HBO’s banking drama has just launched its fourth series amidst some serious hype and with an even more star-studded cast than ever. It also takes its story and characters to chilling new places.
Back in 2020, a new drama about a group of graduate bankers trying to make it in London’s high-end finance world aired on TV for the first time. At the time, the biggest buzz about the HBO/BBC joint series “Industry” was that the first episode was directed by “Girls” creator Lena Dunham.
Initially, the show failed to generate much buzz on either side of the pond and garnered only marginal viewership. But six years on, and with the fourth series starting last weekend, the outlook is very different. Ratings increased 40% between seasons two and three, the show moved to a Sunday night slot on HBO, and its stars grace magazine covers. Certainly no one could have predicted at the time how much of a buzz it would become, or how terrifying it would become.
From its inception, the industry always offered the superficial appeal of 20-somethings partying and having sex in fancy places, but that was hardened by the toxic work culture they found themselves in. There, horrifying acts such as bullying, misogyny, harassment, and sexual assault seemed completely normalized.
Season 4, which is more anticipated than ever, has arrived and has added a star-studded cast, including Max Minghella from The Handmaid’s Tale and Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things. And from the opening episode, the tone is pitch black. Within minutes, the one-night stand turns out to be something more sinister, leaving a young woman (Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka) in a vulnerable position. Meanwhile, in a later scene played for grim laughs, anti-heroine Harper Stern (Maihara) reprimands an investor with the line, “If you’re going to have a stroke, do it outside my office,” but before he can do so, he actually has a stroke right in front of her, flipping over and smashing through her glass desk.
What to prepare
And fans of the industry are being told to buckle up. Later episodes will be far more traumatic as they unfold. Vulture’s Roxana Hadidi says: “The industry is operating in optimal bleak conditions…The cynicism is so strong that it is effectively on track.” Beren Edwards mashable described the new season as a “nightmarish cycle” with “stomach-wrenching depression”. wall street journal compares it to a “vampire story”. When the credits roll for the eight-part series in March, viewers may wonder if this is really the darkest show on TV right now.
Source: BBC Culture – www.bbc.com
