Item: Season 3
Rating: 8.2
Author: Amari Allah

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Plot Summary

Season 3 is a tumultuous season for “Industry.” Nearly every character deals with some form of reckoning, either being confronted about their personal life, how they move professionally, or, in the case of Rishi, being confronted with their demons. In seasons 1 and 2, depending on the character, this was handled through their network, money, or ambition. However, season 3 strips many of relying on any of those three things and puts them in positions where they have to humble themselves – a task that fans of the series will know isn’t easy for most characters.

Review

Our Rating (82/100): Positive (Watch This)

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Highlights

Harper’s Consistency

Harper is a love-to-hate character, but she is also an anti-hero. In a world filled with men with privilege, women of higher financial and social standing, and people with many opportunities, here is Harper. Is she a backstabber? Yes. Is she petty? Oh, absolutely. However, as shown via her relationship with Yasmin and others, you can have a cordial relationship if you don’t get into business with her.

However, when money is involved, that hunger becomes visible, and she may nip at you, at best, or bite a piece of you off, at worst. Often, it won’t be personal, but as Eric shows, holding long grudges isn’t in your best interest, for even if she gets knocked down, she will roar her way back into a prominent position, likely higher than before.

Where Things End For Many

Season 3 of “Industry” ends with most characters decimated. From Eric to Rishi, many characters are forced into a position of having to start over, and even others like Robert, who didn’t wait for others to make a decision for him, are still starting a new career. With that in mind, it means season 4 could potentially be a soft reset rather than a continuation of what we already saw, just with a new fat-pocketed person for Pierpoint to prop.

Episode 4 – A Spotlight on Rishi

In “Industry,” generally, the episodes focus on Harper, Yasmin, and sometimes Robert. In past seasons, others may have gotten featured spots, like Eric and Gus, but Rishi was an outlier. He yelled and seemingly existed at his desk, or within PierPoint, for the most part. We did meet his wife, the recast Diana, but she barely felt notable since “Industry” isn’t about Rishi. He may not be a standard bearer like Eric, but he was old school and very much seemed like someone who came with the building.

Season 3 changes that by letting us see beyond the curtain and show us Rishi’s struggles to keep up with the Joneses, his lack of aversion to risk, and him generally being the type or reckless, and lucky, we’ve seen many a series built on. I’d even say his episode really pushed the idea that any character on the show could hold down an entire episode. It is just a case of when the writers need to showcase an actor’s talent and really spotlight any given character.

The Evolving Perspective On What’s A Man

It does seem for a lot of male-dominated shows that focus on male-dominated industries, there is a push to question what manhood means in a post #MeToo and #TimesUp world. How do you usher in diversity, inclusion, and a new generation when there are cultures that have been ingrained for decades, if not more than a century, which have fought against that?

When it comes to what a man is, what is their value, purpose, and power if you strip them of money, their family, or even their children? Eric, Rishi, and Robert all face this obstacle of trying to rediscover what it means to be a man in the modern age, as either internal or external forces push them to be more than breadwinners, masculine as shown in times of yore, or the type of aggressive men are praised for and women are quickly damned.

On The Fence

Pip & Lisa Dearn

While “Industry” has hour-long episodes, it is one of those series with what most Americans would consider short seasons, with this season only having 8. The plus and minus of that is that the show doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it sometimes presents stories and characters who feel like they should exist past an episode.

The two examples are Pip, Nicole’s daughter, and Lisa Dearn, the shadow energy secretary. Considering Robert’s relationship with Nicole, Pip being a one-episode stint was a surprise, especially considering the complications she could have brought to Robert’s life. In addition, considering Robert and Nicole’s relationship, getting to see her from the point of view of a child rather than an adult or someone in business with Nicole, could have been interesting.

In the case of Lisa Dearn, “Industry” always flirts with the idea of being a political show, as much as it is about the financial sector. For the most part, the politicians introduced haven’t been noteworthy, but Lisa Dearn had some bite to her. As someone questioning the cash cow of the season, Henry, she tore into Henry’s PierPoint rep, Robert, and became the type you’d love to see take any cast member to task.

I mean, just the possibility of Lisa going to a different department, with the change of government, and battling Harper, especially since Harper operates on things not being illegal until you get caught? Oh, the scenes that could have been delivered but we may never get to see.

Yasmin

We have always struggled with Yasmin because she is a reactionary character. Things happen to her, and she often takes it on the chin or decides just to let it happen, seemingly hoping people will move on. This wouldn’t be a big deal if she was a supporting role, but she is a main one and often finds herself both part of the season’s central story and interweaving with the majority of characters, almost like an unofficial lead.

Some examples include her relationship with Eric, as he seems to want her to become the new Harper, in terms of having a close relationship with another person of color, who can be some semblance of a daughter if not confidant. With Robert, she still has this, “Will they or won’t they?” regarding their relationship. Harper and her continue to be frenemies, with you rarely certain how they feel about one another, never mind how long the hate or love will last. Then, with Henry, she is something he finds enamoring; thus, she finds herself part of nearly every storyline in the show.

Now, we don’t have issues with Marisa Abela’s performance as Yasmin as much as we just feel like Yasmin is dull. But, after three seasons and Harper telling her off multiple times, eventually, you come to the point of accepting that Yasmin is that type who can’t really hit rock bottom, for there will always be someone there willing to save her. And perhaps there lies the issue – there will never be a true risk or rock bottom for Yasmin because she’ll always have a safety net ready for her, even if she doesn’t make much effort to create it.