The Prestige TV Podcast - ‘Industry’ Season 3 Premiere: Embezzlement, Tech Bros, and (More) Debauchery

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Charles Holmes and Jodi Walker hide from the paparazzi to recap the Season 3 premiere of ‘Industry.’ They discuss their relationship with the intense HBO drama dating back to its first season, how the role reversal of Yasmin and Harper makes for an intriguing twist, and why Kit Harington is an excellent addition to the cast (2:31). Along the way, they talk about Ken Leung’s electric performance as Eric and how he serves as the North Star character for the series (22:29). Later, they debate whether the visceral portrayal of sex on ‘Industry’ is invigorating, repulsive, or both (29:24). Hosts: Charles Holmes and Jodi Walker Producer: Kai Grady Additional Production Support: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the fall of 2014, a group of hackers pulled off the biggest Hollywood heist of all time. They broke into computer servers belonging to Sony Pictures and released hundreds of thousands of top secret documents. The attack would cause an international incident, upbent thousands of lives, and changed the movie industry forever. From Spotify and the Ringer podcast network, I'm Brian Raftery, and this is the Hollywood Hack. Listen on the big picture feed, starting August 19th. This episode is brought to by Whole Foods Market. Spring is here, so celebrate it with fresh, juicy, seasonal produce and some very tasty, limited time flavors.

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Good sleep is everything. That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-thianine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. You're racing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ollie's Sleep Solutions for the Whole Family at Ali.com. That's OLLLY.com. Welcome to the Prestige TV podcast. My name is Charles Holmes.

One half the Midnight Boys. Poo-Pew! She's Jody Walker. One half of we're obsessed. But today, I'm here to remind you all one very important thing. I'm a podcaster and I'm relentless. Say it with me, Jody. I'm a podcaster.

I'm a podcaster. And I'm relentless. That's right. We're here to discuss the season premiere of industry, season three. Jode, how are you doing? How is your screener watch of the premiere episode?

You know, I'm doing great. As usual, I understand about 20% of what is happening in industry. But, you know, that's why I'm so thrilled to be here with you,

Charles, because I know that you're really big on ethical investment baskets, so I'm sure that you can walk us through that. Here's a thing. It's very funny that TV critics,

uh, journalists have to cover this show because I know, like, I know how smart other TV critics are and I'm like, y'all don't know half the shit they talk about on the show. Neither do I, because I'll be like, they'll be like, yeah, yeah, the ethical fund of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, sure,

sure. And then some tities and some coke come out and I'm just like, I understand. Right. That's the language I speak. We're smart in that liberal arts sort of way, you know? Exactly. We're not smart in that investment trading sort of way. I believe Kit Harrington called us tote bag journalists in this episode.

of television. I don't totally know what that means, but my closet full of tote bags does. I'm not a tote bag journalist. I feel like you have to work at the New Yorker to be a tote bag journalist. At the ringer, they didn't give me a tote bag, you know?

They gave me a hoodie, which when I wear around, people were like, yo, you're from the ringer, and I'm just like, I'm never wearing this hoodie again. We are absolutely hoodie journalist, that's for sure. We're hoodie journalists. But before we get into this episode, I want to know for you

what your relationship to industry is because it's such an interesting show where the first season I believe came out when I had just come to the ringer and I was a fan of the watch before that. Industry's the best show so I just had started watching it. And it's funny.

I always forget that industry exists until it comes back. And then I'm just like, this is one of my favorite shows. I love this show. But it has that weird, almost soap opera feel to it. When I'm not watching it,

I'm just like, oh, I'm living my life. And then when industry is back, I'm like, so glued in to these crazy motherfuckers' lives. So what's your relationship to this show? Yeah, I think that's like a safety mechanism. That's you protecting yourself, forgetting about it from season to season, because this show is

so intense. I've been watching it since the beginning. It's kind of like, while being so intense and so stressful, it's like the bear in that it's like type two fun. You know, you're not having a good time in the moment, but you're having a good time. time looking back at it, it's still like, it's this very small thing. You know, it doesn't have a huge audience. It's definitely like garnered a cult following. It has small seasons. There are eight episodes. So it's just each season drops like this real stressful moment in time. And then you get a

long recovery period. But I'm always so glad when it's back. The show is so weird. And you were like joking, you know, that we relate to this show a lot. It's a lot like our, uh, Hoodie journalism lifestyles. Yeah, this is, ringer journalist and podcasters, we'd be living it up just like investment pickers. Yeah, this podcast brought to you by cocaine. Just kidding. It's like you don't relate to it,

but there is such a deep normalcy to some parts of this show. And for me, you know, we recapped, Waz and I recapped Season 2 on Prestige TV. What was that two years ago now? We talked a lot about the sex on the show. I think is like one of the most fascinating parts of industry is how it viscerally portrays sex and also like ruining your own life.

