My Review of Industry - Season 4 (2026, HBO/BBC)

 

Written by Mickey Down And Konrad Kay And Joseph Charlton

Directed by Mickey Down And Konrad Kay And Michelle Savill And Luke Snellin

Whitney (to Henry): "Everybody wants you. You're worth everything. Everybody wants you."

I started this show as the fourth season was making the rounds on HBO and BBC respectively and managed to catch up with the current season as it was heading into it's final three episodes. I really have become a convert in such a short space of time.

With Pierpoint no more and the sexiness that was Harry Lawtey's Robert Spearing absent, it was really a case of Yasmin and Harper being the last two standing. Both women were in separate places at the start of the season and were further pulled apart by the end of the season.

In fact both women really went in very different directions. With Yasmin, her marriage to Henry really did both her and Henry no favours. In fact I was rooting for them to divorce and was more than happy when the finale granted my wish. However where Yasmin ended up, post divorce just showed how far she's fallen as a person.

Yasmin and Henry getting into bed with Tender and it's CFO Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella) certainly compromised their morality. There's a Talented Mr. Ripley vibe between Henry and Whitney that nearly crossed into some homoerotic tension. As a villain, Whitney's brilliant to watch and there's something delightful in seeing Henry getting the better of him by the finale.

As for Harper, this season might have been her at her least scheming and most sympathetic. She's largely working with Sweetpea and newcomer, Kwabena Bannerman (Toheeb Jimoh) and even formed a partnership with Eric before things went spectacularly bad for the latter. Was that a permanent exit for the character? I'm not so sure.

For this season, Harper was on the right side. She knew something was up with Tender and actively made the right moves in order to try and expose Whitney. She even tried to pull Yasmin back from the dark path the latter was heading towards. I don't think I've ever been more Team Harper than I was with this season.

- Episode titles were PayPal of Bukkake, The Commander and the Grey Lady, Habseligkeiten, 1000 Yoots, 1 Marilyn, Eyes Without A Face, Dear Henry, Points Of Emphasis and Both, And.

- Lot of new characters this season including escort Hayley Clay (Kiernan Shipka), journalist James Dycker (Charlie Heaton), Labour Minister Jennifer Bevan (Amy James-Kelly). Those three got a lot of screen time. Claire Forlani and Kal Penn also popped up this season.

- Rishi really went off the deep end in his grief and addiction, which led to a mid season exit for the character.

- Henry turned forty in the second episode, had visions of his dead father (Jack Farthing) and admitted that he's slept with men in boarding school.

- HBO and BBC confirmed that the fifth season will be it's last one.

- Chronology: Mostly set in 2025 and 2026 and mainly in London though the fifth episode was set in Ghana.

I really have gotten into this show in such a short space of time and this fourth season made for some captivating television. The dynamics between Henry/Whitney and Harper/Yasmin were the best thing and there's timely commentary on various issues to boot. Honestly, this show has gotten better every season. I can't wait to see how it'll end.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Industry - Season 3 (2024, HBO/BBC1)

 

Written by Mickey Down And Konrad Kay And Joseph Charlton

Directed by Isabella Eklöf And Zoé Wittock And Mickey Down And Konrad Kay

Eric/Robert (in unison): "I am a man and I am relentless."

There are a few things I have to got to say about this third season. First of all, it's my favourite season of the show so far and secondly, it felt like it was being primed as a final season for the show. The last episode really did work as a potential series finale.

Of course, this season didn't end the show because the fourth season has been airing but had things been different, this would've been a glorious ending for the show. The stakes felt higher and the writing felt more elevated than it had already been. Not to mention so many dynamics shifted.

For example, Harper Stern was no longer working at Pierpoint. Instead she had moved on to working at FutureDawn. It didn't take Harper long to play partners Anna Gearing (Elena Saurel) and Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg) off each other. Harper was on a roll this season with her bullshit as the likes of Eric, Yasmin and Rishi all got caught in her crossfire. This led to one of the best fight scenes between Harper and Yasmin.

Speaking of Yasmin, how the hell did Marisa Abela not get an Emmy nomination for this season alone? It's easily her best work as Yasmin went through a very public fallout of her father's sex crimes coming to light. On top of that, the season largely teased the idea that she might have murdered him before flashbacks revealed a far murkier answer to that particular question.

