(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Considering how full-throttle Industry’s third season has been, nothing should come as a surprise, but I don’t think anyone could foresee that none of the major players would be working for Pierpoint by the end of the finale.
The 75-minute episode begins where we left off, with Eric (Ken Leung) as a crucial voice in saving the investment bank from insolvency and then convincing the rest of the disgruntled Pierpoint employees that ties to Egyptian state funds is a win. It is chilling when Eric convinces nearly an entire staff (most of whom haven’t been home since the big bash the night before) that they have everything they need in the office: “Your desk is your house! That’s right. So go home.”
Eric is an effective salesman because he uses personal experience to find common aspirational ground. It doesn’t matter that he cribbed uplifting points from a 2014 short story called “The Largesse of the Sea Maiden” or that he knows he is spouting BS. “I think I hit all the targets: immigrant mentality, American promise, this place made me, blah blah, blah,” Eric says afterward.
Workplace dramas run on close bonds that invoke family-like dynamics. Industry creators Konrad Kay and Mickey Down have been threading familial themes since the pilot episode, which is why so many storylines are paying off big time. In a most dysfunctional competition, there is no clear winner, but the focus on Yasmin’s (Marisa Abela) and her father’s litany of misdemeanors puts her high on the list. “What network do you have? What family?” is the Hanani Publishing response when Yas tries to use leverage against them.
Despite her current listlessness during a road trip with Robert (Harry Lawtey), Yas does have influential connections. She still craves a life of cocktails and oysters, not Robert’s gas station snacks and “your little lottery thing” (otherwise known as a scratch card) at 9 am. A well-timed call to Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington) gives Yas an escape route and an invite to a manor house for Viscount Norton’s (Andrew Havill) 60th birthday bash on their way back to London. It makes Saltburn look pokey (Dyrham Park is a Merchant Ivory location favorite). “Nice gaff,” quips Robert.
Plenty of deals are brokered even without the trading floor as the focus in the finale. Media mogul Norton is Henry’s uncle and has previously voiced his concerns that his nephew’s “black dog” has returned. Yes, the upper class still struggles to use the word depression in 2024. He thinks Yas could be a positive force in Henry’s life, and if she were to marry, she would be off-limits in the tabloids.
Two options stand before Yasmin; one is a powerful man who can snap all her troubles away, and the other is a sweetheart with no titles or influence. Before approaching Henry, Yasmin walks around the grounds with Robert in a sequence that is part Bridgerton romp and part Don’t Look Now in the editing choices—two titles you don’t normally see together. As I mentioned last week, Robert and Yas make great TV (as do Lawtey and Abela), but this romance doesn’t make me swoon because it rings hollow even when Yas tries to be sincere by saying she loves Robert.
Harry Lawtey and Marisa Abela
Nick Strasburg/HBO
Instead, Yas is far more truthful with Henry when drawing up a practical plan that ends in a proposal using the ring she took from her father’s dead finger (“Thanks, Daddy,” she says). It doesn’t matter if they love each other as they know the rules of society and loyalty. When Henry announces the engagement at a black-tie dinner, one of the most striking moments from the episode (and season) is when the room is empty, aside from Robert and Yas. Yas mouths she’s sorry, and Robert replies that he understands, and the simplicity of this moment adds to the gut punch.
Unsurprisingly, Robert doesn’t stick around to partake in the hunt the following day, and there is a sense of finality in his driving away. However, the Industry finale has a few surprises as it cuts from a black screen to at least six months later, suggesting that the U.S. could be a focus in Season 4. Suffice it to say, the last 25 minutes or so are whiplash-inducing.
The episode is bookended with Robert pitching LittleLabs to former Pierpoint employee Greg (Ben Lloyd-Hughes)—he already has funds from Henry. Judging by Robert’s delectable curls, his new role at LittleLabs is working out. Could this be owed to the California sun? Also on the United States track is Harper (Myha’la), who wants to run her new opportunity with Otto Mostyn (Roger Barclay) out of New York. A now-unemployed Eric could also find himself returning home.
Being a company man is not enough, and Eric finds out that the sales team in London is getting wiped off the board by the rebranded Al-Mi’raj Pierpoint. The man he betrayed, Bill Adler, is dead (we don’t know if it was cancer or suicide), and Eric is $20 million richer. Not only did Eric give Forbes a quote for Harper (she is on the “30 under 30” list), but the two have a civil phone call. I don’t think this is the last we have seen of the toxic father-daughter dynamic.
There is no such forgiveness for Rishi (Sagar Radia). After the standout showcase earlier this season, his luck has run out. One of the most shocking moments of the episodes comes when loan shark Vinay (Asim Chaudhry) interrupts a not-so-happy birthday celebration. “You broke us,” says Rishi’s estranged wife, Diana (Emily Barber). Laying the blame at Vinay’s feet for Rishi’s £500,000 debt, Vinay proves how serious he is by shooting Diana in the head.
The last Industry wedding was Rishi’s; hopefully, Yasmin’s forthcoming nuptials pan out better. “Malala is a no,” the wedding planning tells Yas, but another name on the list of those who have not RSVP’d stands out. No, I am not talking about Barack Obama. Yas calls Harper. You can never keep this twisted friendship down.
Speaking of twisted, Yas has hired a new assistant, the yacht stew, who tried to sell her exclusive story about what went down on the boat with Yas and her father. Yasmin is about to flip out when Alondra (Angela Sant’Albano) pulls her in for a tight hug, and for once, Yas lets down her guard (it echoes how Eric lets out a sob on the empty trading floor). It is early doors regarding next year’s Emmys, but it is hard to see any other drama topping eight back-to-back brilliant episodes and an ensemble this strong.
Of course, daring to show emotion means Alondra is out of a job, and the future Lady Muck snaps back to emotionlessness. No matter where the former Pierpoint employees end up, Industry is staking its claims as 2024’s hottest property.
