Today, Binge returns to the HBO sleep hit Industry for a second season.
When we left Industry in season one, graduates Robert (Harry Lawty), Harper (Myha’la Herrold), Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and Gus (David Jonsson) had to give televised presentations in front of a panel of top management to prove their worth to Pierpoint & Co., and thus be taken on as full-time members of staff at the bank. Gus did a protest, while Robert’s presentation seemed to go okay until he got a nosebleed. Yasmin had the most solid performance, but her friendship with Harper took a turn after manipulating an awkward threesome between the pair and Robert.
Harper rounded out the first season by being instrumental in getting Eric (Ken Leung) fired after he aggressively locked her in a room and then rehired.
When season two picks up, a whole year has passed and the grads are no longer allowed to hide behind their graduate status. The trading floor is more charged up and paranoid than ever, so it’s all systems go at Pierpoint.
The first episode, which was offered for this review, sees Harper being forced to return to the office after working from a hotel room for the past year. A run-in with Yasmin is inevitable, but Harper also crosses paths with Jesse Boom (Jay Duplass), known as Mr COVID for his rare capital gains during the pandemic, and with whom she shares a hotel floor. Meanwhile Yasmin meets the mysterious Celeste Pacquet (Katrine De Candole), and Robert finds himself juggling his friendships with both Yasmin and Harper while also trying to get some of Pierpoint’s clients who haven’t traded in a while to start doing so.
The new additions this season already add to an impressive cast, and it’ll be interesting to see how they develop over the course of this season.
Writers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay have set up an interesting season will a compelling premiere episode.
4 Stars
Industry season 2 premieres today on Binge, with new episodes weekly.
