‘Industry’ Season Four Review: Let Them Eat Bank [A-]
Is there anything sexier than capital accumulation? Industry has, for three seasons now, been begging its audience to answer this question while simultaneously proving itself to be the most addictive drama on television. The investment banking drama has made a name for itself with a propulsive narrative, unabashed eroticism, and characters with Machiavellian tendencies. The HBO series is about to return for its fourth season and, fortunately for its fans, has only gotten better in the sixteen months since its last episode aired.
It’s been years since the last time we’ve checked in with Industry’s main players. Harper (Myha’la) is now 30, and managing her own fund with the help of Sweetpea (Miriam Petche) and a new trader, Kwabena (Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh). Sweetpea is a highlight of the season, with much more to do, allowing Petche to show off her incredible acting chops. Fans might remember the end of last season, when Harper brought in Rishi (Sagar Radia) under the false pretense of a possible job offer, only to dangle it in front of him for her and Sweetpea’s satisfaction. Rishi’s role in the season is mostly diminished, only appearing as an unfortunate means to an end Harper uses to gather — well, steal — information. After Diana’s murder last season, he’s found himself in difficult situations. Harper’s never been someone to allow the grey areas in morality steer her away from getting what she wants, and that certainly hasn’t changed with age. She’s endlessly fascinating because of her strict refusal to adhere to any specific moral code, but unafraid to be self-righteous when she plants her flag on one side of an argument.
She’s contacted by Jim Dycker (Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton), a journalist for FinDigest, who is looking into Tender, a fintech payment facilitator currently pursuing a shift into a personal banking app. Tender’s CFO, Whitney Halberstram (a peg-worthy Max Minghella, The Handmaid’s Tale), knows the company’s need for rehabilitation and pursues Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harrington) to run it, hopeful for bold ideas that will push the company to the next level. Whitney is helped by executive assistant Haley (Kieran Shipka, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), an enigmatic young woman that Yasmin bonds with. Henry’s been struggling since the collapse of Lumi, specifically with addiction — Yasmin (Marisa Abela) has been covering for him at missed events while he’s at home shooting up. He did a six month stint as a Member of Parliament, an attempt to grasp power after Lumi’s fall. Yas is the partner with control in this marriage, not allowing Henry’s melancholic delusions to dominate their relationship. Perhaps Henry is even slightly scared of his wife, a woman capable of even more than he realized when he made the decision to marry her.
Everyone’s lives have changed, which allows the series to pursue new storylines outside of Pierpoint — ahem, Al-Miraj Pierpoint. As fascinating as the series was inside the walls of the bank, expanding their reach is the best thing series creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay could have done. It’s a natural progression for the characters who have outgrown the weight of bureaucracy Pierpoint put on their shoulders. Moving through the world on a Global scale without the limitations put upon them by their former employer, Harper and Yasmin feel more comfortable in what their lives have become. Let’s be real: Yasmin hated that job and hated almost everyone at that job. It served as a great stepping stone for them, expediting them into what they would evolve into by sheer pressure. Harper luxuriated in it, Yasmin tolerated it. Even when Industry loses characters — Harry Lawtey’s Robert Spearing being the latest — it feels organic and earned, never forcing them beyond their own narrative in the series. The creators have meticulously crafted another set of eight episodes, all provided to critics for review, that defies expectation on what the show can be while holding close to its original roots.
Eric (Ken Leung) is now long retired, having been out of the game until a call from Harper has him questioning that decision. He loves how brazen she is, how confident she’s become in herself, how doubtless in her own decision making she now is. He’s unable to resist becoming part of that world again, especially after hearing an impassioned Harper, so he dives back in without fully understanding what that world has become now and what others are willing to do to win. Watching Eric’s evolutions over the seasons has been painful, as he started at the top — and still has some high highs — but has ultimately become the jilted old man in finance he never wanted to be.
Industry has gotten more precise about its characters with each season, its fourth outing specifically hovering a magnifying glass over Harper and Yasmin. The two have come so far since their first day at Pierpoint those many years ago, evolving into two ruthless women unafraid to take whatever position necessary to gain advancement, most of the time at the detriment of at least one person in their inner circle. There’s a specificity to their friendship, the understanding the two have for one another; they’re always able to find each other’s eye in a crowd. The best moments of the season belong to these two and any time they share the screen together, which always results in the most fantastic scenes the show has to offer. The two find themselves at opposite ends of the ongoing drama, resulting in a cat and mouse game of information sourcing that could lead to devastating effects to one, or both, parties involved. The maturation of their relationship, and of both individuals, is also evident in their costuming, both styled to perfection this season and reflective of the evolution they’ve gone through. They’re both doing their best work of the series, and it’s reflected in how they look as well.
By stepping out of Pierpoint, Industry has only gotten bigger and better. The characters move like pieces of a chess board that also do loads of drugs and invest tons of money into specific positions. Investment banking was never meant to be so thrilling or sexy, but the series does it with ease. There’s more drugs, more sex, and more power than ever before, but the series is able to do it so precisely that it never feels like the writers have lost control of where it’s going. It’s an incredible season of television, and one you’re going to want to go long on.
Grade: A-
Season four of Industry begins streaming weekly on HBO Max January 11.
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