The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Industry Season 2
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen me gushing every Monday night about a little show called Industry.
Premiering on HBO back in 2020, Industry’s first season had a quiet launch. It follows a diverse young group of London investment bankers as they try to survive their first year in the workplace. One of the most underrated TV shows of that year, Industry is a wild romp. The complicated corporate dynamics, wild sex scenes, excessive drug use and more have led a lot of critics to call it a halfway point between Succession and Euphoria. But beneath the juicy drama was an intelligent show highlighting the ways race, class, nationality, gender and more can affect employees in old age institutions.
While season one only gained a small cult following, it was enough to get it renewed for a second, which just concluded this Monday. The first run of eight episodes was a solid, well made entry, but what followed was a genuine stunner of a season, upping the stakes, emotions, twists and turns into what I believe is one of the best things out right now. So I’m gonna do a brief run down of the good, the bad and the ugly of Industry’s second season.
The Good
Out of the Office
One of the most refreshing changes this season was seeing our characters’ out of the office more. No longer does Industry feel like just a work drama, now everyone’s lives feel richer and more developed. In the jaw dropping “Kitchen Season”, Harper, Yasmin and Rob confront their old family traumas and it is maybe one of the most painful hours of TV I’ve seen yet.
Harper finding her long lost brother and coming to the soul wrenching realization that she was the one who pushed him away and towards an addiction was devastating. While frequent drug use is the norm on this show, I think we all winced seeing the siblings take meth as they attempted to reconnect and understand where their relationship went wrong and unpack the role their emotionally abusive mother played in their lives.
Myha'la Herrold and Adain Bradley is the sort of kismet casting that many showrunners can only dream of having. The charged conversation that happens near the end of the episode feels like a knife twisting in your heart as Harper is in tears and on her knees begging John to come back to her.
Blurry Lines
Professionalism and consent are explored even more, especially with Yasmin’s arc. She spent all of last season abused by her male superior and in the two year gap, she becomes even more hardened and disillusioned with life. This really comes to head when new graduate worker Venetia comes to the desk. Where Yasmin folds easily, Venetia isn’t afraid to call out the toxic company culture around her. Industry handles on such a sensitive topic was done with care as we see Yasmin’s boundaries breached with her new and old boss, her childhood best friend and even her own father.
When Yasmin eventually dismisses Nicole’s assault on Venetia and the CEO attempts to bury it, it emphasizes just how wide reaching complicity is and that even as a victim Yasmin still continues the cycle of abuse around her.
Higher Stakes, Stronger Twists
The way Industry manages to make stock trading seem as thrilling as a UFC fight is a testament to the strong direction on this show. The frenzied electronic score and tight camerawork literally raises my heart rate up as the investment bankers make risky deals and trades with seconds to spare. Twists aren’t just thrown around for the sake of drama, every move is carefully orchestrated by the writers. Personal favorite is in “The Fool”, when Harper coldly betrays her mentor and his client. The shot of Harper back in the office after sneaking away early from the Wales work trip to make an unauthorized trade gave me chills.
Compelling New Characters
Season two brought in a whole batch of new characters but my two personal favorites were Jesse Bloom and Venetia Berens. Played by Jay Duplass, Jesse feels so typically American. His casualness and slight indifference to the more stuffy British work culture is a fun change of pace but his relaxed nature hides just how cunning the self made billionaire really is. It seems like Eric is the only one who noticed straight away that he doesn’t have the purest of intentions, it makes him double crossing Harper in the finale all the more pointed.
Venetia acts as foil to both Yasmin and Rob as a young graduate working at Pierpoint. She’s not afraid to call it like she sees it, putting her foot down to the unprofessionalism that is running rampant through the bank. Venetia represents that there can be a change in these places, there is always hope. Let’s just pray she doesn’t get too traumatized along the way.
Loose Ends
Not every character made it to the second season. I appreciated the writers not forgetting to give us some closure on some of the supporting characters from season one. Greg finally makes it as an author but Clemens tragically passes away. But the best return was easily Daria in episode 7, “Lone Wolf and Club”. Her walk into Harper, Eric and Rishi’s interview was one of the best cameos I’ve seen yet. It only lasted two minutes, but her revenge on Harper after she betrayed in the season one finale was much earned.
The Bad
I don’t have much to complain about for Industry’s season two, but there’s always some nitpicks here or there. Our four main characters’ storylines felt very splintered this season even though three of them are literally roommates. While Harper and Yasmin shared several tension-filled scenes as they slowly repaired their friendship over the season, Gus and Rob had few interactions with the other women or even each other.
It’s understandable, as the four once graduates move along in their careers, it’s realistic that they’d form a new stable of colleagues. Still I can’t help but miss some of the lightness the early friendship among the four leads provided us. Harper and Gus being the only two black main characters have probably shared three scenes in total in the entire show’s run, a note I can’t ignore as much as enjoy this show.
The Ugly
This is going to sound harsh but I just did not like Daniel's actor this season. Daniel Van Deventer, also affectionately called DVD, puzzled me as a character for most of Industry’s sophomore run. A seemingly square, by the books manager at Pierpoint I assumed like many viewers that he would be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, getting closer to Harper to take advantage of her and to help move the CPS desk to New York City. I braced myself for a twist that never came and in the end DVD was just a truly good guy, naïve and blinded by the institution he thought would actually do right by him. His realization that his white boss preferred him as a subservient lackey and had no intentions of ever promoting or respecting him was a great moment, but it all lacked a bit for me on the performance side.
I think a more capable actor would’ve developed the complicated layers necessary to make the character more interesting. His scenes with Harper felt oddly dry and lacking in chemistry as well, it was hard for us to believe that these two had so much undeniable tension like the writers seemed to imply.
Nevertheless, some sore spots here or there does not take away from the fact that Industry is one of the smartest, most tightly written dramas out right now. Konrad Kay and Mickey Down have used their previous investment banking experiences to truly create something special. I hope more people check it out and HBO greenlights season three.