Industry

This show is very intriguing and frustrating at the same time. It's a good story and with a talented cast but my struggle is with the characters. There is absolutely nothing to like about these characters. Even the "bad" guy in a film can exhibit some human emotions that the audience can identify with but the characters in Industry have no redeeming qualities. They're arrogant, rude, self centered, morally depraved people.

The most annoying character is Harper. There's nothing sympathetic about her. She is so ill mannered, manipulative, expresses poor judgement, and a pathological liar. She always looks like a deer in the headlights. She's a deeply sad and depressing character. Yet I'm still watching and holding out hope that someone in the show will emerge as decent person or at least redeemable.

The first season of Industry begins right away in an intense atmosphere, marked by competitiveness, in a world where you have to be a predator. You immediately sense that these are young climbers ready to do whatever it takes to make money. The series paints varied portraits, but ones that, deep down, are quite similar.

I'll start with the negative point before moving on to the many positives. The main flaw is this tendency to repeat the same pattern from one episode to the next, as we've seen in other series before it, such as Euphoria, Elite, or, more long ago, that series SKINS.

It's this inclination to portray characters who are completely desperate, trapped in addiction, moving from party to excess. There are also completely unnecessary sex scenes, included only to provoke, without adding anything to the main storyline. They're there to keep the attention of an audience unfortunately drawn to what is trashy, to what is "dirty." This point hurts the series, which could have been perfect without these excesses.

One very important thing about the series is its ability to develop these characters within a similar routine - because it's the same day, their workday, the same main activity of the company. So the challenge is: how do you make characters engaging in such a strict, closed setting, with particular rules? This is a challenge the series succeeds in brilliantly, because these characters have a certain fragility that we can perceive just through a look, through suggestion, through the weight the character carries behind them, and the pressure they endure day after day. We can quickly identify with these characters, especially if we are part of an entrepreneurial world or work for a multinational.

From there come the positive points, which are numerous. First, the realism of the characters and a certain honesty, whether in their sensitivity, fragility, illusions, emptiness, or cruelty. Some move through this universe like pawns, aware of their status, yet still striving to become kings and prove their place within the company. The series perfectly addresses this addiction to work, this constant tension, this universe of modern slavery, in a world still largely dominated by men. (Either we accept it or refuse)

That's why Harper, in a way, has to "become a man" - and she does, which is remarkable - while the other characters remain incomplete.

This is a really good show, but it took time to find its footing. You have to get through the first season and then it gets better and better for the second and third. I honestly wasn't motivated to watch some episodes early on, but I knew there were seeds of a great show. Writing is excellent in the third season and acting is fantastic throughout. Ken Leung for the win.

That said, you have to like antiheroes and shows about horrible people doing bad things as a commentary on social structures, ego, and past trauma. The show asks what you would do for power, ambition, and money. It's also a classic HBO show with slightly excessive sex and drugs. But it fits into the character, narratives and traumas.

Great acting by great actors I must say. I have worked in Corporate (a bit less intense than trading though) and I recognize plenty of situations. The script is really good. The only thing that does bother me, and it is mostly in season one is the graphics of the intimate scenes... as audience we do get what is going on, we do not need to see every single detail. If this would have been solved in a more classy way , I would have given a 9/10. Note: plenty of language errors in the Dutch subtitles but ok.

Industry is not so much a drama as it is a masterclass in how to populate a show with the most detestable characters imaginable. Every episode is a parade of egotism, emotional immaturity, and moral bankruptcy. And not in a thought-provoking or satirical way-just pure, unfiltered unpleasantness.

Yasmine and Harper, in particular, deserve special mention. Yasmine is a painfully self-involved narcissist masquerading as someone emotionally fragile. Her presence is a constant reminder that privilege without self-awareness is a recipe for disaster. Then there's Harper, whose entire personality seems to be built around being emotionally unavailable and self-sabotaging. The show wants us to believe she's deep, complicated, and brilliant. In reality, she's just cold, reckless, and exhausting to watch.

I kept watching for one reason only: the hope that one day, finally, these two would face the consequences of their actions. Every episode feels like a waiting game to see if karma will catch up with them. So far, it hasn't-but I live in hope.

The writing lacks any real critique of the toxic corporate culture it claims to depict. Instead, it indulges in it. The result is a hollow, joyless slog through the worst people doing the worst things for the worst reasons.

If you're looking for nuanced characters or meaningful insight, look elsewhere. If you're watching out of pure schadenfreude, welcome to the club.