Industry Season 3 Review

Industry (2020-)
Season 3 - 8 episodes (2024)

Rent Industry on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Mickey Down, Konrad Kay
Starring: Myha'la, Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey, Ken Leung, Conor MacNeill, Sagar Radia, Kit Harington
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
Young bankers and traders make their way in the financial world in the aftermath of the 2008 collapse.

Verdict
This show has always felt like a stand in for Succession. It has all of the depravity with none of the sharp writing and aplomb. It's a serviceable show, it even could be considered good if it came out twenty years ago, but too many shows are above it. This show is young adults behaving poorly in an industry that encourages it if that gets you an extra dollar. This has always felt like one of HBO's 'other' shows; good but not great. This season may be it's best and episode four completely sets the entire season apart from previous iterations. With the format, you don't need to watch the entire season for that one episode. Whether the series is worth watching depends on your taste, but episode four unquestionably is.
It depends.

Review
This is the cutthroat world of finance and investment. While it feels like an over the top exaggeration, that's also what makes this soap opera fun to watch. The main cast consists of Harper (Myha'la) who was a rock star in the past but bad decisions got her fired, almost evicted from the industry. She's held on and is still just as ruthless. Yasmin (Marisa Abela) deals with the fallout of her father's criminal conviction the entire season. We see how family can be a shackle. Robert (Harry Lawtey) is still getting by on social promotion.

The first episode kicks off the IPO for Lumi energy company and the desire for moral investing. In this world, nothing good lasts and it turns out Lumi is little more than a fraud. There's a lot of positioning and posturing as everyone tries to be the winner while the CEO of Lumi (Kit Harington) scares off investors by talking out of turn. That's a theme the series explores this season, the fad of moral investment and what's really at the root of that desire.

Harper is trying to turn her current job into a promotion by pushing her boss Petra to start her own company. It's more a benefit for Harper as she's eager to prove herself, willing to manipulate any situation to achieve that goal. If she can put her former employer Pierpoint in their place, she's happy to do that as well.

Episode four is a standout. It's a departure that abandons the ensemble and focuses on Rishi. He's never been likable, and a few minutes in this episode only doubles down. Rishi is spiraling, over extended in every direction. Rishi is obnoxious, but being good at his job has always saved him. This delves into his life. He's addicted to drugs and gambling which has led to dangerous loans. We see him steal to get enough money not to pay off debts but to gamble in the hopes of winning his way out of debt. He's not making good decisions, but it's fun to watch the train wreck. It's a whirlwind, seat of the pants ride that you know won't end well. Rishi loses, wins, loses, goes all in and loses, goes all in and wins. Episode four is the best this series has ever had.

Episode five focuses on the Lumi fallout and everything backwards with the business. The government bails out Lumi. Robert, on the low end of the hierarchy, answers questions on behalf of Pierpoint, and in the end there are few consequences.

The big news this season is Pierpoint's dangerous financial position. Harper of course knows that and is positioning to capitalize. She uses her friend Yas for an advantage which leads to a a fallout. They attack each other's insecurities while projecting their own on each other. Yas might be on the hook for her father's misdeeds; getting all of the blame and none of the reward.

On one hand Pierpoint looks like they're on the brink in episode seven, but they always seems to find a way out. Will there be ramifications? Being a bank and knowing a little real world history, you assume not. This is a big episode with a lot of setups you'd expect in the next to last episode.

The final episode is certainly big. Eric (Ken Leung) rallies the troops though it may be in vain, or just a thankless task. Harper makes a big hire, and there are more than a few surprises. Yas is finally open with Robert, but soon resorts to being practical. This feels like a series finale, but the show has been renewed for season four. When a show feels like it has a good series finale, it's often best to take a bow rather than try to hang on. Three years is a good run, but in its defense, this is the shows best season. Season four could be even better.