‘Industry’ Season 3 Review – An Expert Look At The Banality Of Ruthlessness

“Power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals.”

Robert Caro’s insight into the machinations of the United States executive branch also serves as the guiding ethos of Industry, HBO’s small-but-mighty series about a group of young financiers duking it out in the cutthroat world of British investment banking. The first two seasons focused on the expectations and realities of excessive wealth and what it takes to claim and maintain it. They asked whether someone could manage obscene amounts of money without getting subsumed by their darkest impulses and whether rampant drug use and voracious sexuality were bugs or features of this unique class of citizens. Last season’s stunning season finale answered the series’ most pressing question: the ends do justify the means, but never think the person conducting said means isn’t expendable, especially when that person has easily exploitable skeletons in their closet.

Harper Stern’s (Myha’la) jaw-dropping ejection from Pierpoint understandably merited a reset. Harper has somewhat rebounded as an assistant at ethical investment fund FutureDawn, a Pierpoint client. Harper tries to keep her head down, but her killer instinct renders that impossible and catches the ear of her colleague Petra. Yasmin (Marisa Abela) also tries to keep her head down for entirely different reasons. Her father’s sex crimes, teased last season, have come to light, and Yasmin has caught the brunt of the public’s scrutiny, especially after a paparazzi photo of her on her father’s yacht leaked to the press. Yasmin has caught more favorable attention from Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), CEO of clean energy firm Lumi, which Pierpoint is bringing to IPO. Robert (Harry Lawtey) tries managing the deal, but Henry’s mercurial nature makes it increasingly complex and absurd. 

Industry’s third season is about how its companies and characters undermine themselves by failing to navigate their absurd complexities. Once the crown jewel of global banking, Pierpoint has hitched its rickety wagon to the ESG boom, with Lumi as its glossy test case. Of course, Pierpoint’s leadership has no genuine interest in the greater good, but they like the economic expediency their efforts promise. Unfortunately, their cynical embrace of sustainability and corporate governance doesn’t outweigh the stock market’s greater cynicism. As Harper advises Petra in the premiere, ESG is an easily exploitable “fad.” Were Harper still an acolyte of Eric (Ken Leung), now a Pierpoint partner, she might’ve warned him of the follies of the firm’s new position. Instead, Harper gets to play the agent of chaos she was always meant to be, casting off the remaining vestiges of her insecurities to achieve her own power.

The rest of the Pierpoint crew isn’t as lucky. With Harper on the sidelines, the series expands its scope and digs into other characters. Eric has always appeared ruthless on the trading floor, but his mettle is tested mightily when the company grants him managerial power and, with it, access to the inner workings of the firm. Rishi (Sagar Radia), the foul-mouthed market maker who almost left Pierpoint with Eric and Harper last season, gets a standout bottle episode dedicated to his tumultuous financial situation and how it nearly derails his work on the CPS desk. Robert, arguably the most relatively principled of the bunch, questions his agency amidst the larger political and economic machinations of Lumi’s chaotic IPO. While not always on the front burner, Robert’s story points towards a path not poisoned by the toxic atmosphere that infects every character from the top down. 

And then there is Yasmin. The season opens with her on that fateful yacht and is partly shaped around what happens concerning her toxic father. While the mystery plot encapsulates Industry’s penchant for outrageous depravity (in a surprisingly subdued, perhaps even conservative, season), it doesn’t necessarily serve the series or her well at first. Her relationship with Henry, teased as a critical plot point in the trailer, feels similarly backgrounded, with Yasmin taking on a more passive role than she ever had with Robert and her other relationships. However, as the season barrels towards its conclusion, Yasmin’s journey is a powerful statement on power and principle and whether they can co-exist in such a volatile environment. That statement is also the series at its most bitingly cynical and tragically ironic.

Despite a broader palette and greater interest in more characters, this season of Industry never feels slow or shallow. There are fewer outright shocks and less claustrophobic tension, but it feels less like a comedown and more like a demonstration of confidence in its characters and cast. The performances are collectively strong, with the junior trio of Myha’la, Marisa Abela, and Harry Lawtey demonstrating especially potent command of the screen. Kit Harington has a slow start as Sir Henry but kicks into high gear as the character’s shaky emotional stability and High Street cynicism reach the surface. Sagar Radia takes to the greater focus on Rishi brilliantly, handily carrying the high stake of his episode.

Industry positions all its characters as it does Pierpoint: at the whims of circumstances seemingly out of control. The previous seasons asked if they could resist falling into the trap of their worst impulses and expectations of high finance. (The answer was often a resounding no.) This season pushes them further to see who has the emotional fortitude to withstand their world’s true ruthlessness. There is no uniform answer, except for the truth that it takes a certain level of cynicism to win out, and even then, you’ll likely lose. It’s fitting, then, that Industry is taking over the 9 pm Sunday timeslot once held by, among others, Game of Thrones, as the series’s new ethos shares striking similarities to a famous quote from Cersei Lannister.

“When you play the game of thrones, you either win or die.”

Season three of Industry will debut on August 11, 2024 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max, with new episodes debuting weekly.