‘Industry’ Season 4’s Perfectly Flawed Personalities

Season 4 of HBO’s Industry, the raw, inimitable show set in the finance sector, puts the flaws in its characters front and center. A show in this setting could easily be dry, exclusionary, or obtuse, yet it’s riveting. This cutthroat world is messy and fascinating, and Industry revels in the untidier side of humanity.

Let’s touch on obtuseness for a moment. I’m not implying the financial jargon in the fourth season is any easier to understand. In fact, it sometimes strays even further from comprehension to anyone not steeped in the culture. But what Industry lacks in broader appeal, it makes up for in the accessibility of its complex characters. We see their ambitions, their public faces; but we also see shame, cowardice, vice, and vulnerability.

Harper (Myha’la) remains the central figure, in all her complicated glory. Her ambition and rashness have taken her from job to job, but in ever-increasing positions of responsibility and prominence. This season really sees Harper own her power. She enters the first episode like a boss: in an expensive, fashionable suit, worn with a matching overcoat, where she doesn’t use the sleeves. Wearing a coat over just your shoulders is the new visual shorthand for female power. Later in the episode, when Harper dons a rubber phallus for the first time, it’s a moment that could be cliché: a powerful woman with penis envy. Instead, it’s a natural progression on Harper’s journey.