Industry is a show co-produced by HBO and BBC about post-graduates and their first jobs at a London investment bank called Pierpoint & Co. Harper (Myha’la Herrold), and her young colleagues have to learn fast in a world where the first rule is to eat or be eaten. Win money for the 1% or be fired. The show has great unlikeable characters, unique dialogue, friendship, money, sex, drugs, and love. Here's why you should be watching Industry:
Succession x Euphoria = Industry
Industry is the first sexy finance TV show ever. We might not understand all the finance lingo (like we don’t get all the lingo in medical shows), but we experience this world of high pressure where the only thing that matters is that you make money. It includes a big “work hard, party even harder” environment. And they do work hard and party, a lot. For every transaction and sold asset; there's also sex and drugs, making every one of the leads feel on top of the world. Episode by episode, it’s becoming one of the most underrated British TV shows to watch.
The show is about capitalism and power. That makes everything transactional: every interaction, every sex scene, and every word. If all you do all day is buy and sell actives, your life turns into that. These characters are not above it, including and especially Harper. She’s the show's lead; an absolute outsider: in the industry and the country. She’s also a non-wealthy Black American woman in a business that, unfortunately, doesn’t have that many women of color. From the start, we can see her ambition. She’s already an anti-heroine, and as ambitious as she is interested in what can get her ahead. Although her "do first, think later" attitude can put her in some problems and create uncomfortable situations for everyone else.
The creators, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, had real experience in the banking world, as they had worked at companies like Pierpoint, and it shows. The wording might not be the most accessible, but it helps sell the world and understand the high-pressure environment. One of the actors, Ken Leung told The Ringer about the show: “On one hand, there was something so foreign,” he says of Industry’s high-finance setting. “And yet, written in a way that was very easy to enter for me that was similar to The Sopranos.”
Great Unknown Cast
Harper (Myha’la Herrold), Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and Gus (David Jonsson) are the leads, as we see the banking world through their eyes and follow their first year at Pierpoint. All of them look the part and create great characters (especially Herrold and Abela). They’re all perfect for their roles, and the casting director should get a raise. The fact that they were unknown before, makes us empathize better with them, as we don’t have any baggage with the actors. Every one of them is up to the task, as they blend ambition with doubts, and learn to navigate a job like every novice has when they start in the real world. Yes, even if they might be jerks who only look for money, and are fans of Wall Street’s Michael Douglas or The Wolf of Wall Street's Leo DiCaprio, they’ll do anything to get ahead and make horrible people even richer than they already are.
The great thing about Industry is that even the non-lead roles are awesome. Especially, Ken Leung (you might remember him as Miles from Lost), as Harper’s boss and sometimes mentor. He has his interests and problems, but we believe he sees Harper as one of his own. Someone who shouldn’t be there, as their social class isn’t the same as most people in banking. It's not just Leung’s character; all the small roles on the trading floor are well-thought-out. Every character is specific and unique, creating real people, with their own ambitions and dreams. Some shows would have those characters there only to serve the leads, Industry does it differently. They have a long bench of actors and characters with whom they could have an episode centered on them and still love the show, including Rishi, Daria, Greg, or Kenny (well, maybe not Kenny, he’s the worst).
Banking as an Action Movie
Usually, banking doesn’t look like a high-stakes endeavor. You’re moving money from one rich company to another, but not in Industry. Here, every last-minute transaction is as stressful as a car chase. If someone (probably Harper) has to do a transaction before the markets open, we’ll suffer with them. We're on the edge of our seats with tension, and when it ends, we’ll start to breathe again and celebrate as if it was a last-second score of our favorite team or the hero has just survived an unbelievable fight. That’s one of the better things about Industry; it might be too jargon-filled about banking and economics, but you understand the character's emotions, and why it's a life-or-death situation for them. About the banking lingo, co-creator Konrad Kay told The Playlist: “In the trade-off between getting spoken down to or being given something very complex, I think most viewers are more likely to treat a show with respect and engage with it if they are treated with a certain sense of intelligence.”, and he's right.
The fact that the show is set in London and not on Wall Street also gives Industry a different flavor. We’ve seen many rich, not-so-great people in New York; now is the time to see how the rich, not-so-great people in London live and behave. The change of scenery also gives a different vibe, as the Brits are a lot more class-conscious; something that also appears in the show in subtle ways. Some characters come from rich backgrounds and have everything already lined up for them, while others are from poor backgrounds and have to do anything they can to scratch for every opportunity. Industry is about capitalism and all its worst tendencies, but it’s also about finding your place in the world, being good at your job, and the friends and experiences you have along the way. All those are good qualities for a TV show, and in one we think you'd like watching.