Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
Since its debut on HBO in 2020, Industry has been a well-kept secret, or at least one of the more unheralded drama shows on HBO and Max.
The London-set series, created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, is about employees at an investment bank in London called Pierpoint. It hasn’t exactly captured the zeitgeist the way Game of Thrones, Succession, or Euphoria has.
However, this season, it’s in HBO’s coveted Sunday night spot, which could be a boon for this deserving show. We like to think that streaming changes that tide, but airing on HBO on Sunday nights is a boost of confidence from the network that will sit well with fans.
(Courtesy of HBO )
But since the show launched, the reviews have been mostly positive, and word of mouth has been good.
Some cast members, including Myha’la Herrold and Marisa Abela, have been catapulted into prominent movie roles.
Herrold — sometimes credited only by her first name — starred in Bodies Bodies Bodies, while Abela played Amy Winehouse in the recent Back to Black biopic.
Three Seasons in Five Years
Also, like many shows, in the era of the pandemic and then the strikes, Industry has been slow to produce new seasons, with two years between the first and second seasons and another two before the arrival of the third.
(Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
The show’s second season ended with many what appeared to be disruptions to its status quo.
Harper (Herrold) was fired after the company discovered she lied about her college degree.
Yasmin (Abela) was cut off by her wealthy, philandering father.
Shortly after his wedding, Rishi (Sagar Radia) was surprisingly not fired.
The new season, therefore, is more spread out, showing us more of the London financial world.
Bullish on Industry
(Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
But Industry’s new season keeps up the quality while taking a bit of a leap forward.
It addresses many intriguing real-world questions: Are green-energy entrepreneurs on the level? What about ESG investing? Are financial research analysts trustworthy or conflicted?
Do people who complain about “woke investing” have a point, or are they just boorish racists? And has this particular world gotten any more welcoming for women?
All these and more come up in the new season. And these things are naturally woven into the plot.
It also, much like its fellow financial prestige series Billions always did, threads the needle of appealing both to people who are in the finance world and those who believe that the world is the root of all evil on Earth.
“Randolph and Mortimer Pierpoint”
(Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
And while Industry isn’t exactly a show known for its humor, there are occasional laughs.
This includes at least two direct references to the best comedy ever made about the financial world, 1983’s Trading Places.
The one thing the main Industry characters have in common is that they all seem to be cracking up.
(Light spoilers follow for the third season of Industry, of which I’ve watched four of the eight episodes.)
You Know Nothing, Henry Munk
Yasmin is depressed and angry following her father’s further betrayals.
Eric (Ken Leung), freshly divorced, is going through a major midlife crisis.
(Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
Pierpoint is shepherding an initial public offering by a clean energy company (led by Henry Munk, played by Jon Snow himself, Kit Harington, who inherits the guest star slot held in Season 2 by Jay Duplass.)
Harper, meanwhile, has gone to work for a rival financial company, where her boss is Petra (Sarah Goldberg, also a veteran of a different HBO show, Barry.)
Another new character is the wonderfully named Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche). She’s an influencer who works on the trading floor.
During its run, Mad Men always had mergers and takeovers that brought previous co-workers together in different configurations, which felt very similar.
In the Prestige TV Tradition
And that isn’t the only part of the new season that recalls other prestige TV shows. With all the characters together at a fancy retreat, the third episode feels like something out of Succession.
(Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
The fourth episode, meanwhile, focuses on Rishi and the high-wire act in one particular trading position in a way that feels like a direct homage to the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.
It’s even more tense than the norm for this very tense show.
He also gets to rail against Britain’s Tories, a party led until recently by another guy named Rishi.
A Desk Full of Great Performances
The acting remains strong across the board, led by Marisa Abela’s turn as Yasmin. This actress is very clearly a star, even if that Amy Winehouse movie was a bit of a cursed project.
Harry Lawtey plays Robert, who continues to be the show’s most heartbreaking character, a man of the working class who feels out of place in the posh financial world.
(Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
Ken Leung, long a talented character actor, has made the most of his chance at a meaty role, especially now that his character is spiraling.
And Kit Harington makes the most of a chance to play a character about 160 degrees away from Jon Snow. There’s a great deal more cursing in this performance, for one thing.
Still a Well-Kept Secret
If you haven’t watched Industry until now, there are only 16 episodes from the first two seasons, so catching up isn’t all that daunting.
The new season debuts on August 11 on HBO and streaming on Max.
The remaining seven episodes will air each Sunday through the end of September.
The best news is that we’ll be reviewing the whole season as it airs, so please join us weekly for enlightening discussions!
