The latest episode of Industry is all about ownership: of power, bodies, and (Nazi) heritage.
Work father-daughter tandem Eric (Ken Leung) and Harper (Myha’la) are in the process of getting funding for their company, SternTao. Right now, they are operating in a hotel room, which Harper litters with papers as she tries to dig up dirt on Tender, which she plans to short. She gets extra help from Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche), who we learned last season has a knack for sleuthing.
But Sweetpea freaks out when she sees that “pathological degenerate” and “murderer” Rishi (Sagar Radia) shows up at the hotel room with his own stolen files to contribute. We also get a few minutes of journalist Jim Dycker (Charlie Heaton), who’s desperate to get his “half-baked” Tender exposé and has reached out to Harper for a possible team-up, ethics be damned.
Over at Tender, Henry (Kit Harington) is settling into his new position as CEO as the company eyes a merger with the Austrian bank IBN Bauer. In pursuit of the merger, the Tender execs fly to Austria to court Moritz-Hunter Bauer (Sid Phoenix), whose ancestors supported the Third Reich. Bauer makes a point of making an anti-semitic comment in front of Whitney at dinner, which prompts the latter to question whether a partnership with a fascist is still worth pursuing.
Yasmin (Marisa Abela), eager to seal the deal with the Bauers, chooses to stay in the room offered by Moritz’s mother. The room is full of her “habseligkeiten,” which roughly translates to belongings of sentimental value.
The room is the epicenter of this episode’s shock value. Even though we don’t see predator father Charles Hanani anywhere, his shadow looms over Yasmin when she exerts her control over Henry by directing him and the executive assistant Hayley (Kiernan Shipka) to have sex. Tei Shi’s “Bassically” plays in the background, because the show will not pass up on a good needle drop; Enya’s “Orinoco Flow” also comes on later in the episode.
In the morning, as Yasmin examines the room, she finds a painting of the gorgeous Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. To her horror, she realizes that this painting, considered one of this family’s most prized possessions, was signed by a certain A. Hitler.
But Lady Muck is power-hungry and, ultimately, decides to push the Tender-IBN Bauer merger despite major political differences.
Back at SternTao HQ, Harper and Eric argue (I love it when they argue!) about what they want out of their new venture. Here, Myha’la delivers an Emmy-worthy monologue after she’s triggered by Eric saying “triggered.” When she says “weak,” it’s like she uses up all the air in her lungs, and when she says “fucking,” it’s like she spells the word with extra Fs and even an H.
In the episode’s last few minutes, Harper, Eric, Sweetpea, and ex-Mostyn employee Kwabena Bannerman (Toheeb Jimoh) head to Goldman Sachs to meet Yasmin’s formerly domineering line manager, Kenny Kilbane (Conor MacNeill), and it feels like watching the Avengers assemble, except the characters are more interesting even though they all work in finance.
Industry Season 4 is streaming on HBO Max.
