Uncover: "Allison after NXIVM"

S35 E1: It Started in Vancouver (CBC, November 10, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this first episode of the new Uncover season, "Allison after NXIVM," host Natalie Robomed sits down with the former Smallville actress Allison Mack following her release from prison. For the first time, Mack speaks candidly about her childhood, acting career, abusive relationships, and her entry into the notorious NXIVM cult, led by Keith Raniere. Through probing interviews and first-hand narration, the show examines the gray zones of influence, responsibility, trauma, and accountability that define Mack's journey from TV stardom into cult leadership, and explores the roots of her involvement with NXIVM.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Allison’s Sentencing and Immediate Aftermath

(00:41–07:10)

• The episode opens with a vivid recounting of Mack’s sentencing day in NYC. The pressure and international attention she faced are palpable—paparazzi crowding around, her family flanking her for support.
• Allison describes relying on calming hymns sung by friends to ground her ahead of court.
• She recalls listening to victim impact statements, including a particularly scathing letter:

  “I hope you rot in a cell for a long time. While you’re sitting at home in your comfortable house putting on lipstick, you have to know you destroyed lives and you’re a monster...”
  —Quoting a victim’s statement (05:20)

• Mack reflects on her guilt and the pain she brought to her family, not seeing herself as innocent:

  “I don’t see myself as innocent, you know...” (05:53)

• The judge’s remarks focus on her callousness, misuse of fame, and her role as an "essential accomplice":

  “I think I did capitalize on that...it was a power tool that I had to get people to do what I wanted.” (06:49) “I think I was very effective in moving Keith’s vision forward.” (06:58)

• Mack is sentenced to three years in federal prison for racketeering and conspiracy, after helping orchestrate the branding and manipulation of women for Raniere.

2. Early Life & Personality: Roots of Vulnerability

(11:55–17:35)

• Raised in an artistic household in Long Beach, CA, after moving from Germany. Her father was an opera singer, her mother a Montessori teacher.
• Describes herself as the attention-seeking, people-pleasing "center of attention," established through early immersion in acting:

  “From birth, I want you to be happy with me all the time…the whole value of me as a human being was around being an actor and being a good actor.” (13:52, 14:21)

• Discusses competition with other girls—a dynamic that would recur later:

  “That’s automatically what you do when you walk into an audition room...then there’s this weird, like you’re pitted against each other and you’re competing with each other constantly.” (14:50)

• Experiences jealousy and complicated emotions after her younger sister is born, conflicting with her "good girl" image.

3. Early Adulthood, Fame, and First Abusive Relationship

(16:06–23:05)

• By 16, Mack is living in LA, acting in TV, and struggling with teenage independence and too much freedom.
• Smallville brings sudden wealth; she earns $40k/week at age 19, but has little understanding or control over her finances.
• Her first serious romantic relationship is with a "rocker" boyfriend who is emotionally and eventually physically abusive. He pressures her into getting his initial tattooed on her chest:

  “He would say, ‘If you loved me, you would get the same thing…’ To try and make it so that he didn’t hurt himself again, I got tattooed on my chest...” (20:00)

• Describes how the trauma bled into her work:

  “I hung up the phone and I walked onto set… tears are streaming down my face… And the cameraman looked at me and said, ‘Are you okay?’” (21:24)

• Takes three years to escape the relationship.

4. Friendship with Kristin Kreuk & Discovery of NXIVM

(24:03–26:37)

• Forms a close friendship with Smallville co-star Kristin Kreuk, sharing exotic travels and a shared sense of “ennui” or emptiness despite external success.

  “We both had beautiful boyfriends and all the things. And yet both of us were talking about this weird ennui that we felt…” (24:45)

• Both become curious about an actor-oriented "life coaching" program—NXIVM—circulating in Vancouver's creative scene.

  “It’s the Science of Joy. It’s the most amazing thing…you’ve gotta do this.” (25:57; Allison recounting how NXIVM was pitched)

5. First NXIVM Weekend and the Lure of Belonging

(26:37–30:52)

• Mack attends her first course in Vancouver, taught by Nancy Salzman—a charismatic figure focused on self-honesty, radical accountability, and “explorations of meaning (EMs)."