Of course this season also addressed the dynamic between her and Robert as both of them got involved with Lumi CEO (a green energy company) Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington). The latter's a spoiled manchild that treated Robert like a dogsbody before eventually getting engaged to Yasmin. It's not a relationship that's really built on love by the looks of it.

By the end of this season, not only are both Robert and Yasmin out of Pierpoint but the former also left the country for his own opportunities in California. Pierpoint itself was also taken out of the equation with Eric being well and truly screwed over. It definitely felt like the end of an era here, adding to my earlier sentiment that this season felt like a final season to me.

As for Rishi, talk about a character journey. Sagar Radia was another actor who I'm shocked didn't get Emmy nominated. There's a whole episode dedicated to Rishi's gambling addiction and it's one of the best episodes of television that I've ever seen. It also came to a devastating head in the finale that made me actively dread where thecshow will go with the character next season.

- Episode titles were Il Mattino ha L'Oro in Bocca, Smoke And Mirrors, It, White Mischief, Company Man, Nikki Beach, or: So Many Ways to Lose, Useful Idiot and Infinite Largesse.

- Eric fired Kenny at the start of the season. Kenny came back with Daria and Jackie at the behest of Harper making her own moves against Eric.

- Yasmin was implied to be abused by her father as a child. Her lawyer, Denise (Fiona Button) was the sister of her former boyfriend, Seb.

- Nicole died at the start of the season and Robert was traumatised by her death. We saw Robert on a drug trip in the second half of the season.

- Other prominent characters this season included Sweetpea Golighty (Miriam Petche), James Ashford (Tom Stourton), Viscount Alexander Norton (Andrew Havill), Ali El Mansour (Fady Elsayed), Vinay Sarkar (Asim Chaudhry) and Tom Wolsey (Harry Hadden-Paton) to name a few.

- Chronology: Some time since the events of the second season. Rishi's episode was set during Christmas.

I absolutely love this season. If the show had ended with this one, it would've been one hell of a note to have ended the show. I'm glad it hasn't ended though because I've really gotten into it over these last few weeks. This show really proves that when a show can be allowed to grow its audience, it can truly deliver.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Industry - Season 2 (2022, HBO/BBC1)

 

Written by Mickey Down And Konrad Kay And Matthew Barry And Zara Meerza And Joseph Charlton

Directed by Birgitte Stærmose And Isabella Eklöf And Caleb Femi 

Eric: "People are just knots of fear. We loosen them and we win."

Yup, I'm still flying through this show in order to catch up and this second season once again brought back Harper, Yasmin, Robert and Gus, albeit all four of them feel a tad more disconnected from one another.

In fact, this second season removed Gus from Pierpoint altogether, having him working in a different area altogether. However the presence of main Pierpoint client, Jesse Bloom (Jay Duplass) did manage to keep Gus still connected, especially when the latter hooked up with Bloom's son, Leo (Sonny Poon Tip).

Of course, it's Jesse's presence that was more prominent for Harper. She was the one who got Jesse into business with Pierpoint but she was also the one who somewhat struggled to maintained his business. Jesse turned out to be a rather slightly and volatile client.

Harper this season still had the ability to completely fuck people over. This extended to Eric but also Rishi. The latter bubbled along in the background in the first season but here he was given a more expanded role. He's actually a great foil to Harper at times while pretty boy, Daniel Van Deventer (Alex Alomar Akpobome) was a near love interest for Harper.

As for Yasmin, I did find this season gave her some interesting things to do. The relationship with her father, Charles (Adam Levy) felt like it was going to mend before being completely shattered. There's a brief "friends with benefits" dynamic between Yasmin and Pierpoint Private Wealth Manager, Celeste Pacquet (Katrine De Candole) but even that ended badly as well for her.

Last but not least, there was Robert's arc. He lost his mentor, tried to be sober, tried to mentor Venetia Berens (Indy Lewis) and also worked through his mommy issues with Nicole. It's not as strong as the first season and I did miss the interactions between him, Harper, Yasmin and Gus as the four interacted less with each other.

- Episode titles were Daddy, The Great Squid, The Fool, There Are Some Women ...., Kitchen Season, Short To The Point Of Pain, Lone Wolf And Cub and Jerusalem.

