The time is finally here! Real television has returned to our screens. Industry, HBO’s finance drama following a group of young bankers dealing with sex, drugs, and more money than most of us will see in our lives, premiered its third season on August 11th.
I got the opportunity to interview some of the cast at the official Season 3 premiere at The Metrograph in New York City last week. You can watch what stars Myha’la, Ken Leung, and Sagar Radia had to say about what’s new this season and what Industry’s audience support means to them.
When you finish watching, you can also find my review of Season 3 below.
After Season 2’s shocking finale, Season 3 sees each character take on new challenges as the dynamics between them all have shifted entirely, especially in the wake of Pierpoint’s effort to revolutionize their business and partake in “ethical investing”. Eric (Ken Leung) is thrust into a new position in the company, Yasmin (Marisa Abela) sees herself stepping into Harper’s shadow on the desk, Rob (Harry Lawtey) manages his feelings toward the women in his life and his new responsibilities at work, and Harper tries to claw her way back to the top.
Audiences will also see returning characters Nicole (Sarah Parish), Venetia (Indy Lewis), Kenny (Connor MacNeill), Anna (Elena Saurel), Anraj (Irfan Shamji), Eric’s mentor Bill Adler (Trevor White), Yasmin’s father Charles (Adam Levy), and fan-favorite Rishi (Sagar Radia) who takes on a much bigger role this season than just smart-ass quips shouted across the trading floor. We dig deeper into Rishi’s home life and the vices that motivate him in a thrilling episode that will give you the same heart palpitations you usually get when watching Harper’s decision-making.
We are also introduced to new characters Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche), Lord Norton (Andrew Havill), Otto Mostyn (Roger Barclay), Ali El Mansour (Fady Elsayed), Denise Oldroyd (Fiona Button) and Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg) FutureDawn portfolio manager who forms an unlikely partnership with Harper as the season progresses. HBO alum Kit Harrington is reintroduced to audiences as Sir Henry Muck, the head of the “splashy new IPO” Lumi—a green tech energy company promising to democratize renewable energy and Pierpoint’s shiny new investment.
Photo : Copyright © Simon Ridgway 2023 – www.simonridgway.com – pictures@simonridgway.com – 07973 442527 | Caption : 6.05.23 – Industry 3, Block 1 Day 15. Sc.1/44, 2/02 – INT. EXCHANGE – LOWER BALCONY : The stock exchange plunges into darkness. The light return and HENRY wants to know if trading has opened.
This season of Industry peels back the layers of the current state of politics, media, and economics in England. If, like me, you were also having trouble making sense of all the finance jargon you’d heard thrown around, don’t worry too much. It’s a lot easier to track what’s going on without having to focus on facial expressions to know if Harper committed a crime or if Yasmin made a colossal mistake on the desk. And while I can’t say I understand economics and finance any more than I had when I first started watching, it truthfully doesn’t matter to me because, despite that, I still enjoy the show. If that was ever your barrier to finally starting the show, then just press play on Max right now. Besides, the finance bros on Reddit break everything down in layman’s terms after each episode.
As a massive fan of Industry, I feel Season three is the show’s best yet. Co-creators/writers/ directors/executive producers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay have outdone themselves. There’s still the same sexual tension, toxic friendships, bonkers decision-making, family trauma, stressful risk-taking, and screwed-up work politics that we’re used to– but everything is much, much bigger. The stakes couldn’t be higher, the avenues the characters are on have opened up the show in new ways, and each episode is filled with shocking twists that left my heart racing every episode. It’s explosive in the best way.
Where other shows sometimes misstep in their third season, Industry grows by leaps and bounds, taking its audience on a wild ride that sees each character reckon with themselves in ways they’d been repressing the last few years. With more attention and a bigger budget from HBO, I shudder to think of how much more expansive and thrilling Industry will become in a fourth season. Hopefully, HBO will allow the drama to step out of the shadow of its sister show, Succession, and give it the spotlight it finally deserves.
New episodes of Industry are released at 9 p.m. on Sundays on HBO and Max. Seasons one and two are currently available to stream on Max. You can also live-tweet each episode with #industryhbo on X (f.k.a Twitter).
