Kit Harington returns to Sunday nights on HBO as Sir Henry Muck on "Industry."
On the HBO drama series “Industry,” a baseball bat makes a recurring appearance. Early in the show’s first season, which follows a group of recent college graduates during their cutthroat first year at the London office of fictional investment bank Pierpoint & Co., the baseball bat becomes synonymous with grizzled Pierpoint veteran Eric Tao ( Ken Leung ), who menacingly swings it around the trading floor. Equal parts mentor and adversary to his underlings, Eric reveals himself to be much more than he appears, thanks to the strength of the show’s writing and Leung’s decades of batting 1,000 in small but memorable roles.
But Eric’s baseball bat always returns, like in the show’s new season, when he tells the typically bombastic Rishi (Sagar Radia) to rein it in during a disastrous trading day. “You can’t threaten violence on the floor,” Eric says, baseball bat in hand.
Few shows create tension like “Industry,” a show that dials up the anxiety and takes big swings, all while punching far above its weight. In a given scene, you don’t have to know anything about the financial jargon being thrown around to know that something is going terribly, terribly wrong: a risky trade, a deal falling through, a character making an ill-advised decision.
During its first and second seasons, “Industry,” inspired by creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s experiences working in banking, built up a small but mighty fan base. Compared to some of HBO’s more high-profile series, it has never quite had the platform and reach it deserves. It has always felt like the show is just on the verge of becoming a phenomenon. Now, HBO executives finally seem to have noticed, giving “Industry” the network’s coveted Sunday 9 p.m. slot for its third season, which premiered Sunday.
At its best, this new season boldly and ambitiously reminds audiences why the show is so great. The show’s central trio — Harper ( Myha’la ), Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and Robert (Harry Lawtey) — are now more seasoned, no longer the fresh-faced grads from Season 1. After her stunning exit from Pierpoint, Harper, now at hedge fund FutureDawn, finds a new mentor in one of her new managers, Petra (“Barry” star Sarah Goldberg). Yasmin and Robert become tangled in a risky partnership with green tech startup Lumi and its old-money CEO, Sir Henry Muck (“Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington). Pierpoint is about to take Lumi public, which sets off the central arc of the season.
In addition to two HBO alums joining the cast, there’s a lot more ambition in Season 3. The show experiments with form, like different episodes taking different approaches with time ― or location-specific episodes, like an ill-fated yacht vacation, an anxiety-filled conference or an all-night bender.
Like its scheming characters, “Industry” has adeptly played the long game. There’s a confidence in its plot maneuvers, resulting in an emotional payoff when you realize the show has been laying the groundwork all along. That’s best encapsulated in the electrifying Season 2 finale , when Eric fires Harper, his protegée. In the moment, it felt like a stunning turn of events. But when the dust settles, you remember why it was exactly how the season needed to end.
By plunging us back into the action at the start of the season, the show immediately reminds us why it demands a viewer’s full and undivided attention. There’s so much to appreciate in the density of the writing and the way the show builds tension. Its characters lob vicious criticisms and out-scheme each other, culminating in thrilling confrontations and shocking bait-and-switches.
“Industry” has often been compared favorably to “Succession.” On one level, grouping them together does both shows a bit of a disservice: They happen to be set in similar worlds, but take vastly different angles. The latter is a family saga, and the former is more of a coming-of-age tale , each with a particular voice and cadence. Also, “Industry” deserves to stand on its own.
But if the comparison helps more people find the show, I’ll take it. Both series are a reminder that expensive spectacle is far from the only way to make prestige television. No need for dragons and blood when precise writing and acting can deliver blows that are just as stunningly explosive. A “less is more” portfolio is worth the gamble.
Season 3 of “Industry” premieres Sunday on HBO and airs weekly. HuffPost will be blogging this season of the show, so follow our coverage each week.
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