By Peg Aloi

HBO’s Industry is an intense and highly intelligent series that just seems to keep getting better and better.

The cast of Industry. Photo: HBO

Now that the third season of HBO’s Industry is over halfway through, I can hopefully offer my non spoiler thoughts about an intense and highly intelligent series that keeps getting better and better. With at least four main characters undergoing intense personal turmoil, the dramatic stakes have gone up considerably this season. Of course, any show can kick up the melodrama and we expect this in character-driven storylines. Industry continues to soar above the average workplace drama because it demands that audiences pay attention to the subtle interactions and bespoke lingo of this world of high finance, within which these imperfect and often very messy people live, love, and work.

In seasons one and two, Harper Stern (Myha’la) was the default eyes and ears character for the viewer, the one around whom other characters’ trajectories coalesced. In the third season, Harper perspective is receiving less emphasis, perhaps so others in her orbit to come into focus. Having lost her job at Pierpoint, Harper now works as an administrative assistant to investor Anna Gearing (Elena Saurel). But she soon goes rogue and teams up with her boss’ partner Petra (Sarah Goldberg) to form a new investment firm. Yet, as her ambition grows and her knack for being in the right place at the right time continues, we see Harper enacting forms of petty revenge on previous co-workers and employers, especially former mentor Eric (Ken Leung). Robert Spearing (a tremendous performance by the young Harry Lawtey) and Yasmin Kara-Hanani (the luminous Marisa Abela) remain central characters; both started at Pierpoint as young grads at the same time as Harper. For its first two seasons, the show followed these young professionals as their work, home, and social lives progressed and converged.

Season three begins with the unfolding of various tragic and traumatic events and situations. Robert has started dating Venetia (Indy Lewis), a recent grad hire. But he maintains a secret connection to his domineering client Nicole (Sarah Parish), who in the season two finale seemed about to be exposed for sexual harassment of his female coworkers. When Robert’s relationship with Nicole ends abruptly in season three’s first episode, he is left grief stricken and emotionally flailing. But he quickly gets his footing; the rest of the season finds him struggling to find his place at Pierpoint, which is increasingly showing signs of collapse. Robert has also become a handler for a very high profile wealthy client, Lord Henry Muck (Game of Thrones’ excellent Kit Harington) a member of the landed English gentry who fancies himself an innovative tech bro. Robert helps steer Henry through setting up the IPO of his utility company Lumi, a venture that quickly proves disastrous for all involved. The financial and political implications of the IPO’s failure are powerful enough to eventually threaten Robert’s position in the company. On top of that, as Robert grows closer to Henry he sees the billionaire’s selfish and unstable behavior, and is troubled by Yasmin’s closeness to Henry.

Myha’la as Harper Stern in Industry. Photo: HBO

Meanwhile, Yasmin’s story arc is one of persecution and trauma, as the disappearance of her father Charles (Adam Levy) in the midst of a catastrophic embezzlement scandal finds her dodging paparazzi right and left. Harper still seems to be Yasmin’s faithful and supportive friend but, as ever, Harper prioritizes ambition over loyalty. The long-smoldering attraction between Yasmin and Robert seems poised to ignite again, a potential balm to Yasmin’s turmoil. Interestingly, Robert seems to be the only character who evolves this season, seemingly having bested his demons of drugs and drink. And Lawtey gives a nuanced, all-in performance that is stunning to watch.

In season three, the protagonists in the series are reckoning with intense struggles. Psychologically, they are either adapting, growing, or self-destructing. Two characters move from the background into the foreground: Eric and Rishi (Sagar Radia). Eric is given a prestigious promotion at Pierpoint, just as the company’s backing of the Lumi IPO crashes, creating irrevocable damage. Eric’s marriage is ending, and he begins to indulge in increasingly irresponsible behavior. But Eric’s volatile personal life pales in comparison to what Rishi, the arrogant trading floor manager, undergoes during this season.

Chastised at work for inappropriate language towards female employees and taking dangerous risks with company funds, Rishi reacts against criticism with an attitude of angry entitlement — he believes he’s irreplaceable. He and his wife have a new baby and they have moved into a cottage in the genteel village where she grew up. But Rishi’s emotional dissatisfaction takes destructive turns; his addiction to cocaine and gambling threaten his financial stability and his marriage. As the two men’s situations and behaviors fall apart, Leung and Radia supply brilliant performances, supported by top-notch writing and directing.

Marisa Abela as Yasmin Kara-Hanani in Industry. Photo: HBO

The creators and show running team of Mickey Down and Konrad Kay have consistently chosen writers and episode directors who scrupulously maintain the series’ distinctive style and vision. Despite the intricate, often bespoke dialogue, the story frequently progresses via wordless looks and interactions between characters, and the stellar cast shines in these moments. There are various characters that I miss dearly, like Gus (David Jonsson) and Jesse (Jay Duplass), and some old faves who appear only briefly, like Greg (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), Kenny (Conor MacNeill), and Maxim (Nicholas Bishop). But there are also new characters I love, such as Otto Mostyn (Roger Barclay), a charming but devious investor, and Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche), a social media influencer whose shallow affect belies that fact that she is a highly intelligent employee with an uncanny ability to see the institution’s big picture. There are life-shaking changes taking place at Pierpoint and in the lives of Industry’s main characters: an eagerly-anticipated season four can’t come soon enough.

Peg Aloi is a former film critic for the Boston Phoenix and member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Alliance for Women Film Journalists. She taught film studies in Boston for over a decade. She has written on film, TV, and culture for web publications like Time, Vice, Polygon, Bustle, Dread Central, Mic, Orlando Weekly, Refinery29, and Bloody Disgusting. Her blog “The Witching Hour” can be found on substack.