It's just there's nothing else like it on television. No, I totally agree. And to your point about it being almost a cult show, I think the thing that I enjoy about this is that when you're watching the, when a show gets too big and I feel like we'll answer this later, but a lot of the questions surrounding season 3 of Industries like, Can it make that leap now that it's in the HBO Sunday night slot? I think the thing that I've always liked about industry is once the bear or succession or any of these shows get too big, it's almost the chatter around it becomes too much.

It becomes like people just arguing about you. You don't really understand the show. You're not really watching the show with industry because it's still so small. I'm like, I can enjoy it with my friends. We can talk about it. We're all having fun. And I don't have to argue it. There's something very, like, private and intimate about loving industry.

You know, it's like we're a collective. And especially if you've been there since the beginning, I mean, been watching this show for four years, you know, it's like there's, and also the character, there's something very intimate about knowing these characters. Like, in some ways, you get nothing from them. You don't see their families. You don't always, you don't go home with them. And then in some ways, you are getting, like, the.

deepest, nastiest recesses of their psyches and their privates and, like, literally everything, you know, so you get so much from them. And this show also just burns through plot. So, like, you're watching a lot happen. So talking about burning through plot, do you mind if I give people a recap of the season premiere? I would love it. Hell yeah. So episode title, I'm going to butcher this episode title. El Matino. Ha Laora Boka. Did I say that, right? I didn't see it.

I think you definitely hit the H on Ha pretty hard, but other than that, flawless. Thank you. Directed by Isabella Ecklaw, written and created by Mickey Down and Codrad K. We begin with Yaz, aka the embezzler Harris, is in the midst of a publicity nightmare in the wake of her father's fall from grace last season. Harper is now glorified secretary at an ethical investment fund trying to get back on the trading desk. Robert handles the eccentric Henry Muck, the CEO of Loomie, a green energy, start up on the even of an IP. He's also continued his sexual relationship with Nicole, a Pierpoint client who preys on young traders, but by episodes end, Rob wakes up to find her dead

body. While Eric becomes a partner at Pierpoint, it is told that he needs to fire somebody. The bulk of the episode follows the revelation that Henry has been messing with the books to make Loomie appear more financially stable on paper, which causes an investor to pull out. After Coke binge with Yas, Eric fires Kenny and tells Rob to get his shit together on IPO day, and as Loomie is about to go public, there's an electrical grid shutdown. that sends Pierpoint into disarray. Now my first question for you, Joad. What I found interesting about this

is the promotional materials for industry season three. A lot of the trailers have signaled to me that Yaz is either the protagonist of the season or is going to be the character that's driving the thrust of the narrative. How do you feel like in the first episode

that maybe transitioned from focusing more on Yaz and her journey versus Harper, who was really like our character for the first two seasons? You know, I will say first that I miss Harper. Like, it was,

we were 10 minutes in, and we hadn't even seen her fresh pixie cut, and I was a little bit just like, where is Harper, who we've been hanging, who's, you know, just been hanging on by a thread,

moving forward, like a shark who, if she stops, she'll die. for two seasons. And so for me, there was something a little unmooring about not having her particular brand of sociopathic narcissism

anchoring us somehow. I am on board to learn more about Yaz. Because for me, Yasmin's always been a bit of a tougher hang. She is much like many of our characters, morally murky, very self-involved, but a lot of hers comes from what we've seen as like entitlement, wealth, privilege.

And those are not things that naturally endear you to someone, even like a bad, you know, these are all characters who are kind of monsters, but we love them or we want the best for them or we want them to succeed or something. Yaz's is like the murkiest of them all because why, why would we want her to? succeed or why would we want her to not ruin her own life and not make these bad decisions?

But the further involvement of her father is certainly interesting. And he, I wouldn't say those scenes hit for me a lot in season two, but they make a lot of more sense going into season three as we learn more about the ways in which she is also broken, just like Harper is broken, and what motivates the... these terrible, awful decisions that she makes. So, like, I'm, I would say that I'm on board and I'd say that the season premiere does a good job of using her as the anchor.

And definitely, I think just as I was about to be like, I don't know about this, they brought in that scene with Eric and that strange lawyer doing headstands in the background, and I was like, yeah, okay. Best scene of the episode, but it's funny, I was out on Harper by season two. Not because she's a fascinating character,

but she's a character that burns so bright and she doesn't have like the Kendall Roy thing where there's like, there is a thing about Kendall where he is so wounded but funny and just kind of like don't really take him seriously. He is such a comedic character where it's like, even when he's at the bottom of the bottom,

he'll do something where I'm like, oh, he's a douche. Where Harper is like, she knows who she is, she's hyper-competent. People call her a narcissist all the time. She's never fighting against. this, it's not like Kendall.

