With Rishi gone, Industry season 4 is now transiting between only two worlds: Harper's and Yasmin's. We get a break from Yas and Henry to spend more time with SternTao, which was largely overshadowed in last week's episode. Although the Tender board isn't present in this episode, the company continues to loom over this season's narrative — like a ghost that is already dead but has yet to realize it.
Things aren't looking too good for Sterntao in Industry season 4, episode 5, both on a professional and personal level. Eric's daughter has just been expelled from school, while Harper has received some chilling news about her mother. They both try to keep it cool as they sketch their next — and possibly last — act to see the Tender short go through. A margin call looms over them, and the remaining move is to fly all the way to Accra to witness Tender's shady operations firsthand.
While Sweetpea and Kwabena set out for Accra, Harper loses her edge and snaps at Eric, using his failure as a father to hurt him on a personal level — again. She brings up the fact that Eric is a terrible father at least twice per episode. The next morning, she reveals that her mother has abruptly died, falling victim to a pathetic domestic accident. Eric consoles Harper by pointing out the foolishness of his own life, using his daughter's expulsion as an example. She breaks down in Eric's arms, shattering their no-personal-affairs policy at work.
The entire scene is pure gold — one of those rare Industry moments when the characters finally let their masks slip and allow themselves a moment of vulnerability. “You are undeniable,” Eric says, looking deeply into Harper’s eyes.
SternTao resorts to desperate measures in Accra
Tender's market value continues to rise, and it's up to Sweetpea and Kwabena to shrink their stocks with a pivotal piece of information. In Accra, they expect to get something relevant out of Tony Day, Tender’s Africa CFO, but a meeting with him and a lawyer associated with Tender leads to half-baked clues.
Sweetpea and Kwabena investigate SwiftGC, a local payment processor acquired by Tender, linking it to an empty PO box that is clearly a facade for Tender's illicit business. When Sweetpea's intentions become clear to Day, a man ambushes her in the ladies' room and assaults her — probably at Day's request. She drinks the night away to forget the traumatic experience, and ends up having sex with Kwabena.
A dialogue between the characters reveals more about Sweetpea's background post-Pierpoint. Apparently, it was Rishi who leaked her OnlyFans account and led to a major fallout with her family and hiring managers. Sweetpea needs SternTao to succeed — otherwise, she may not be able to find another proper job.
Eric wants to liquidate the Tender short and focus on a less risky short to put SternTao back on track. Meanwhile, the Accra duo arranges a meeting with the daughter of SwiftGC's late CEO, finding the confirmation they were looking for: Tender success is driven by phantom operations, exploiting non-existent profits. They meet Day and propose a whistleblower deal, which he considers. Sweetpea shares her findings with Harper, and SternTao prepares a decisive strike against Tender.
Industry season 4 episode 5 review
Industry season 4 episode 5 finally gives Sweetpea the screen time she deserves. The timing couldn't be better, as we have just lost major characters in the previous episode. However, "Eyes Without a Face" spends more time using her as a facilitator of narrative threads than actually giving depth to her character. The Tender corporate conspiracy is compelling, but lacks real human gestures that give the story texture.
The assault on Sweetpea feels tremendously gratuitous, sticking out as another intense moment this Industry season included solely for shock value. Although the drunken exchange between Sweetpea and Kwabena offers revealing insight into her motivations, it soon begins to feel like scrolling on X. Industry normally succeeds in using the depravity and corruption of its characters to build up sharp social commentary, but here the shallow talk of pornography and internet culture comes across as tasteless, lessening Sweetpea's arc rather than deepening it.
Overall, it seems as if Industry writers are more interested in using Sweepea as a narrative device than in treating her as an actual human being. The lengths the writers are willing to go to make every character seem unlikable are starting to feel excessive. Industry season 4 episode 5 stumbles, losing some heat in the absence of Yasmin and Henry. Yet seeing Harper in a rare state of vulnerability in the wake of a terrible loss serves as a stark reminder that all these deeply flawed characters are, at their core, echoes of unsettling traumatic experiences.
There are strong highlights in season 4 episode 5, but Industry needs to spend less time trying to provoke and outrage viewers and instead find steadier footing to reach a satisfying conclusion
New episodes of Industry air weekly on HBO and HBO Max.