking to Vicente that he was trying to "break" Allison Mack when Vicente approached Raniere about Mack's emaciated appearance, according to a report by The Rolling Stone.
NXIVM was founded by Raniere and Nancy Salzman, a nurse and trained practitioner of hypnotism and neuro-linguistic programming, on the basis of offering self-help programs known as the "Executive Success Programs," with Raniere taking the title Vanguard and Salzman taking the title, Prefect. Over the years, NXIVM began to increase in popularity and began to see more involvement of celebrities.
The first episode of HBO's groundbreaking miniseries sees Edmonson and Piesse describe their experiences joining NXIVM and becoming members of it, and shows what kind of a person Raniere portrayed himself to be and why so many men and women were enamored by him.
It was Piesse, who is married to Vicente, who first started noticing the cracks and felt that things were not entirely alright. She noticed that certain aspects of NXIVM and Raniere were not as empowering as they made it out to be and she speaks to Vicente. Vicente, however, was an ardent supporter of Raniere, often shadowing him and filming him -- footage of which shows Vicente looking on with admiration as he asks Raniere questions -- often philosophical. When Piesse voiced her concerns, Vicente was not immediately convinced. We also learned that Raniere had integrated himself into Piesse and Vicente's marriage -- he even wrote their vows for them.
The upcoming episode, 'Viscera', will detail Piesse's ordeal in leaving NXIVM and the backlash that followed, especially from Raniere. The episode will feature snippets of conversations between Piesse and Raniere that showed the amount of coercion the latter was willing to do, perhaps to shame Piesse into staying. Vicente is still quite a blind follower of Raniere's and it is not until he hears another woman's perspective -- a woman who was part of DOS -- "Dominant Over Submissive" in Latin -- that Vicente starts to realize there were problems deeply rooted in the organization.
The second episode will be a must-watch. While minor details of DOS aka the sex cult are available through court proceedings and coverage, the episode delves into where some members finally realized how problematic Raniere really was. The episode lays the foundations for the wider reveal about DOS that is set to come in future episodes.
'The Vow' airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 10/9c.