Like, to me, it's funny. Like, Succession, obviously, there's been a lot of comparisons between Succession and industry, but for like Kendall and Harper, it's funny how, like, Kendall wants people to like him, and that's the thing that keeps you laughing. Where it's like, by the end of season, too, I'm like, Harper don't care. She's smoking meth.

She's burning out. It's hard to watch that character for two seasons. Just live life at that clip. And I was wondering in season three, how much further do you have, can you push that? I thought it was actually interesting that now Harper is on the back foot. We get to see her again doing the thing that she does best,

which is like climbing out of the muck. And I thought it was interesting seeing Yaz and Eric where I was like, oh, these two characters really have never talked before on the show. It's like the later seasons of friends when they start putting like Phoebe and Chandler together and you're like, what's going on here? Like these aren't the friends. But no, I think you make a great point. I think it is smart of them to me.

make this transition. It might be a touch rocky. But I think a question that industry like boldly refuses to ask is what does Harper want? Like it really is pretty uninterested in what motivates her because she's uninterested in what motivates her. She just like keeps moving forward like a juggernaut. So it actually is pretty interesting and dynamic to then watch her force herself to sit still. likely all in an effort to then blow everything up again. But there's also, there's a new character who has warmed her way in my heart. Oh, Sweet Pee. I love Sweet Pee.

I like her too. Maybe for different reasons. Is that her real name? I don't know. That's, I was, here's the thing. I didn't have subtitles. I was reading like an article called just Sweet Pee. I had heard Sweet Pee and I was just like, I'm just going to call her sweet Pee.

When her filming herself, because I always, my pet peeve, prestige TV shows. is I feel like they write what's the what's under us are we millennials what's under us gen z Gen Z yeah sweet pee's like Gen Z they always write Gen Z characters just very poorly and I felt like Swipy was the right level

of obnoxious about how much she wants fame and success and riches but also endearing in how yes to your point is very much a tough hang sometimes I'm like all right stop complaining about being rich. And Sweetie is just like, hey, girl,

there's nothing to worry about. She's smart. I mean, they play her. I really liked her too. I thought that was some efficient writing on that character. Like she is getting things in quick. All of her lines really like portray who she is.

She's this, you know, could be this kind of vapid. I'm filming myself on the floor sort of character. But then when Yaz tries to take her down a notch, tries to be like, hey, this is your full-time job. Why don't you get me those yada yada yada papers I need? And she was like, they're under your hand, baby.

I'm good at what I do. I'm good at my job. And she had a line I really loved when Eric's twins are in the building. And he says, my wife's trying to punish me. And she says, with your own kids, like, she has the sharp Gen Z. I'm not putting up with this shit. And the way that, and you know, they kind of did that last. with the Venetia character as this sharp contrast to Yasmin

and how she is handling the hierarchy of this kind of old school industry. And then I like showing like a totally different, and, and Venetia is very sort of like, woke, and I don't have to put up with this. And then I find that Sweet Pea is coming at it from this totally different angle. And I think there's a small suggestion

that she is maybe hooking up with Rishi. I don't know if we're gonna see that. play out. Did you see that little headnot she gave him? Oh, I saw it. I was just like Rishi, you damn dog. Like, Rishi's my, here's a thing. Rishi's my boy in spirit even if I don't necessarily condone

how he acts. But Rishi, I'm just like, hey, man, I need more. But, sweet P, I don't know how old she is Rishi, disgusting. Don't do that. Now, don't do that. How do we feel about the celebrity entering this space? Kit Harrington. Kit Harrington, he plays the, I guess, CEO of Loomy, Henry Muck.

And before, when he was announced, I'm like, oh, John Snow is going to be in fucking industry. That's dope. But I got a little worried because I'm always like, it's always 50% when a really, really famous actor comes in to an already established show, whether it's going to kind of feel just like a prop or something that they're pointing at. And after an episode, I was like, Kit Harrington has that sleazy thing about him that, to me, that really worked. I'm not calling Kit Harrington sleazy. I'm more so saying that he understands something about, I think, this type of UK person where I was just like, hmm, I'm interested in him. I'm interested in him. I'm interested in Yaz. I felt like he added an energy to the show.

He kind of gave Rob. Rob is probably one of the characters. I've always been like, I don't know if y'all know what you want to do with Rob. and it gave Rob someone to bounce off of. What did you think of Kit? We'll get back to Rob because I love Rob. You love Rob. Rob's your guy?

Yeah, Rob's my guy. I thrive on other people's sadness and he's so sad. No, I'm like Eric. I'm literally the dude leading Rob out when he's crying and being like, hey, bro, come on, pick it up. Like, hey. Do you want to know the note that I made when Rob was having his breakdown crying on the floor? Why won't anyone hug Rob?

