Industry: Season 4 Episode 3 – Recap and Review

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Episode 3 “Habseligkeiten” Recap and Details

• Director(s): Michelle Savill
• Writer(s): Joseph Charlton
• Public Release Date (HBO Max): January 25, 2026
• Check out more of our “Industry” coverage.

The Queen On The Chessboard: Yasmin, Whitney, Ferdinand, Hayley, Henry, Moritz, Johanna, Jennifer, Lisa, Ricky

It has been about a month since the events of the last episode, and Henry is the CEO of Tender and Yasmin? She is a Comms Consultant who clearly has a notable influence over Henry’s decision-making. Whitney doesn’t seem to care, at the moment, since he and Yasmin are often in agreement, but others do raise an eyebrow at how much Henry almost defers to Yasmin.

But with a focus on getting this IBN-Bauder merger done and obtaining a European banking license, the dynamics of the new CEO and his wife aren’t the most important. In fact, she proves herself to be an asset when Moritz, a board member of IBN-Bauer, and whose family is soon to be its former owners, create an issue. You see, Moritz and his mother, Princess Johanna, in a more subtle way, are more traditional and conservative. Moritz even thinks Western liberalism has failed, and has a love for dictators in a eyebrow raising way, which doesn’t sit well even for the politically conservative in the room.

Yet, Yasmin seems to know how to stroke the man’s ego without even touching him. She gets him the opportunity to speak his peace in Norton’s newspaper, and that seems to make him happy, and while it was awkward for her to sleep in a room, Johanna’s favorite, which has artwork done by Adolf Hitler, the trip was a success. Granted, there was her reminding Hayley who was in charge, by allowing, or coercing, Henry to sleep with her, but that’s a separate thing.

What matters is, between Yasmin’s work in Vienna, and Henry and Whitney convincing Jennifer to be on their side, as well as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Ricky Martyn, while Lisa Dearn may always be an obstacle, she may not stop this merger from going through.

Let’s Not Get Too Personal: Kenny, Lily, Eric, Harper, Sweetpea, Kwambe, Rishi

In case you were wondering, yes, Rishi’s wife being murdered did become a thing, and no, it doesn’t seem like the show will dive deep into what happened afterwards. All we know is, as Eric and Harper start building up SternTao, Sweetpea, of course, is interviewed, and she is freaked out about seeing Rishi on sight since she believes, acquitted or not, he killed his wife.

But Rishi’s appearance isn’t about a job, but doing his usual work for Harper to have money in his pocket, and Harper makes it clear that Rishi isn’t joining the business. With that said, Rishi and Sweetpea aren’t the only ones who have a difficult time this episode – particularly due to the past. Eric finds himself apologizing to Kenny, who is to become SternTao’s trader, and Eric finds himself trying to manage his relationship with Lily, one of his daughters.

This is notable since Harper is in a sensitive place. She hasn’t seen her twin brother in ages, and seeing bits of Eric’s personal life, not just hearing him talk about it, stirs up feelings. The kind that makes her irritable, sensitive, and between Kwambe, who plays too much, and Eric, who wants Harper to match his openness about his personal life, things get uncomfortable.

So, naturally, Harper begins lashing out a bit, trying to scare both away, and eventually settles on putting up a solid boundary, especially with Eric. She knows how sharp her tongue is and how much he wants to have a personal relationship with her. Add in him putting $10 million down to help their fund get off the ground, the money Lily and her sister would get if Eric dropped dead, and it makes it so she needs to focus all on the business and, as usual, set aside the personal.

Blood In The Water: James, Harper, Sweetpea

Right now, with James whispering in her ear, Harper’s focus is Tender. Between her and Sweetpea, they smell blood in the water due to how Tender is seemingly hiding and routing their less scrupulous transactions through Whitney’s Ghana acquisitions. Now, they have the financial records, and seemingly figure out how the system works due to a weak link in the chain, but all parties involved need a smoking gun. Otherwise, James is wasting his time, and Harper and Sweetpea? They are chasing a short that may blow up in their face and waste Eric’s money.

