Industry recap: Episode 1, ‘Induction’

Industry Episode 1 introduces young grads who must make themselves indispensable at a prestigious London investment bank, by any means possible.

HBO’s latest drama, Industry, presents us with a group of young graduates who must do whatever it takes to make it in the cutthroat world of the finance industry, specifically at a preeminent London investment bank called Pierpoint &  Co. In Industry Episode 1, we’re introduced to the main players, including Haper (Myha’la Herrold), an American outsider who makes an illegal move that might jeopardize her future, a party-boy named Robert (Harry Lawtey), workaholic Hari (Nabhaan Rizwan) and Yasmin (Marisa Abela), who must navigate near-constant disrespect from her superiors.

The opening of the episode gives us a quick sequence of various interviews as each graduate tries to make themselves sound indispensable, treating us to tidbits like the following: “I played third fiddle to two figures in my mother’s life, Jesus Christ and Margaret Thatcher.” “And where do you stand on them?” “One’s the reason we’re all here, and the other’s a carpenter.”

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Robert immediately gets targeted for wearing an overly posh dark suit that makes him look a little too try-hard. A few of his co-workers rip the Ted Baker label off of his outfit to embarrass him in front of the crowd. Harper assures him that he looks great. Harper and Yasmin meet in a meeting for graduates, Yasmin awkwardly thinks they met at a previous mixer, and Harper comments that Robert is a “whole snacc.”

“Act like an owner. Enrich your clients, enrich us, enrich yourself.”

The opening spiel in Industry Episode 1 is as daunting as we’ve come to expect from dramas of this nature. The graduates are told to make themselves utterly indispensable if they want to receive a permanent position at their desk. “Half of you won’t be here in six months,” says director Eric (Ken Leung).

We quickly discover that Harper has a huge problem. Her university transcripts haven’t come in yet. She texts someone named Todd for a favor. Moments later, she runs into her line manager Daria (Freya Mavor), exiting the restroom. Daria wonders why Harper hasn’t said a word to her since she started three weeks ago. However, instead of ending their impromptu meet-up by scolding Harper, she invites her to an important client dinner that could “increase her visibility as a grad.”

Next, we meet Hari, Harper’s roommate, and a workaholic who pops pills to work virtually non-stop. I can’t see that ending well. He literally takes naps on the floor of the bathroom stall to ensure he’s able to make it through the night on almost no sleep, keeps his clothes with him, and dabs eyeliner under his eyes to lessen the bags.

Bouncing back to Harper, she video chats with this guy Todd. She asks him to get her a fake transcript and in return, she offers him a quick naked cam session. It’s not clear what their relationship is, although I’d guess it’s not serious.

Hari’s desire to get ahead doesn’t get him the pay-off he anticipates. He spent the night doing a model, one that Gus was assigned, despite it being his job to do the pitchbook (I don’t know what half these finance terms mean, so bear with me). Basically, Hari is trying to do work that he’s not been asked to do because he wants to be seen as important. But his team would rather him focus on the tasks he’s been given, even if Hari thinks they’re beneath his abilities.

Later, he gets dismissed after his boss discovers he hasn’t left the office in 48 hours except once. “Optically,” they need him to go away for a bit and then come back.

At Harper’s desk, Eric gives her some advice on her upcoming meeting with Daria. Despite Daria’s claims it’s “just dinner” and not overthink it, Eric advises her to pitch something impressive.

Harper succeeds in impressing the client, Nicole, to the point where Daria and their other co-worker leave early and let the two of them talk shop. But on the ride home, Nicole starts groping Harper in a sloppy, drunken move, and Harper stiffens, rejecting her advance. Things get awkward between them. Harper is left wondering if she’s ruined her chances on the business side of things.

When she returns home, she finds Hari strung out from pills and helps get him to bed. Unfortunately, Hari is back at it the next morning, shoving pills in his mouth as he takes an Uber to work. Hari’s arc is somewhat similar to Robert, who is also burning the midnight oil. Robert revels in debauchery though, more so than work.

He spends his night having sex with a woman he just met at a  night club and taking bumps of coke. Running on no sleep and a stream of drugs, Robert just takes a few more hits before crawling into work the next day and embarrassing himself during a meeting.

At least Robert survives his messy night (for now). He discovers Hari dead in the bathroom stall, where he’s spent a significant amount of time sleeping. It’s a shocking end to the opening hour of the new series. Honestly, I’m disappointed that Industry killed Hari off so quickly, but I understand they wanted to establish just how cutthroat this world truly is.

If you expected Hari’s death would give the other grad students an epiphany of some kind and make them realize work isn’t the most important thing in the world, well, you’d be way off the mark.  His death reenergizes the office more than anything.

Despite Harper and Nicole’s awkward car ride home, they get into business together, and Harper is thrilled as a result. Eric tells her to soak in the feeling and calls her a “world-killer.” She’s on to bigger and better things. Harper celebrates by booking a ritzy London hotel suite and then ends the episode by uploading her fake transcript. Let’s see how long it takes to come back and haunt her.

What did you think about Industry Episode 1? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!

New episodes of Industry air Monday nights on HBO.