Like literally his girlfriend is looking at him. His best friend, Yaz is looking at him. Why won't anyone just hug Rob? That did, that did, that did annoy me. I was like, he's, I was like, they're literally a roommate now and a woman that you are probably so love with. And then your current girlfriend is here. And everybody's just like staring at him crying. And I'm just like, you could, even if it's, if it's not even a hug, could we do a light back rub for Rob?

Just be like, it'll be okay, hon. It'll be okay. And then it seems like Eric, I really thought Eric was going to give him a hug. He doesn't give him a hug. He takes him off the floor. He hits them with the, it's okay. You know, things bubble up. We, we, you have to have your feelings sometimes.

A five second switch up from we have to have our feelings sometimes to get it together, you pussy. Like it was an unbelievable turnaround from Eric. But, you know, extremely, extremely expected. To answer your question about Kit Harrington, I don't. want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I guess I don't think of Kit Harrington as like extremely famous. He is definitely more of a name than most

people who started on industry in season one. He's HBO famous. Here's the thing. The post Game of Thrones acting for him has been choppy, but I would still say he's a famous actor because when he's nobody's going to probably go out of the street, like, you're Kid Harrington, but if he walks down any street, you're John Snow.

Totally. That's a, I will see the floor to you that he's had a, a rough go is a lot of post-game of Thrones careers have. He's got a famous face on him. That's for sure. Like, he is super recognizable. So to put him in a show like this is interesting. And, yeah, I found that he fit in flawlessly. And I think I expected, like, from the promotional posters, like you mentioned earlier, just from knowing that he's been cast, from the intensity of his most famous role.

I assumed that he would be coming in as kind of like DVD from season two as just, you know, kind of like a cog in this wheel coming in to be intense and scream at Rob not to be a pussy, which is not off the table. He probably will still do that. But that he comes in as we first, the unraveling of his character, again, so efficient in its storytelling. We meet him as this like, Techbrough startup founder, he is wearing distinctly ill-fitting pants.

There's no reason for Kit Harrington to be in those pants except for them to be ill-fitting. He looks like a founder. He's kind of disheveled. He's wearing the t-shirt and the pants. He's waffling wildly back and forth between being like, you know, really sweet and in charge of this ethical business and then wanting to bang Rob's head into a table throw sandwiches against walls. And then the mid-episode reveal that he is, you know, Sir Henry, his uncle is a lord.

He is this blue-blooded British guy who is basically cosplaying Zuckerberg is perfect, you know? Like he, there's a lot more to him. Even that with that, it's been hinted at before, but even that with that reveal, he's shirtless. and you see what he is hiding under those clothes, which is an eight-pack, is just like, oh, this guy, there's nothing virtuous about what he's doing. It was great.

Would this move work on you, Jody? If a guy that looks like Kit Harrington invites you to a weird mysterious building that is very old, you walk down, it's him and a bunch of old men, playing handball. Are you just like, this is the man of my dreams,

this is my future husband, or are you just like, never contacting you again? Unfortunately, you had me a man who looks like Kit Harrington, but extending beyond that, if I think about it a little harder,

okay, also he sent her a Tesla, but beyond that... Whoa, whoa, whoa. How many cars are you being sent on a weekly basis where you're just like, you know what?

I'm not going to step in foot in a Tesla. I wouldn't either, but I'm just saying if no one's ever sent me a car. If someone sent me a Tesla, I'd be like, damn. But also, I got sent to car. Charles, I'm being sent enough cars to have opinions about it. I'll tell you that much. Hell yeah, let's go. He brings me to this weird handball club where they're doing

Illuminati stuff in the basement. I really, I have no problems with any of it. I was just like, what was your question? Like, he didn't, he just brought her there to show her the vibe. Like, he didn't ask her anything. He didn't do anything. I think I'd be like, don't waste my time, but you're going to get a second showing because you're rich and I'm interested in what rich people are up to for journalistic reasons.

When the class war starts, you're the first to go, Chode. Okay? You saw the money. You saw the eight pack. This is, you know what? You're no longer a sweatshirt journalist. You're a tote bag journalist. You're not one of us.

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Just steps from the water. The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you usually. Stay. Hilton for this day. We've kind of been talking around it, but obviously the most interesting scene to me this

season, the best written scene, comes late in the episode when Yaz is out with a lawyer friend of hers. They see Eric. It's revealed that Eric has gotten a divorce. Basically, the lawyer invites Eric back. There is debauchery. Before we kind of get into that scene, how are you feeling about Eric this season? Because I've always felt like that is a character that sometimes does feel like the North Star of this show because he's the oldest, because he is the mentor figure where it's like first it was Eric and Harper,

now it's Eric and Yaz. How do you feel about like Eric this season? Eric, like I'm with Yaz. Eric is terrifying. He's intimidating. You don't know what he's up to. He's been in this game for so long. He's seen it through a lot of seasons.

