We’re almost halfway through the latest season of Industry. Let’s take a beat to recap all that has transpired so far in this beautifully bleak, sexually deranged, masterful show. Spoilers ahead for the first three episodes of Industry Season 4.
Episode 1: “PayPal of Bukkake”
Season 4 of Industry starts on a milder note as its premiere slowly eases us back into this addictively raunchy world. The most suggestive thing about the first episode is arguably its title. “The PayPal of Bukkake” is an offhand utterance by an advisor to the CEO of Tender, a payment-processing company funded by porn and gambling, which is at the heart of the conflict in Season 4. As they’ve mastered with other companies and characters in past seasons, creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay expertly position Tender at the intersection of finance, politics, and public discourse, creating a narrative crux that brings shadowy figures out of the woodwork to keep money flowing and power balanced.
As we reunite with our Industry darlings, we learn how they have pivoted in the aftermath of Season 3’s explosive events. Our favorite firecracker, Harper Stern (Myha’la), is now running a short-only hedge fund, with Industry sweetheart Sweet Pea (Miriam Petche) working under her. The other main players, Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and Eric (Ken Leung), are enjoying life outside of the financial world. Newly married, Yasmin is now the Lady of the House of Muck, caring for her woebegone husband, Henry (Kit Harington). Eric is living out his retirement dreams on the golf course. It’s as exciting as ever to return to these familiar faces, but there are several new characters thrown into the mix as well.
The season feels elevated by its new star-studded additions to the cast. Kiernan Shipka trades her Don Draper-induced daddy issues for corporate life as an executive assistant named Hayley. Max Minghella leaves the patriarchal society of The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-2025) for something arguably more sinister, as Whitney, an executive at Tender. Lastly, fresh off the heels of the Demogorgon, Charlie Heaton stalks the financial streets of London as Jim, an investigative journalist. These big TV names help usher Industry into a higher echelon than its previous seasons.
Episode 2: “The Commander and the Grey Lady”
The second episode veers into uncharted territory with familiar flair. Extremely evocative of the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut, “The Commander and the Grey Lady” centers on Henry’s fortieth birthday party, thrown by Yasmin. Taking place during Christmas, England’s socialites and powerful figures flood into the Muck mansion, donning Venusian masks and baroque attire. It doesn’t take long for many to shed those, however, and get down to their dirty deeds. The episode even uses one of the very songs featured in the infamous Christmas party scene from Eyes Wide Shut: Shostakovich’s “Jazz Suite No. 2: VI. Waltz II.”
The parallels to the iconic Kubrick film extend beyond the music and setting, as Henry falls down a rabbit hole of his own making. The summoning of an infamously beloved film shrouded in secrecy, sex, and conspiracy is a natural fit for Industry, as it simultaneously rises in popularity and descends into the dark crevices of London’s elite.
Similar to Nicole Kidman towering over Tom Cruise, Yasmin swallows Henry whole like a pheasant on a silver platter. You can feel the palpable chemistry between Abela and Harrington, who have clearly sunk their teeth into this complex relationship, exploring what’s been conspiring behind closed doors in their home and the ghosts that haunt it. During the pivotal fight scene, Yasmin emplores Henry to give up his suicidal ideations, hurling truths like, “It won’t be cinematic.” Ironically, this episode is the most cinematic Industry has ever dared to be.
Momentarily stripping away the bones and background of Industry — finance, trading, takeovers — Down and Kay craft a gripping character study of Henry Muck. Shooting the Muck estate like a haunted funhouse, wide lenses distort the halls, shrink its occupants, and enlarge their ornaments of ball gowns, ruffles, and wigs. It’s an episode that perfectly captures the devastating consequences of a hedonistic life riddled with meaninglessness. Ultimately, Yasmin secures Henry a role at Tender; he has an existential epiphany, and the two are reunited over their shared love of power and control.
Episode 3: “Habseligkeiten”
Industry has always been known for its gratuitous nature. With the first two episodes, we got tastes of it, but by episode three, we’re choking on it. Yasmin isn’t only facilitating deals with banks, she’s pulling the strings of a ménage à trois between her husband, her husband’s assistant (Hayley), and herself. Yasmin mainly sits on the sidelines, calling the shots and puffing on her cigarette. Her mafia boss bravado suits her, as she spews lines like “spit on it,” with a mouth as crooked as her morals. Yasmin thrives in this position — after all, as we know, it runs in the family.
It’s hard not to feel bewitched by Abela’s deliciously wicked performance in “Habseligkeiten.” Hanging on Yasmin’s every word and mannerism, her marching orders to the men and Hayley empower her in a way we haven’t seen. For instance, she moves with panache from cunnilingus to hors d’oeuvres in a smash cut for the ages: Yasmin tells Hayley to spread her legs as she descends onto her; then she’s slurping an oyster the next morning at brunch with a potential business partner.
What makes Industry so addicting is this balancing act between our base, animalistic desires and our higher-thinking, frontal-lobe ambitions. It constantly swings between the two, sometimes sticking to one for an entire episode, other times oscillating between worlds at a dizzying pace. For example, the third episode shifts from threesomes to trading with ease. In the throes of their new joint venture, SternTao, Harper and Eric hunt down financing, clients, and employees. After descending into dirty bedrooms with ancient secrets, Down and Kay seamlessly lift us back up into the high-risers and skyscrapers of the financial world.
***
In these first three episodes, Down and Kay prove that Industry is still some of the most inventive television airing today. It hooks you with its beautiful cast dressed in sharp blazers or lingerie, making finance chic and sexy; it keeps you there with its whip-smart writing and propulsive narrative; and it leaves you craving more, just like its characters crave money, power, drugs, and sex. Personally, Industry is my drug of choice — and I’ll be getting my fix on HBO every Sunday night.
The first three episodes of ‘Industry’ Season 4 are now streaming on HBO, with the remaining episodes airing weekly on Sundays.
Review Courtesy of Kasey Dunifer
Feature Image Designed by Kasey Dunifer