Season four of HBO's high-anxiety, fast-paced financial drama, Industry, came to an end on a rather somber note. Tender has completely crumbled, leaving Henry (Kit Harington) to take the fall as Whitney (Max Minghella) flees the U.K. Meanwhile, Harper (Myha'la) has successfully shorted Tender stocks and is now a multi-millionaire but has no one to share it with after Eric's (Ken Leung) departure in episode seven.
Perhaps the most upsetting character arc in the finale, however, is undoubtedly Yasmin's (Marisa Abela). Not only did she divorce Henry, but she essentially became a Ghislaine Maxwell-type figure by pimping out the girls (some underage) from Hayley's (Kiernan Shipka) escort agency. Yasmin has finally crossed a line she can't come back from.
A lot happened this season of Industry, and the show certainly hasn't let up on the high-stakes environment it so effortlessly creates each season. Every plot point moves lightning fast with frenzied energy. Characters move on from one financial endeavor to the next almost as fast as they switch partners. The show captures the world of finance and investing in a way that paints it to be a career path with life-threatening stakes. For characters like Rishi (Sagar Radia), it actually did threaten his life.
The stressful nature of Industry is part of what makes it one of the most exciting shows on television. There is simply never a dull moment to be had. Whether you're trying to decipher the financial jargon or trying to keep up with who is underming who, the show always keeps you engaged. If you want to keep chasing the high that Industry provides as we eagerly await the fifth and final season, here are five shows to watch that will give you a similar buzz.
Euphoria
HBO's hit teen drama Euphoria may have absolutely nothing to do with finance or investing, but it matches the same chaotic energy Industry has. The show follows a group of high school students who experience the ups and downs of relationships while navigating social networks, drugs, sex, and violence they inevitably become entangled with.
Euphoria has a similar stress-inducing nature that the Safdie brothers' films always have, which is a trait it has in common with Industry. Both shows feature characters finding themselves in situations that are either life-threatening or disastrous for their futures. There are exorbitant amounts of drinking, drug use, and just general partying in both shows that make them feel like kindred spirits. Characters on both shows face moral dilemmas weekly.
While on Industry it may be more about the ways characters go about making their fortunes rather than reckoning with the negative effects of being an addict, both shows are about the struggle to be human in a world that doesn't loosen its grip on you. Both shows also feature heavy synth scores and neon lighting in party scenes.
Succession
Succession feels like the older sibling to Industry. They both revolve around money-hungry people, corporate executives, billion-dollar acquisitions, and generational legacies and trauma. It scratches the same itch that Industry leaves you with, and frankly, scratches more than that itch. It follows the Roy family, led by Logan Roy (Brian Cox), as they compete with one another to become Logan's successor of his media conglomerate Waystar RoyCo when he decides to step down as CEO.
As Industry moved away from the trading floor of Pierpoint and into the world of mergers, acquisitions, and corporate political influence, it started to feel more and more like a successor to Succession. In season four, we see Tender fool the market by making fake acquisitions of companies in different locations and fudging the balance sheet by making it look like the money from each acquisition was being used for the next.
We also see how Tender influences the U.K. government and political parties by using Labour Party MP Jennifer Bevan (Amy James-Kelley) and Yasmin's new alignment with alt-right Austrian aristocrats and bankers. It feels similar to the way the Roys influenced the presidential election and GoJo's pursuit of buying Waystar RoyCo in season four of Succession.
The Bear
Swapping out the world of high finance for the cutthroat restaurant industry, The Bear features a similar fast-paced work environment found in Industry. The show follows a talented young chef named Carmine (Jeremy Allen White) as he leaves fine dining behind to run his brother's sandwich shop in Chicago. Wanting to create something of his own, he begins the journey to transform the underperforming sub shop into the newest fine dining experience in the Windy City.
Other than Carmine's brother leaving him with a ton of debt from his mismanagement of the shop's money, there is not much of an emphasis on finance in this show. However, the restaurant environment is incredibly stressful, and every episode features line cooks, chefs, and hosts screaming at each other in the kitchen. Not because they hate each other or the restaurant, but because they all believe in its potential so much that its success puts everyone on edge.
The Bear is always put in the comedy categories at award shows, so if it's still considered a comedy, it's the most stressful comedy I've ever seen.
Mad Men
While not necessarily about finance, Mad Men explores business ambition, office politics, and moral dilemmas much like Industry. Set in the 1960s, the show centers around one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies. It focuses specifically on the firm's mysterious but highly talented executive, Donald Draper (Jon Hamm).
The 1960s are considered to be the "golden age" of advertising, which heightens the stakes in Mad Men. Advertising is obviously different from finance, but there are certainly overlaps. The goal of every business and every corporation is to make money. Big money can be made for a business with advertising that's done right. In both shows, intense pressure from either clients or the market paves the way for toxic work environments, which create antihero characters like Don and Harper. Also in both shows, we see the main characters undergo immense personal sacrifices and moral dilemmas to reach the levels of professional success they desperately crave.
The Dropout
The Dropout is a Hulu Original miniseries that rivals the relentless pursuit of success that is typically the downfall of characters on Industry. Based on a true story, the miniseries revolves around Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried), founder of the biotech company Theranos. The company promised to revolutionize the healthcare system with a new device that would perform comprehensive blood tests with just a few drops. Instead, Elizabeth scammed patients and cost them their lives.
With this being the only show on this list based on a true story, it's much darker than any of the shows mentioned above. Elizabeth's desire for fame and success led her to lie to investors despite knowing her tech didn't work. Not only did that cost a lot of people a lot of money, but more importantly, it cost innocent people their lives when they could have been treated in a different way.
Much like the stifling pressure of the investment banking and finance world, the Silicon Valley tech world creates a dynamic that puts power above everything else. Harper, and especially Yasmin, lie and finagle their way into deals the way Elizabeth lied her way into running a briefly successful biotech company.