And he's adapted to, all of them, which is kind of like a scary thing to be under. I had this thought when I was rewatching season two that Eric and Harper are terrifying together, but they're even scarier apart because there is something about them together that anchors them to humanity, but when they're apart, they're anchored to nothing.

And now, knowing that he's separated from his wife, who, to be fair, the main thing we knew about them is they just loved calling each other cunts. They seemed to have sort of a toxic relationship as it was, but they're separated. He says he hasn't done Coke since 9-11,

and now he's back on the sauce. Greatest line of the episode, I haven't done Coke since not 11. I was like, God damn, industry is back. It's back. We're so back. But this performance by Kin Lung, I mean, is the, it's just, it is the actual anchor of the show.

I think, like, he's, he's so good. And in that moment when he looks at Yasvin and she's saying, like, you know, that she's scared of him, but that she's glad they're having fun together. And he just kind of laughs. He's like, yeah, I feel like we've skipped a lot of awkwardness here. It's so, like, he has this, like, realness to him. He really cuts through the screen. I don't know how else to say it.

Like, he just, he really comes through as a real person. who is completely unpredictable. So I just, I, like, remain in fear of Eric and in awe of how many times he can be fired and promoted at one company. I think the thing that's interesting about this season is that Eric's relationship with Harper was a relationship of, I think, respect of seeing himself in this other trader, seeing himself in someone who was really, really talented. and yes, to me, is not good at her job. What she's actually good at is existing in this world where it's like because she comes from money, she knows how to maneuver.

That's why I think Kent Harrington's character is attracted to her besides the physical is like, oh, no, you know, we are from the same world. We speak the same language. We know how to maneuver. And I think what's interesting is you have Eric, who they have that moment that's not Sweet Intender, because the way I read it is like,

yes is like revealing all her cards at that moment. She wants Eric to like her. She doesn't want to be fired. She wants to get close to her boss. And like he is at kind of his lowest where it's like he's revealed that he's out on a date, which is embarrassing. He's just gotten divorced. He's all up on Coke.

But you kind of see this like twinkle in his eyes where he's like, oh, I can control yes. Like I, when she's divulging everything, that's why I think he honestly. kind of gets rid of Kenny because I'm like, Kenny's good at his job. Whereas like with Yaz, he could just get Yas to do whatever she wants. She's just, she wants the validation so,

so bad. And I was like, that almost made me cringe at how Eric is looking at this situation where Eric is like, oh, I'm going to devour her. I'm going to destroy her. And I just felt like,

it was such a great thing for the creators to do to be like, let's show you the other side of a mentor-mentee relationship where it's not respect, it's kind of built on how can I control this person? Am I misreading that scene, maybe?

No, I think that is certainly the darkest read of it, but I think that it's right. I see him slightly more so as like getting her as like a part of his collection. Like he's keeping her as a doll on the shelf. And that's what most of the men in her life have done. she's as drawn to it as she is repulsed by it. Her desire for the validation of a non-respectable man is,

it's in her, it's in her blood, it's in her body, it's how she was raised. And so it makes a ton of sense that scene and how Eric plays it. And yeah, you're right. Like, it's a really interesting twist on the relationship with Harper which, like, in season two, Harper and DVD, who was also a mentee of Eric, are sort of relating over his, Eric's attraction

to people like him who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, who've made it out of whatever world they came from. But once they make it to his level, then he's repulsed by them. So there's somewhere in him going to be something attractive about Yaz as someone who will never level up. Yeah, like, she's not good at this job.

She's not made for it. There has never also in this scene been a less surprising reveal than that Yasmin has never been to therapy. It's like, oh, no shit. And she says- Oh, that was hilarious. I was like, girl, we can tell. We can-

She says, I'm scared of what might come out of my mouth. And I mean, you know, we haven't talked about it, but the scene that opens the episode where she, on this kind of mysterious boat trip that we keep flashing, we see big flashbacks to, we see small flashbacks too, and then we get the six weeks later title card

catching her dad, who is six weeks later now missing, going down on a yacht stewardess who is pregnant, it's a lot of, it's a lot of details. A lot of details. And no one does it like industry. So you had a question here that's interesting to me, which is sex on industry, invigorating or repulsive,

where I have basically, the sex to me and the drug use are one and the same in that sometimes it does kind of feel like how sex and drug use are in real life, where it's like it can be both invigorating and repulsive. And the way that it shot is so chaotic and it's so just like just two animals going at it, just trying to get their shit off. I always find one of the best things that the show does because all of these characters do have after work is their impulses. Because the actual work they're doing, Eric says, has a great limer.