New Characters in Episode 3

Ferdinand (Nico Rogner)

• Character Summary: Ferdinand is the CFO of IBN Bauer Bank and a member of Tender’s board, who is closely aligned with Whitney regarding Tender’s future.

Moritz (Sid Phoenix)

• Character Summary: Moritz is the last generation to play a part in IBN Bauer and recognizes that, while selling the bank will lead him to have more money, alongside his mother, what he really wants is a voice. He sees the world going in the wrong direction, and despite his family’s financing of the sordid part of Germany’s past, he doesn’t shy away from believing in dictators and authoritarianism as a better means to run businesses and government.

Johanna (Susanne Wuest)

• Character Summary: Johanna is Mortiz’s mother, who isn’t as vocal on her politics or beliefs, but with artwork by Adolf Hitler in one of her favorite rooms, she does subtly show the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Lily (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss)

• Character Summary: Lily is Eric’s 14-year-old daughter who, of the twins, seems to be less social and athletic. But, also seems more willing and able to have a relationship with her dad.

Review and Commentary

Highlights

Harper [86/100]

While Industry is utterly ignored by the majority of associations that HBO usually dominates when it comes to nominations, I’m glad that, at the very least, Myha’la’s career has been flourishing outside the show. For there could be a multitude of highlight topics regarding her, as there are for this episode.

The first one being, getting a better understanding of why Harper has beef with Yasmin, yet keeps her close. In my mind, Harper is fueled by what she doesn’t have, her proximity to it, and uncertainty if she wants it. Her mindset of being worthy, earning what she has, is mainly focused on what she can do in her career, but that does spill over into her personal life.

To me, her seeing Yasmin get to be vulnerable, often protected, failing in relationships, and ending up in better positions, that is enviable. That is a privilege that Harper doesn’t have, for when she lets herself like, love, or let someone in, it bites her in the ass. It has with Eric, Yasmin, Robert, and others. Yet, as much as she tries to hunker down, numb herself to the world, operate like a toxic man, she can’t do it. She wants the sisterhood, a loving paternal figure, maybe even a romantic partner.

The scenes with Kwabena and Eric help show this. Kwabena, who isn’t at Harper’s level, wasting 15 minutes of her time, joking around like it is funny, yet still having the charm to make her want to let her walls down, is what she is afraid of. Who knows what he may do with that power, and as Harper said, she is traumatized, and while that trauma drives her, it is also running her down.

Then with Eric? Whether it is as a father figure, mentor, or having someone, like Yasmin, she can fight with but is willing to forgive her, there are layers to that relationship. What makes it all the more difficult, though, for Harper, is that Eric sees something in Harper besides someone who can make him money. He wants to genuinely know her, without sex being involved or using her, and I think for Harper, that is both confusing and maybe healing.

Hence why she goes back and forth between opening up about being a twin, not wanting to use his money, and wanting to put hard boundaries down between them. To me, she still isn’t in the place where she feels comfortable enough, or safe enough, to fail. There isn’t the trust required that would make it so that people would give her the grace she needs when she is scared and lashing out.

Now, Eric tries to provide this, and it is probably key to their cycle, but sometimes it seems she chooses him because he is there, easy, forgiving, all the things she’d want in a dad – in theory. But as she realizes that he doesn’t fit the mold she wants him to be, he isn’t as perfect as she wants, she snaps out of the fantasy, the longing, the comfort, and tries to push him to never try to establish that kind of relationship again. Which, even after them going back and forth so many times, remains heartbreaking.

Yasmin Making It Clear Who Is In Control [85/100]

This might become Yasmin’s best season yet. Yes, there is still this feeling that Yasmin wants to do what the men in her life get to do, got to do if we include her father. Be CEO? I feel like Yasmin wants that power, respect, and decision-making power. Sleep with a random girl, never mind your assistant? I feel like Yasmin is into that more than she may admit.

And yes, this isn’t necessarily new since we have long seen Yasmin want the same privileges as the men in her life, including being toxic. However, as a married woman, to Henry at that, there is something different here. I think there is an appreciation to having that proximity to power, influence over someone with power, yet not being beholden to the respectability of it.  

