The Succession-meets-Euphoria series that is HBO‘s Industry returns for another round with its young London traders awash in changing fortunes. And if you haven’t bought into this blue-chip drama, this is the season to go all in.
Within the world of high-end finance at fictional Pierpoint & Co. investment bank, showrunners Mickey Down and Konrad Kay have crafted an amorality tale that’s both soapy and wildly sophisticated, thanks to a charismatic ensemble deftly portraying messy, ambitious upstarts.
For Season 3, Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington signs on as Sir Henry Muck, the quirky CEO of a green tech energy company about to go public. Think a cheekier Elon Musk for the sustainable crowd.
“The thing that attracted Kit to the show was the fact that it’s very unlike stuff that he’s played before,” notes Kay. “He joked with us that in 10 years of Game of Thrones, he didn’t make a single joke, and he’s got a very sharp sense of humor.” He’ll need it. Partnered with the bank’s unluckiest associate Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey), Muck’s splashy launch is set to hit a massive snag, throwing the firm — and several futures — into chaos.
Rob’s publishing-heiress flatmate Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Back to Black’s Marisa Abela) is in an equally prickly position on two fronts: Her hedonistic dad has gone off the grid amid embezzlement allegations, and Muck is intent to mix business and his unconventional idea of pleasure with her.
As for their third roomie, Harper Stern (Myha’la), let’s just say she’s entering her “shark era.” Having been fired from Pierpoint last season for forging her transcripts, the American college dropout has reinvented herself at a hedge fund group with an eye on one-upping her former boss and mentor Eric Tao (Ken Leung).
“She has a very chameleon-like [energy],” suggests Down. “That’s her Patricia Highsmith kind of character trait.” Which will come in handy once she and one of her frenemies get caught up in a mystery halfway into the season.
Industry, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, August 11, 9/8c, HBO