It's like, this is all smoking mirrors. Like all of these characters know that they're leeches. All these characters know what they're doing is either actively making the world worse or just has no meaning in it of itself. So when Rob goes to have sex, like he gets up out of his bed with his girlfriend, goes over to Nicole. We've learned in previous seasons that Nicole basically preys on these young peer porn traders. And she's done this before. It's such an interesting thing that he has this beautiful girlfriend. home. He goes to this woman who is like, yes, beautiful, but also has been accused of some

heinous shit. And the sex between them is not shot in like a sexy way. It's shot in a just like, these are two empty humans just trying to find any glint of anything between each other. I thought that that scene was, even the scene of them talking afterwards, I thought it was just really, really well done. What about you? Oh, yeah. I think like the, the ongoing, going Nicole narrative, which is now absolutely shockingly come to an end. They wake up in the morning and she has died. That industry is always stressful and overwhelming, but I don't think it's not, it's rarely shocking because it's kind of like you couldn't be shocked by any of the bad

things that these people do anymore, but that she died was very shocking because I think there's this feeling that there will be some. sort of culmination of all the bad things that she's done, of the way that Rob has been brought into her orbit and can't escape it, the way that he is getting something from that as much as something is being taken away from him. And when he wakes up and she's dead, I think the feeling is like, no, there's, there will be no answers. There will be no comeuppance. Nothing will happen here. This woman was a poison.

And I find that that's a word that they used in season two is when Rishi and Harper have sex, he says, I needed to get the poison out. And like, ain't that the shit? Like, ain't that just a lot of the way that sex is portrayed on this show. And Harper asks GAS later, do you think I'm poison? And she says, do you think I am? And it's a lot of this, the reason I'm so fascinated by the sex scenes and the way that they're portrayed

is they are part passion, part poison. Like, part attraction, part disgust. And I think that's, you know, it's very true. Maybe not to like a life that we all live, but like at the most, in its most toxic way and the way that these characters are often at their most toxic selves, you're just like you don't see a lot of that on screen. I mean, I think the genius of this episode is like the two quasi-sex scenes where you have

Rob and Nicole, where he wakes up and she's dead. And then you have Eric who ends up sleeping with the lawyer. It's interesting that neither character is ever taken to task for the actual appraint shit that they do, to your point, where it's like there's no like, oh, Nicole is going to get her cummuppance. It's like, no one day she just wakes up dead. and that's it. She, like, was rich.

She fucked over a lot of people, and she's just dead. And then with Kenny, it was interesting where it's like, Kenny's a piece of shit. Like, he's obviously, like, turned his life around, but we know what he put Yas through.

And I thought that it was very interesting that Eric is divorced. He has a bunch of Coke with Yass and her friend. He sleeps with the friend. He's like, you know what? I can use YAS. YAS has given me some fun.

And the minute Kenny just brings up the fact that, like, yo, Eric, you're on the booze again. He's like, it's a metaphorical death. He's like, I'm going to cut you off at the knees. It's like, you're not sexy, you're not cool, you don't make me feel young, you're out of here. And I do bring up like that poison thing, it is interesting that this show does kind of treat the way that these characters go about having sex as this poison, as this addiction, as this type of thing where it's like, oh, we're just using people. Everybody who was having sex, we're just like, even Nicole to a certain extent, just kind of using. Rob and Rob loves just being used.

He's just like, this is who I am. And I just find that such a thorny but fascinating part of the series. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a show about you know, capitalism and the finance industry. And it just pretty

boldly is like, you know what? We've done enough of on TV, humanity. We've seen it. You know, that story is old. We've done it. We're going all it all the time. full depravity. And it's like, yeah,

Rob loves being used and he hates that he loves it. You know, it is this constant cycle of hating what you love and loving what you hate. And that is really extreme. It's also pretty real,

you know, and the show just takes it to its most extreme level. When, when Kenny, you know, says to Eric that he can smell the booze on him and he's kind of,

like, I want to be here for you, man. Like, he's trying to do his thing. Eric says, I don't need judgment from you. And Kenny says, this is empathy. And he says, that's worse. And, like, in this world that, yeah, that's way worse. We don't want to be known. You know, to receive empathy from someone is that person trying to know you.

And oftentimes these are people who don't want to be known. because they're scared of what someone else will find. Yaz doesn't want to go to therapy because she's scared of knowing herself, of understanding herself. I really like, it's like a funny moment, but the small moment when they're all ripping lines, and she keeps saying,

that's not who I am about doing cocaine. And she, you know, she says it twice in earnest, that's not who I am. And then she just gives up and is like, of course it is. You know, this is what I'm best at. Yasmin doesn't know who she is. Like, she doesn't, and that is kind of the difference between she and Harper is.

Harper knows who she is. It's a disaster and it's a monstrous look in the mirror, but she knows it. Yasmin is avoiding all reflective surfaces. And I think that is going to make for a really interesting season if it is her, you know, coming to terms with whatever is inside of her. So then who would you say the winner of this first episode would be? Because I've been having, I've been racking my brain. I'm like, who is really a winner on this show?