  “We were learning about what’s the purpose of mankind? … how does that relate to gender differences and relationships?” (27:55)

• Experiences a profound sense of community and healing in the group EM session.
• Nancy Salzman offers a trip to Albany on Claire Bronfman’s private jet to meet Keith Raniere:

  “I got nothing to do for the next couple days... Yeah, I want to go.” (29:48)

• The experience is glamorous—private jets, VIPs, spiritual seekers—an intoxicating initiation into the inner circle.

6. First Meeting with Keith Raniere

(31:53–37:47)

• Describes the cult’s odd rituals: midnight volleyball with Raniere at the center, everyone eager for his attention.
• Raniere deliberately puts Mack on edge by asking if she has a question for him, critiquing her for simply "standing on the sidelines and smiling."

  Keith: “Oh, is that how you do life?” (34:13)

• Mack, eager to please and desperate for approval, returns at 3am to re-engage and finally asks Keith: “What is art?”

  “Art itself is nothing, but what you make of art is everything. So essentially, art is a reflection of whoever you are and whatever you are inside.” (36:36)

• This pseudo-profound philosophical answer leaves Mack awestruck:

  “The idea that what I was seeing outside that I thought was so beautiful was a reflection of me inside was like—blew my mind.” (37:08)

• Her search for meaning and belonging is activated, making her susceptible to NXIVM’s escalating demands.

7. Foreshadowing Responsibility & Cult Trauma

(38:59–41:43)

• Allison’s journey into NXIVM is linked back to earlier vulnerabilities—her need for acceptance, history of abuse, competition, and poor boundaries.
• The show confronts her involvement in branding ceremonies and sexual coercion:

  “These women are getting the initials of Alison’s— you could say boyfriend, Keith Raniere—inscribed on them…what they’re getting is not a tattoo, of course. It’s something much, much worse. A brand burned into the delicate skin above the hip bone with a cauterizing iron.” (39:52–39:58)

• The brutality is evident:

  “How do you feel about having been involved in bringing sexual trauma to other people?”
  “I mean, I don’t even know how to answer that question.” (41:35–41:43)

• The episode ends with Mack facing the inescapability of her actions and the damage caused to others.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “We don’t dwell on what bad things could happen. We just believe that it’s gonna be okay.” —Allison Mack on her family’s attitude before her sentencing (01:24)
• “I had like 15 people sitting behind me in my sentencing hearing to support me… Professors… my pastor, the church I was going to.” (04:04)
• “My whole value as a human being was around being an actor… and then I also conflated love with acting and being good.” (14:21)
• “That’s automatically what you do… you look around at all the girls… then there’s this weird, like you’re pitted against each other…” (14:50)
• “If you loved me, you would get the same thing… To try and make it so that he didn’t hurt himself again, I got tattooed on my chest…” (20:00)
• “We both had beautiful boyfriends and all the things… but we both had this weird ennui…” (24:45)
• “Is that how you do life?” —Keith Raniere challenging Alison at their first meeting (34:13)
• “Art itself is nothing, but what you make of art is everything.” —Keith Raniere to Allison Mack (36:36)
• “I don’t see myself as innocent, you know…” —Allison Mack reflecting on courtroom statements (05:53)
• “How do you feel about having been involved in bringing sexual trauma to other people?” —Natalie Robomed (41:35)
  “I mean, I don’t even know how to answer that question.” —Allison Mack (41:43)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Sentencing Day Recap / Victim Impact: 00:41–07:10
• Childhood and Early Acting: 11:55–14:50
• Teen Fame & Abusive Boyfriend: 16:06–23:05
• Smallville Era / Kristin Kreuk Friendship: 24:03–26:37
• First NXIVM Weekend / Meeting Nancy Salzman: 26:37–30:52
• Private Jet to Albany / Meeting Keith: 30:52–37:47
• Foreshadowing Mack’s Responsibility: 38:59–41:43

Tone & Style

The episode is immersive, introspective, and often raw—balancing reporting with personal testimony. Mack's narration is confessional, self-searching, occasionally defensive but increasingly candid. The hosts and producers maintain a probing but empathetic style, intent on pushing past easy judgments to illuminate how bright, driven people can lose themselves in cultic systems.

Closing Reflection

"It Started in Vancouver" is both a personal and societal excavation—setting the stage for an unflinching look at how NXIVM ensnared not just Allison Mack, but a generation searching for purpose and belonging. The episode ends with Mack at a crossroads: newly released, publicly shamed, and forced to reckon with complicity in traumatic crimes. The season promises a deeper dive into the ambiguities of culpability, manipulation, and possible redemption.