At the risk of repeating ourselves, permit me to reiterate an oft-regurgitated Playlist sentiment in this review of “Industry” season three. Set in the high stakes, high-risk world of London international investment banking, the propulsive “Industry” is HBO’s best-kept secret and the waiting-in-the-wings heir to “Succession.” Moreover, created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, in the vacuum left by “Succession,” the addictively compelling and sharply written series seems poised to finally ascend to the top of the HBO prestige throne. It’s always been a persuasive stock, frankly—young cocky millennials trying to prove their mettle within a ruthless pressure cooker environment filled with sordid bathroom stall sex and drug drama and enough compelling soap opera melodramatics to keep it all thrillingly irresistible—and in season three, “Industry” soars, proving itself to be HBO’s must-watch show, worthy of sitting next to all its heavy hitters, “House Of The Dragon,” “True Detective,” etc.
“Industry” is intelligent, sexy, steamy, and deeply seductive. It is filled with self-confident yet narcissistically damaged and mercurially broken characters who are always living on the edge and one bad trade away from self-destruction. And it’s really high time that all HBO viewers started mainlining this show like a compulsive, habit-forming prestige speedball dependency.
Set in and around Pierpoint & Co, a prestigious investment banking firm where brash young graduates competed for permanent positions in the cutthroat inaugural season, season two saw some of the brightest young stars of the firm push the limits too far and fall from grace. Specifically, the wickedly smart but dangerously ambitious Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold), who was being groomed by Eric Tao (Ken Leung), the CPS managing director, to be his loyal protégé and right-hand (woman). But Harper’s self-interest and daring risk-taking created a perilous tug-of-war game with her mentor. In an Icarus-like situation, Harper burned too brightly, and at the end of COVID-centric season two, Eric fired her when it was revealed she never graduated college and lied about it.
Season three is set several months later, the only persons standing left at Pierpoint from seasons one and two being Eric, the savvy, privileged and ambitious Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), the HR-disaster waiting to happen, associate and politically incorrect market maker Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), junior associate Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey), and the once-abusive and alcoholic, now-reformed FX desk VP and Yasmin’s direct manager Kenny Kilbane (Conor MacNeill).
Season three begins in media res essentially; Pierpoint is already onboard and in the middle of managing and helping green tech energy company Lumi and its hubristically self-assured CEO Henry Muck (Kit Harington from “Game Of Thrones”) launch their IPO. Robert is tasked with managing (read: babysitting) Muck, but his ego cannot be contained, nor will he listen to his advice. Coming from money, Muck sees himself as a disruptive visionary with an ethical streak, but as the show lays out quite effectively, all the so-called socially forward-thinking companies are in it for the bottom line at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, Yasmin, who mostly takes the lead pole position in season three as Harper’s been sidelined (for now) and her brat summer abruptly ends. She’s in a state of vulnerable fragility following her self-absorbed father’s (Adam Levy) disappearance and legal and financial troubles that have left her as a U.K. tabloid target, hounded by paparazzi.
Temporarily, Harper is off to the side for now, now working as a lowly assistant at the ethical investment fund FutureDawn Partners run by Anna Gearing (Elena Saurel), but never quite humbled by her self-interested comeuppance. Harper, being impulsive, though—seemingly always drawn by a hazardously gleeful curiosity of touching a third rail to see what will happen—soon ingratiates herself to Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg from “Barry”), one of the company’s top portfolio managers. Petra seems increasingly at odds with her so-called best friend and boss, Anna, and Harper appears almost to be magnetically drawn to the brewing conflict and Petra’s rebelliously independent streak.
But all roads will soon converge, of course. When Lumi’s IPO underperforms, panic hits the market, and Pierpoint comes recklessly close to damaging its elite reputation for having over-evaluated its stock, everyone starts to turn on each other in the stressful collapse. Trying to mollify the situation and breathe confidence back into the equity, stakeholders in Pierpoint, Lumi, and FutureDawn, who are all-in invested in Muck’s socially-conscious company, congregate at an energy investment summit in Europe. But Harper, who has aligned herself with Petra, encouraging her to break out and start her own rival company to FutureDawn, has other toxic plans of betrayal and revenge.
Married at the end of season two, Rishi also takes center stage in season three and essentially receives his own fantastic episode where his spiraling gambling addiction, off-putting anti-PC personality, and reckless personality push him to the precipice of personal and financial disaster.
While terms like shark repellent, poison pills, ESG considerations, and impact investing whip around at light speed, you don’t need to be one of the cocky wolves of wall street to understand the show. Much like the way “The Queen’s Gambit” made the game a thrilling, stressful, and tense checkmate for viewers who didn’t understand a lick of chess, “Industry” does the same for investment banking, skillfully expressing the intense, anxiety-filled, and electric environment and demands of a frenetically-charged financial banking floor.
The mechanics of investment banking aren’t really the point, though. “Industry” excels on coke-fueled energy, captivating momentum, snappy, crackling writing, and the terrific character-driven performances of its ensemble cast. Leung has never been better, and Abela and Herrold’s enthralling chops demonstrate why they’ve become hot rising stars. Like season two, which effortlessly integrated Jay Duplass as a swaggering hedge fund manager, “Industry” always seamlessly incorporates new players into the mix without any bumps. While Harington is arguably not stretching his wings as much as he could, he remains an engaging presence nonetheless. And Goldberg shows her range by playing a much more unforgiving and harsh character than the empathetic victim of “Barry.”
“Industry” definitely gives “Succession” vibes. Characters are similarly self-regarding, backbiting, cruel, callous, and viciously power-hungry in their egotistic interests and aspirations. But Roy’s family loyalties aren’t there, however thin they were. While daddy issues and cultivating daddy favor where the “Succession” remit, “Industry” is arguably more cold-blooded, players in the game are not only accountable to the religion of the almighty dollar but, worse, also in it for the thrill of the chase and the brutal sport of it all. [A]
“Industry” season three premieres on HBO on August 11.