Yeah, winner is a tough word. I don't know, like DVD from season two for getting out of this mess maybe. The winner, this might hurt your feelings. But I think I'm most interested in where Rob's storyline is going. If you're saying Rob is the winner, can you tell me why you like, You have posed an impossible question. There are no winners here. Why Rob?

Why, why Rob? Because I just find him fascinating. I mean, it does feel like his, he, in some ways, because people do really love him, and he is more harmful to himself than to others, he has so much opportunity around him to latch on to other people. Like Harper, in whatever way she can, wants to be there for him. Yasmin wants to be there for him. People want to mentor him.

It's kind of like he has every opportunity in the world to live an okay life, but he can't. He hates himself. And he keeps going back to this woman, Nicole, when he gets arrested in season two. He calls her and she degrades him and he stays in the car. And I think that now that that, outlet of self-harm is gone.

I'm just interesting to see where it goes and to see where it goes in this relationship with Henry, Kit Harrington's character, who basically gives him a good boy, like a good little boy, good job at the end of the episode. He's not the winner. He is a consummate loser. But yeah, I guess like if anyone wins,

the premiere, it's Kit Harrington because he has generational wealth, so he'll always be fine. True, true, true. Who do you think the winner is? Oh, I think I'm going to go with Yaz, because to your point earlier in this podcast, I think it's definitely, I think in a meta, like if we're just talking about how the show operates, I think it was definitely a risk to kind of give Yaz the front and center for

at least we don't know if this will be all season and to put Harper on the back foot. And I thought after this premiere, I was just like, oh, there's enough in this character. and with her storyline to be interesting. And I think, hey, she was on the verge of getting fucking chopped. And she survived another day. You know what I'm saying? Like she now, Eric, hey, she got Eric laid. They had Coke together.

They had a heart to heart. I think it'll blow up in her face. But for now, we're just doing one episode. I would say it's yes. But now we have to crown our loser. Who is, I don't want to say Nicole, but like it's rough. Rough, rough breaker. No, Charles, I'm not going to take the tone with you that you took with me about Rob,

but I do want to point out to you about your winner, Yasmin, that at the tippy top of the episode, she did walk in on her father, fully pantsless and doing the deed. So it's hard to, it's hard to feel that she is a winner in my eyes. But, but, but here's the thing. That's the start of breaking generational. curses. Maybe walking in on her father is how she's just like, you know what, I need to go to therapy about this. So that's a win to me. Solid second step therapy for sure. So we'll see. You know, that could be episode two. Maybe that's happening in episode two. The episode loser,

definitely, you know, you did mention that Nicole died. And we're joking about it, but I will say, like, that character, I mean, I've, I was, I've been locked in for, every scene she's ever been in. It has been a really, like, interesting ride with her with not a ton of screen time. So, Sarah Parrish killed it. Yeah. So, so good.

I think they did, like, a really interesting and smart thing narratively to just chop that off. And that's going to be even worse for Rob. That is a loss for the show. I'm going to, you know, like, we haven't even really talked about Harper and what she's up to. I think I'm going to give her

the loser of the episode. She's just over in ethical, ethical investments land pretending like she can do this. Like she can be a normal person. It's her hell. You can tell. And I think she sees it as her penance,

you know, as her limbo between worlds. But it is actually her hell to be sitting still, like that with people that she's smarter than, that she's better than. And to just pretend like she is fine sitting in an office, eating a yogurt from the office refrigerator is really tough for her.

She's also dating losers. Like, I was just like Harper, pick yourself fucking off. The reveal that that guy, a guy named Dave, who we really, we see so little of, but that they named him Dave, so sorry to any Dave's out. there, that she is trying to sext him and he won't stop, like, texting her about some membership.

You got to hand it to Harper. She stays on top of her sexting game. She is, she's always on top of it. True Gen Z representation. That she's dating a guy named Dave. She's living in Rob's house, apparently. Like, they're all roommates now is hilarious. I kept being like, what are they all doing together?

And then they finally say. It was a reveal. I was just like, why are they all this? I was like, don't tell me that they're all living together. This is so sad. You guys just, oh, guess the Pierpoint checks haven't cleared. Rob bought himself a little house and then he needed a little. These people are not making enough money for how hard they're working.

A really, like, small moment in the episode that I liked at Harper's office with her new boss, Anna. You know, she's rushing in and out of the office. She's seeming all stressed. and then she gives Harper an apology for kind of like a tone that she took with her and she says, I don't know why I let myself feel

like my life is on the line. And that's what they're all acting like for like 200K a year, you know, is like your life is on the line. And it's like, it's not. What you're doing isn't important. But it really is like it's a,

that's a story about, and I do it too. I'm a, blogger, you know? Whoa, whoa, whoa, you are not a blogger. You're the blogger, Joad. Like, don't do that. Listen, I blog a little.

