It’s hard to predict when (or if) a cult favorite TV series will make the jump to widely adored, must-watch status. But anyone who invested early in HBO’s dazzling and debauched high-stakes finance drama Industry is due big dividends once its upcoming third season premieres. Newcomers to the offices of Pierpoint & Co., meanwhile, will quickly discover why Industry was moved from its original Monday night timeslot to the hallowed Sunday night spot recently vacated by House of the Dragon. It’s a show of confidence matched by a third season that rarely pauses to take a breath amid new alliances, fractured relationships, and ruthless ambition in London’s financial district – and adds a pair of familiar faces to the ensemble, to boot: Sunday-on-HBO MVPs Kit Harington and Sarah Goldberg. This is a world that continues to expand, reflecting the extravagant wealth on display, whether it’s a luxury yacht off the coast of Mallorca, a private jet en route to Switzerland, or a sprawling English estate. As the list of glitzy locations grows, the sky continues to fall in on the protagonists, cutthroat professionals who removed their rose-tinted glasses long ago.
I’m far from the first to note this, but Industry carries an unmistakable whiff of HBO’s last slow-burn critical juggernaut, Succession. Both revolve around figures with elastic ethics and deep pockets. But a similar penchant for unfiltered language, dark humor, daddy (and mommy) issues, and transactional relationships doesn’t make this a carbon copy of the Roy family saga. Instead, this is the story of once-naive graduates who clung to trading-floor jobs in season 1 and have since climbed several rungs up the slippery corporate ladder at renowned investment bank Pierpoint – Harper Stern (Myha’la), Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), and Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey) all bear the scars of flourishing in an environment that rewards cold-blooded behavior. Rather than repeating what’s already working, creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay deliver a fresh, thrilling workplace drama that cranks the exhilaration to new heights in each episode.
As Harper, Yasmin, and Robert have learned by now, Pierpoint is not as robust as the gleaming building it operates from. The rot sets from within, and ruthless maneuvering saw American college dropout Harper ousted at the end of season 2 by her mentor, Eric Tao (Ken Leung). Decades in the financial sector have made Eric a force to be reckoned with, but his midlife crisis creates a complicated symbiosis between him and his subordinates: he wants the approval of Gen Z, while the twenty-somethings crave his validation. Tension in the office stems from flirtations that cross an HR line, inappropriate power dynamics, and an ever-present distinction between the likes of ultra-privileged “nepo hire” Yasmin and working-class Robert. All of this adds to an entertaining, layered confection that constantly pushes its characters forward, letting them grow, succeed, and fail.
Everyone rises and falls, which is part of the appeal of playing catch-up with a show that doesn’t pretend to have a moral high ground. Harper’s shock dismissal leaves a vacuum on the trading floor, with Eric drafting Yasmin into his orbit. Constantly trying to demonstrate she isn’t, to use an apt Britishism, a posh bit of fluff, Yasmin faces a significant challenge that makes her a target of U.K. tabloids, who dub her “The Embezzler Heiress.” Industry doesn’t dumb down its financial jargon, and it doesn’t hold our hands to explain the ins and outs of these scandal rags, either. Even when the plotting veers toward outrageous, details like a recognizable Daily Mail font and catty comments about Boohoo clothing contracts add texture and authenticity to the scripts. New complications in Yasmin’s thorny relationship with her father had my stomach in knots, with Abela selling the mix of loathing, visceral disgust, and tiny flickers of fond memories.
Unsurprising for a show about the financial sector, money is at the center of everything on Industry. But it’s much deeper than cash-poor and filthy-rich: Yasmin could quickly become a caricature of toxic privilege, but twists and turns ensure she’s more than a paper-thin archetype. For starters, her on-again-off-again friendship with Harper is more alluring than any romantic pairing in the series. This duo has said the absolute worst to each other in the past and then forgotten the reason why they started sparring in the first place. The third season explores this ongoing BFF (best frenemies forever) push-pull with added vulnerability, allowing Myha’la and Abela to explore a potent emotional intimacy that swings between supportive and combative.
The original cast have all upped their game as the pressures of this environment increase and their characters continue to evolve. Robert could have stumbled down the pitiful partying path, sprinkled with copious lines of cocaine, one-night stands in nightclub bathrooms, and posh-boy cosplay. Instead, he’s matured, but not to the point of sanding down his fallible edges: His deep-rooted issues continue to feed an imposter syndrome. Assigning Robert as the point person to Harington’s character, green-tech CEO Sir Henry Muck, immediately taps into their lack of common ground. Robert’s conflicting envy and disdain toward people he has to suck up to is something Lawtey perfected long ago, but the actor continues to throw up unexpected reactions when working with Sir Henry on a splashy IPO. There’s a moment in the season premiere where Robert looks like a haunted shell of a man who doesn’t know how he ended up in these expensive shoes; it is impossible to look away.
Introducing Sir Henry highlights Industry’s ability to embrace and reject class cliches in its growing roster of failure-prone figures with endless supplies of safety nets. Harington imbues the often clueless character with an arrogance that is a birthright, and anyone who’s seen the brilliant Seven Days in Hell is aware of the former Jon Snow’s excellent comic timing. Whether Sir Henry is in on the joke or not, Harington is definitely in tune with Industry’s sense of humor. Other fraught business situations tip into the deliciously absurd when things come to a head during a fancy-dress event at Pierpoint; as chaos swirls in the office, key figures in the action are dressed as Princess Diana, Geri Halliwell, Ali G, and Henry VIII – perhaps a sly nod to the king of bad-news-and-funny-costumes episodes, The Office’s “Charity.” As with trading terminology and social commentary, fluency in cultural references isn’t a prerequisite for enjoying Industry. But it is incredibly fun seeing these dress-up choices and catching punchy dialogue that name-drops Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon or Shakespeare’s Prince Hal.
I do worry that the show’s fast-paced means it’s burning through the plot too quickly: the Lumi IPO roller coaster barely gives us time to breathe. Still, season 3 pumps the brakes long enough for an overdue episode dedicated to Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), exploring his restless suburban family life and penchant for significant risks. It’s clear that Industry is interested in more than new characters or Yasmin’s scandal, and the writers aren’t trying to forgive Rishi for his abhorrent behavior and abrasive language with a secret sob story. Pulling back the layers of the senior Pierpoint employees is a welcome touch: The new season also shows us that Eric’s antiquated male bravado can’t hide his fear of aging. Both Leung and Radia grab the reins of these developments with gusto and vigor, making even the most deplorable behavior watchable.
Anyone who invested early in Industry is due big dividends.
While some of the original cast is absent this season (there’s no sign of David Jonsson’s Gus, sadly), Harper remains at the forefront of the cast. Well, maybe not at first, because it takes a few episodes to dig into her storyline (another sign that Industry isn’t all hurry, hurry, hurry), but her razor-sharp instincts meet their ideal match once she teams up with the equally cynical Petra (Sarah Goldberg). Goldberg, who gave a blistering performance as Sally Reed in Barry, is on top form again, and the contrast between office politics in the U.K. and the U.S. remains fascinating to watch – as does everything else in this triumphant third season.