- Robert likened his mother to a tyrant and briefly reunited with his father during Christmas. He has a brother too.

- We met Harper's brother, who resented her and Yasmin learned that she had a half sister because her father got her former nanny pregnant.

- Rishi was engaged but despite his overtime dislike for Harper, he nearly copped off with her. Kenny was also trying to be a nicer person.

- Jackie got to spend time with Harper and Yasmin for an episode. Daria returned and got her own back at Eric and Harper. Venetia also accused Nicole of sexual assault.

- Chronology: COVID-19 factored into this season. Harper, Yasmin and Robert were in their third year.

While a little lagging compared to the first season, I am loving this show in general. Most of the new characters worked well enough and once again, the show really did show the cutthroat world of Pierpoint succinctly.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Industry - Season 1 (2020, HBO/BBC1)

 

Written by Mickey Down And Konrad Kay And Sam H. Freeman And Kate Verghese

Directed by Lena Dunham And Tinge Krishnan And Ed Lilly And Mary Nighy

Harper: "I only want to ever be judged on the strength of my abilities."

Eric: "And paid for it."

It should go without saying that I've been late to this party and for that, I do apologise. As much as I wished I had caught onto this show sooner, I've finally decided to watch it from the start and I now see why so many have gravitated towards it so much.

Set in the cooperate world of investment banking, this show introduced five new entry level workers - Harper Stern (Myha'la Herrold), Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), Gus Sackey (David Jonsson), Hari Dhar (Nabhaan Rizwan) and Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey) into the world of Pierpoint & Co abd needless to say, it's a tough world to be a part of.

Yes, the trading/banking industry has been portrayed as a ruthless and mercenary one and within the first episode, Hari ended up working himself to death as a result of the environment being such a pressure cooker. I mean, it's a really brutal world as the four remaining protagonists found out.

This first season alone largely focused on Harper, Yasmin and Robert with Gus getting less screentime than the other three. For Gus, he's got a good friendship with Robert, the fallout of Hari's death and a relationship with a closeted research analyst named Theo Tuck (Will Tudor). I would've liked more screen time with Gus.

That's not to say that Harper, Yasmin and Robert because they are and it's not surprising that those characters and respective actors have become the face of the show. There's a lovely triangle of sorts with the three of them throughout the first season that can be as frustrating as it was interesting. Outside of that, there's plenty of tension with the way they navigate themselves professionally.

Harper in particular was shown to be an utterly ruthless character. She ended up being a protégé for Eric Tao (Ken Leung) while occasionally stoking her line manager, Daria Greenock's (Freya Mavor) ire. Then there's also Harper's dynamic with client Nicole Craig (Sarah Parish) and the way Pierpoint often failed to seriously tackle issues such as sexual harassment.

Yasmin and Robert by comparison were a lot less ruthless but also rather determined to prove themselves. Yasmin tolerated abuse from Kenny Kilbane (Conor MacNeill) until she didn't while managing to bring in a new client with mixed results. As for Robert, there's a nice subplot with his manager, Clement Cowan (Derek Riddell) as well as hints of him having a less privileged background compared to the rest of his peers.

- Episode titles were Induction, Quiet And Nice, Notting Hill, Sesh, Learned Behaviour, Nutcracker, Pre-Crisis Activity and Reduction In Force.

- While the show wasn't shy in sex scenes and overall nudity, one of the most shocking scenes was Robert allowing Usman Abboud (Amir El-Masry) to snort cocaine off a certain area during the office Christmas party.

- There's a few hints of Robert being bisexual but mostly he spent the season trying to get closer to Yasmin. A threesome with Harper almost happened in the penultimate episode.

- There's some supporting performances from Priyanga Burford (Sara), Ben Lloyd-Hughes (Greg), Mark Dexter (Hilary), Andrew Buchan (Felim) and Caoilfhionn Dunne (Jackie) to name but a few.

- Standout music: Nathan Micay's score was nice, there's certain Christmas songs used well in the sixth episode and the title sequence was short but I like it.

- Chronology: The first season seemed to span over several months before our main characters got officially hired at Pierpoint.

Better late than never I guess. This was a brilliant debut season, throwing both the audience and these characters into the cutthroat world of finance. The characters are flawed, believable and engrossing to watch.

Rating: 8 out of 10