It’s like she is so close to cracking the code to what actually could work for her, which makes Harper likely blowing that up a repeat of something we’ve seen before, but with the stakes so much higher.

Investment In Eric’s Relationship With His Kid [82/100]

What is a bit of a surprise for me, particularly with Eric, is that he isn’t just a supporting character in Harper’s story – start/finish. Even though it was short, there is something about him wanting a relationship with Lily, and seeing him try which means something. Maybe it is because of how we see him try with Harper, who can never replace his relationship with his daughters? Either way, I strangely want to see more of Lily and hope she doesn’t just fall off the face of the Earth like many of the children of characters introduced.

On The Fence

The Long Game Of Watching Tender Fall [74/100]

What I’m starting to realize when it comes to Industry is that often the story, the big story, the rise and fall of some company, might be what ties everything and everyone together; it is also the least interesting part of what’s going on. Tender, as a company that is trying to hide its sordid transactions, doesn’t drive anything. What’s interesting here is the players who either want to take them down or want to reinforce their position to get away with what is being done – assuming they know what is happening.

I mean, take note, does anyone care what happened to PierPoint despite that being a central part of the show for three seasons? No. These companies, these places, are but names. No different than a church’s pastor, who leads in the choir, and whose cooking on any given Sunday often mattering than it being a place to pray and give thanks. Henry doesn’t need Tender, Whitney could be part of any business, be a member of government, and still maintain your attention.

It’s weird in a way that the business, which is so central to what’s going on, feels so expendable.

Hayley [72/100]

I feel like Hayley’s role is stuck between being underutilized and potentially unnecessary. On one hand, the executive assistant to Whitney and Henry should be seen as Henry is a mess, and Whitney, as sharp as he is, still needs support. But I feel like with each decision, it’s more about how to create a sensational moment than anything else.

And don’t get me wrong, I know what show I’m watching. Debauchery is one of the core elements of Industry. But I’d submit, whether it was Robert, or even Sweetpea, with her complicated past, you got a balance between being reckless and there being something more there. Robert had the ability to work with and break through even the toughest of clients. Sweetpea’s investigative skills are shown to be top-notch.

Then, on the flip side, as people, Robert was sensitive, and the way he tried to raise Yasmin up while simultaneously being played by her, was sad. Then you had his mommy issues and so much more, which allowed him to feel balanced. Which could lead you to say, he had multiple seasons to build that up, and I’d counter again, with Sweetpea. Her relationship with Harper may not be as deep as Harper’s with Yasmin, but there is this look she gives her like her approval and even redirection means everything.

I wouldn’t say Sweetpea would take a bullet or do time for Harper, but she clearly is willing to follow her wherever she ends up. That gives you something to think about, invest in, and Hayley doesn’t do that at all.

In my mind, all Hayley has right now is a famous actress playing her who feels as expendable as Tender is, as the season’s focused company. We don’t see her do her day job in a notable way; her relationship with Yasmin purely benefits Yasmin’s storyline, and while we believe you have to give till episode four to really settle on how to feel about a character or story, I don’t see things getting better for Hayley. There isn’t that usual vibe that most characters have, where you can see, maybe not a show, but at least an episode focused on them.

She is the weakest link, no better than that guy hiding Tender’s financial records in the sticks.

Overall

Our Overall Rating [79/100]

While there are blemishes, the OG characters of Industry more than compensate and push the idea that, while the show can’t go on forever, it at least can maintain for another season.

What To Check Out Next

Visit our main TV shows page! There you’ll find other shows we’ve covered or look below for more of our coverage for this series:

• 

  Industry: Season 4 Episode 8 – Season Finale Recap and Review

  They always say give a person a little money, a little power, and they’ll show you who they truly are.

• 

  Industry: Season 4 Episode 7 – Recap and Review

  As Tender’s foundation begins to sway and crack, many seek emergency exits. However, is it only Tender, but also Industry itself, some may need to worry about?

• 

  Industry: Season 4 Episode 6 – Recap and Review

  As Harper acts as a harpoon to Tender, it is revealed that she may not be prepared for what she has brought onto herself.

TV Shows We’re Covering This Season

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