Industry
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Ive seen a lot of people online compareIndustrytoSuccession, and I beg to differ.
One key point that raises the stakes for the Pierpoint crew is that theyre all very young.
(Eric is middle-aged, but lets give him a pass.)
Youth excuses some of their sexual and drug-induced follies.
Youth can be blamed for some of their faux pas.
Most important, their youth makesIndustrya financial bildungsroman.
(The makeup artist who madeMarisa Abelalook so exhausted and miserable should win an award.)
Its as if every frame is reminding us that the bankers are now adults.
They have worked at this game for years.
Their decisions carry weight, and their unresolved baggage is heavy on their shoulders.
We all caught up?
Lets begin!!!!
But Yasmins actual life is far from glamorous.
Yasmin is no Harper, and she and Eric, who is now her boss, know that.
Surprisingly, Kenny Kilbane argues for Yasmin to stay.
I must now confess I am a little bit of a Kenny stan.
I am a sucker for Irish accents as well as characters who go to AA.
Kenny also offers a foil to someone like Eric.
Life comes at you fast, Yas!!
Everyone on the desk is all hopped up because of an ESG company they are taking to IPO.
(like be nice to me.)
ESG investing is the same thing asethical or socially responsible investing.
The ESG company in question is a green-energy firm called Lumi.
Pierpoint underwrites Lumis IPO, orinitial public offering i.e., when a company publicly issues stock.
A company goes public when deemed mature enough to pass the rigors of national governing bodies like the SEC.
Basically, an IPO is kind of like a debutante ball.
The company is going to market.
Its an adult now!
This IPO isnt going smoothly, however, and Robert knows that better than anyone.
Robert struggles to keep a handle on Muck and his antics.
Outside of work, though, Robert seems to be faring pretty well.
That house Yasmin is living in?
Robert owns it, and hes actually landlord not just to Yasmin but to Harper.
Hes also in a stable, adult relationship with Venetia, of all people.
I cheered when I saw them together.
yo, Robert, be in a good way!!
Except then Robert leaves a sleeping Ven in the middle of the night to see Nicole.
A friend of mine said they gasped when they saw this.
Perhaps you did too.
As for me, I was more in disappointed-mom mode.
I didnt thinkIndustrywould let him off the hook so easily, even if I hoped otherwise.
This is where I did audibly gasp (maybe even scream).
Robert wakes up, having accidentally slept at Nicoles, only to realize Nicole is dead next to him.
(I think she had a stroke?
Nosebleeds on TV always telegraph to me as some kind of brain issue.)
Hes devastated, but he cannot tell anyone what just happened.
So he just breaks down on the Pierpoint trading floor.
The person who cannot abide this is, of course, Eric.
Life in Ericland isnt all gravy.
His wife has left him (I guess his momentary indiscretion last season got back to her?
It is like walking in on a parent having sex.
Also, his vibe with Yasmin is WEIRD.
He doesnt admire her in the same way he admired Harper.
If anything, he seems to detest her incompetence … but also seems attracted to her?
I am not looking forward to wherever this is going.
The next morning, Eric gets to the floor in rough shape.
He has also impulsively decided to fire Kenny instead of Yasmin or Robert, which means I hate him.
Eric, I think, hates to be seen as human.
Yes, I am talking about our queen, Harper Stern.
Much to her chagrin, she isnt a trader and is instead an administrative assistant.
Still, shes doing her wily best to find her way into a financial position.
The person she has set her sights on to help her is Petra (played bySarah GoldbergofBarry).
Like Harper, Petra feels like someone who places all their bets on their own competence.
All this to say, Harper remains Harper-ing.
The episode ends with the Lumi IPO, at which Muck casually mentions that Lumi sources the exchanges power.
Just as the company goes public, a power outage plunges Pierpoint and Lumi into chaos.
Lest we forget,Industryisnt just sexy and thought-provoking.
Its funny as hell, too.
I have to say Im a bit disappointed!
Another slight casualty is, hate to say it, Harper.
That said,Myhala Herrold is such an excellent actorthat Im hopeful shell get meatier scenes in future episodes.
Its a neat synecdoche of the question troubling the shows heart: Can any of our characters be good?
Will they grow into sound adults?
Money, finance, banking is it all just inevitably poison to ones soul?
Its a source of trauma but also something the characters struggle with.
Is Roberts relationship with Nicole abusive?
Is Yasmins sleeping with Celeste inappropriate?
Im curious to see how the show expounds on this ambiguity as the season progresses.
I love it when Yasmin and Harper are friends.
WERE BACK, BABY!!!