I've blogged a little in my day. I had a Tumblr in 2012. Don't worry about it. But like my ability to feel like every deadline is my life on the line. It's not causing me to have a raging Coke habit. But I think that anyone can relate to convincing yourself that, like, something is worth all of this. And the absolute bottom line of industry is

that it's not. Nothing could be worth this the way that they're treating themselves. But watching them do it is a real gift to the HBO audience. So talking about gifts for the HBO audience, do you think industry can make the leap?

It's in the covered HBO Sunday night spot. That House of the Dragon has been in, Game of Thrones, Succession, you name it. It's been there. Part of me is just like just no. I don't know if it's that type of show. And I also, part of me is just like, and what I mean, not like not from a quality perspective, just between, if you start season one, I do think that you have to give yourself over to the fact that it's moving at such a brisk pace.

You're not going to understand a lot of the jargon. You just have to kind of trust that the show will get you there and it honestly just does. But I was wondering if this is like a thing that like TV critics are trying to make happen. Like I would love if industry, we would like, oh, we finally recognize industry is one of the best shows. And I just don't know. I feel like people wanted to happen. I keep reading about it. And I'm like, guys, it's okay if this is just for us.

Industry is one of the best shows. And also the answer is no. Like, I mean this as the highest compliment. Industry is not palatable. Like, people compare it to Succession a lot. But Succession was extremely palatable. You know, of course, it is like horrible. people doing horrible things. But there is a great levity to it. There is also a levity to industry,

but it's all done in gray scale. You know, like, there is nothing technicolor here. It is, it is a, it is a dark show that deals in darkness is literally colored in corporate America colors. It's in fluorescent lights. The people don't dress well. They never have the best version of the haircut they could have. And I say again that this episode opens with a woman walking in on her father, eating out a pregnant stewardess, and then the camera zooms out to show his erection. It is not palatable.

That did a number on you. It did. I mean, yeah. I mean, I rewounded. I was like, this is unbelievable. Don't worry about what I do. Don't worry about what I do. Jeez.

I'll be honest. I rewound it because I was like, is she pregnant? And then seeing that, I was like, why? You know, why that detail. Counterpoint, do pregnant women not need love? No, they definitely do. I was surprised to find their need for love highlighted here. And I don't know if the implication is that she is pregnant by him,

like he is having yet another child with like yet another woman on a boat that was that was a storyline from last season. I just think, yeah, I'm watching it through the eyes of this narrative that is kind of like being shopped around. Like can industry take the Sunday night spot that like House of the Dragon had and Succession had?

It doesn't matter if it can. It is. It's there. And I think that like people just, thinking about someone stumbling upon that scene, like, oh, maybe I'll get, that's not really how watching TV works anymore, but just being like, oh, maybe I'll give

the Sunday night slot a try. And getting that three minutes in, this show's crazy. I also don't think it has kind of way a lot of the shows, like, people forget, like, succession, the whole thing that's really driving that show,

similar to like a Game of Thrones is like, wait, who is going to basically get the job? Who is going to replace Logan in the same way as like who's going to sit on the Iron Throne or like loss? Like how are they going to get off the island?

Where it's like industry is not going to anybody. There's no winning. There's no like somebody and not saying anybody won in succession but there's no theorizing nor star where you could be like, I wonder how Harper Yaz are going to get out of this. It's more so to your point,

it's a dark show being like Harper could get everything she wants. Eric, Yas could get everything they're wanting. they're going to be miserable people at the end of it. And you're kind of just watching these characters maneuver through and fight against that reality. Yeah, there's no finish line. Like, there's no mystery here.

It is futile. You know, like, it is... We're basically, like, when you're watching it, you're like, just is someone going to die? It's kind of the question. And, you know, oftentimes the answer is yes. someone might die from these lifestyles. There's a line in season two when Harper and Eric are colluding

and they're bringing Rishi in and they're bringing DVD in. And they say something like, isn't it so lucky for us that no one's ever satisfied? Yeah. Like, this is just a show about the inability to be satisfied and the chaos that that invokes in not just someone's lives, but many people's entangled lives. Here's the thing.

Guess what, Jody? What's up? Characters on industry might not be able to be satisfied, but I'm very satisfied with this podcast, okay? And I hope the listeners are satisfied because we will be back on prestige covering the season. Thank you so much to my number one peer point pal. Thank you so much to Kai Grady,

aka Sweet P, aka, don't worry about it. embezzlement who gives a fuck and we'll see y'all soon have a great week this episode is brought to you by Netflix's remarkably bright creatures what if a Pacific octopus held the key to a mystery that could heal your heart

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