HBO’s Industry Episode 4 recap: Does Harper’s mistake get her fired?

Harper’s birthday celebrations get ruined when her big mistake comes back to bite in Industry Episode 4.

It’s Harper’s birthday in Industry Episode 4, “Sesh,” (and all episodes of Industry Season 1 are now streaming, so it sort of feels like an early Christmas gift), but she’s not in the celebratory mood. Something dark is lurking beneath the surface.

The episode begins with Harper’s friends and co-workers bringing her a dozen donuts with candles as they all start serenading her with the classic birthday tune. Eric casually lets her know HR has concerns about her visa, but he assures her he’ll take care of it. Harper’s post-work birthday bliss includes a cozy, drug-fueled get-together with Robert, Greg, and Yasmin.

They snort cocaine, and Yasmin gifts Harper a personalized bullet notebook. It’s sweet. She thinks Harper struggles on her birthday because of her twin brother — oh yeah, forgot about him and that story. Do we think Harper was telling the truth?

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Yasmin and Greg eventually call it quits for the night, leaving Harper alone at Robert’s apartment. Harper tries ketamine for the first time, and their wild night of dancing continues through the morning when Harper tries to initiate sex with Robert. He turns her down out of fear of running whatever “thing” he has going on with Yasmin — which weirdly included some strange balloon eroticism. Their shared Uber to work is quite awkward after that.

Considering Harper shows up completely hungover, reeking of wine, and with incredible bags under her eyes, it’s not surprising that her day continues going downhill. Daria doesn’t want her to represent the firm for a college spiel aimed towards the next generation of Pierpoint victims. At the very least, she needs to find a replacement — and take a shower.

Harper gets Yasmin to sub in for her. Next, Harper has to tend to an urgent message from a higher-up named Duncan. He’s noticed a discrepancy in her numbers from the Allerton account. Their team is saying it should be $50 million, but Harper input quid — or pounds. She stands by the quid but says she’ll fix it. Duncan sternly tells her to ensure she tells her manager as it’s serious if this was her mess up, and it would be unacceptable for her not to say anything.

The last three episodes have proven that Harper is one of, if not the, smartest of the young grads at the center of the series. It’s hard to watch her struggle through such a massive mistake on her part, but it was a conscientious decision she made to play hardball in Episode 3. She took a risk, and now she might have to pay a severe price.

Aubrey Allerton has no interest in helping Harper out of her scrape and remains adamant that he said 50 million dollars, not sterling. Harper tells Duncan that Aubrey is lying. The exchange rate differentials make this an astounding $50 million loss because of the flubbed currency. Harper has until Duncan’s afternoon meeting to figure out a way to get out of this because Duncan wants to pull the tapes, he believes Harper, but obviously, Harper knows the tape will prove her to be a liar.

Harper’s downward spiral continues with her consulting Greg for more drugs, something to make her stay awake and look like she has her act together for the day. She consults with Robert about her dilemma, and he advises her to tell Eric. She’s his project. She can make one mistake. Harper argues that no, she really can’t. It’s especially frustrating because they’ve been having a great last few days. Harper doesn’t want to be the one to ruin it. But he does give her an idea.

The data in the books isn’t crystallized yet. It’s a projection; the loss could be offset depending on how things shake out before that 1:30 p.m. meeting.

Any hope Harper might have that Duncan would be a man without scruples goes out the window when she tries to bribe him into helping her. Unfortunately for Harper, Duncan is very principled and moral. However, after she begs him to assist her, colleague to colleague, Duncan agrees that 1:30 is the absolute limit. After that, it becomes a managerial problem, and Harper will face disciplinary action.

Industry Episode 4 builds the tension as we veer closer to the deadline. A fire alarm goes off, and Harper can’t even rip herself away from her desk until Daria demands it. When she returns, she and Duncan are going back and forth on the phone over the numbers. I consulted The Wall Street Journal again to help make sense of some of the lingo. Essentially, the job forecast says 250,000 were added last month, which means the economy is doing well.

“Harper hopes the real figures fall below this so that people start selling dollars and drive up the value of the pound. Her initial error has her holding on to too many pounds. So if the sterling strengthens, her bet goes in the black,” writes the publication.

It happens, but Harper gets greedy again and waits too long to close the trade, resulting in a massive loss of $140,000. As Duncan puts it, where on earth is she going to get that kind of money pre-close? Harper comes up with a back-up plan to meet with Nicole — the woman from the first episode that was quite taken with Harper. She all but offers to have sex with her for assistance in making this problem go away.

Nicole tells Harper to tell her boss, clear her head, and never put a price on her dignity. Thankfully, she sends Harper away and says she’ll even overlook this hiccup. Hitting rock bottom, Harper dissolves into tears on the phone to her mother; she fears that she will get fired and that she was never cut out for this job. I feel for her because she obviously is good at her job, but got too cocky and made a mistake. I think Harper deserves another chance. There are some interesting parallels to Hari throughout the hour, which is fitting considering there are a few subtle references to him throughout the episodes.

Well, despite what Nicole says, she really must like Harper because she comes through for her in the end. Harper only finds out after she tells Eric, who is far more understanding than one might expect. He feels a kinship with Harper. “People like us, born at the bottom.” Eric says they intimidate people “because hunger is not a birthright.” Even though Eric would never have found out had Harper not told him, it turned out to be the right move and hopefully a valuable lesson for her. There is a mutual trust between Eric and Harper now — although that could be bad for her down the line if Eric winds up being the sinking ship foreshadowed in previous episodes.

Industry Episode 4 recap: Gus struggles to adapt to his new placement at Pierpoint.

The only person at Pierpoint having a day almost as bad as Harper is Gus. Post-couch hookup, Theo is giving him the cold shoulder at work. “What is it? Why are  you ignoring me?” “Grow up. I have a girlfriend.” And what would your girlfriend think of your tryst with Gus, Theo?”

To make matters worse, Gus is not getting along with his boss Clement at all. He’s angry that Robert is out-performing him with their client Usam because Usam prefers drugs and raucous partying to the brick and mortar ivy-league education Gus knows so well.

Not being at the top at work, coupled with whatever weirdness is happening with Theo, has Gus off his game. He makes a few snide remarks to Clement, totally crossing the line in front of their colleagues. Clement warns Gus that if he ever speaks like that again, he’ll bury him (although he says it in more colorful language).

Industry Episode 4 recap: Robert and Yasmin grow closer.

Robert and Yasmin go to the college recruitment meeting after Yasmin steps in for Harper. I don’t really get their relationship and the weird games they’re playing. Yasmin sucks for not just dumping Seb while playing sex games with Robert. The convention doesn’t go well either since a protestor interrupts in the middle of things and throws a red paint bomb at Yasmin and Robert, coating them both from head-to-toe in vibrant powder. While they get dressed, Robert asks Yasmin to go out for a drink with him. She says she can’t. She has plans with Seb.

Robert shows up at the pub where Yasmin and Seb are, and Yasmin decides to escalate things by giving him her panties. She tells him to send her a picture of himself with them on his face later, “because that’s all you’re good for.” So, I guess they have some kind of kinky dom/sub stuff going on here. I’d be more invested if Yasmin wasn’t cheating on her boyfriend to do it.

What did you think of Industry Episode 4? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!

Industry Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max and through other HBO-partnered services. Episodes will also continue to air linearly Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.