‘Industry’ Season 2 — HBO Review
There is a reason why HBO is the king of streaming content right now. In late 2020, they released the first season of a series called Industry that went under everyone’s radar, even though it is well above the average quality of any other streaming service’s output.
The series explores the life of a group of aspiring young bankers who in season one were graduate trainees at a firm called Pierpoint & Co. Season 2 picks up around two years later, in a world that, much like our reality, is moving on from COVID and going back into normal life. The cast is led by Myha’la Herrold’s Harper Stern, a flawed character that is trying to be one step ahead of everyone else in her job, showing next to no empathy when needed.
Set in London’s high society, Industry is a series that follows very wealthy people looking to make even more money and with little remorse about collateral damage. After making deals for tens of millions of dollars, our characters will use drugs with no second thoughts or engage in explicit sexual interactions. While I didn’t notice as many sex scenes as there were in season 1, Industry still makes Game of Thrones look like a kindergarten show in that regard. Despite the many socially unacceptable behaviors depicted in the series, the writers and showrunners leave the judgment of those acts to the audience. While I applaud the realism here, as there is no character in charge of morale saying “don’t use drugs” or “you are making hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, maybe give some to charity?”, at times one could wonder if HBO is even glorifying these conducts. I certainly don’t think that’s the case, at least no more than Matthew Weiner glorified smoking in Mad Men.
Myha’la Herrold in Industry season 2 (Credit: HBO)
The heights of the season are reached when the filmmakers get to explore Harper and his way of thinking, both in her most vulnerable moments and her most despicable ones (which often are one and the same). Without going into spoilers, a good part of a season 2 episode is dedicated to exploring her family issues, a loose end from season 1. The episode after that probably featured the tensest moment of the season, with Harper put under a good amount of pressure when she is on the edge of losing the good favor of her most important client.
That client is reputable hedge fund manager Jesse Bloom, who is introduced this season, played by Jay Duplass (brother of The Morning Show‘s Mark Duplass). Duplass is definitely one of the best parts of the season, both in terms of acting and the dynamism his character brings to an already frenetic series. He is depicted as someone who benefited greatly from the pandemic, and is now looking for the next big thing — he thinks Harper can help him with that.
Jay Duplass in Industry season 2 (Credit: HBO).
Another plus of the season is the development of Yasmin, played by Marisa Abela, who continues to be one of the most intriguing characters in the series. She has now adopted a recruit under her umbrella, played by Indy Lewis, and is also an apprentice to Katrine de Candole’s Celeste Pacquet. The relationship between these last two is a very attractive part of the season, as is the exploration of the dynamics between Harper and Yasmin. The two didn’t exactly see eye to eye by the end of season 1, and now have the chance to go down that rabbit hole and get into the nuances of their relationship.
The biggest flaw of season 2, which I believe is overall stronger than season 1, is that it doubles down on the complicated jargon that high-stakes finances involve. It is very easy to be lost in the middle of a scene where the characters have been discussing for five straight minutes what the next best move is — I appreciate the realism of not having fourth-wall breaks or long exposition monologues to (attempt to) explain the audience what exactly is going on, but at the same time, it is very easy to get lost in all the technical aspects of the show.
Marisa Abela and Katrine de Candole in Industry season 2 (Credit: HBO).
The series also cycles through a lot of characters and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who is who, and their relationship with each of the other characters. For better or worse, the series is most enjoyable when you just sit back and enjoy the ride, and stop trying to figure out what kind of deal is Harper trying to make now, or how he is stepping on her colleagues’ toes.
Industry season 2 will debut on HBO on August 1. New episodes will be available every Monday thereafter. It was created, written, and executive produced by Mickey Down & Konrad Kay. Matthew Barry, Zara Meerza, and Joseph Charlton also wrote for season 2. The main cast of season 1 is returning, including Myha’la Herrold, Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey, David Jonsson, Ken Leung, Conor MacNeill, Sarah Parish, Nicholas Bishop, Sagar Radia, Mark Dexter, and Caoilfhionn Dunne.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
