Industry Season 4 Review: HBO's Most Underrated Series Reaches All-Time Great Status

Industry has largely flown under-the-radar since it began its run on HBO in 2020. Often cited as the illegitimate child of Succession and Euphoria, the finance drama began as a series about baby-faced grads entering the cutthroat world of finance at fictional London-set bank Pierpoint & Co., but it has since bloomed into something much more than that, especially in its masterful third season.

In its fourth, Industry picks up sometime after its season 3 finale, one that saw its characters scattered to the wind and its homebase of the Pierpoint trading floor shut down. Anyone worried that creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay had written themselves into a corner they couldn't quite escape need not fear. First, Down and Kay made it known that this was intentional — they were unsure if the show would even return, so they decided to blow it all up and see where the shrapnel landed. Now, watching them masterfully write themselves out of that corner is an exhilarating sight.

Industry Season 4 Levels Up Again

Now that Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and Harper (Myha'la) have cut their teeth (and some throats along the way), Industry season 4 lets the pair run wild in the vicious playground Down and Kay have built. The show has moved on from its origins, with Pierpoint more of an institution on the periphery than the driving force for drama, the finance world a backdrop for a deeper exploration of sex, politics, media, and tech. In the middle of it all, and always drawn back into each other's orbit, are Harper and Yasmin.

Abela's disgraced publishing heiress fled into the arms of Kit Harrington's also disgraced Henry Muck (who gets a much larger role this season) while Harper is working as a fund manager while getting a bit more pushback than she expected. When a flashy new payment processing app called Tender makes a play for a larger share of the market, both Harper and Yasmin are pulled into the schemes of Max Minghella's CFO Whitney Halberstram.

Minghella is perhaps Industry season 4's most prominent new player and the actor imbues Whitney with a slimy coolness that is fascinating to watch. But Industry's newfound position as an HBO power player has also brought a few more actors onboard, with Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton joining as finance journalist James Dycker, Kiernan Shipka as assistant with a secret Hayley Clay, and Toheeb Jimoh as Kwabena, a new associate and love interest of Harper's. Miriam Petche also returns as Sweetpea Golightly, with a meatier role to play that should give her an even bigger platform.

Yasmin & Harper Are Industry's Beating & Bloodied Heart

Down and Kay appear to be emboldened by the positive reception to the big swings they took in season 3. One of the standout episodes of that season (episode 4, "White Mischief," centered on Sagar Radia's degenerate gambler Rishi) leads to a spiritual sequel of sorts with a gothic chamber piece set entirely in and around Henry Muck's English estate. The end of the season, as it sets up a potential fifth entry (which seems more likely thanks to the first-look deal Kay and Down signed with HBO), dabbles in other genres in fruitful ways, making Industry feel more dangerous than it has ever been before, all the way up to a gut-punch finale that once again resets the board.

This larger evolution trickles down into every other aspect of the show, elevated by the stellar costume work, score, and direction of season 4. The music is, at times, soaked with dread and at others dripping with wry humor. Kay and Down helm several episodes in the new season, their camera letting Abela and Myha'la's expressive faces drive the story. At its heart, Industry is ultimately about Yasmin and Harper's tumultuous relationship. The show has shed a few main characters over the years — most recently Harry Lawtey's hapless Rob, who is peddling psychedelics somewhere in Silicon Valley — allowing the beating heart of the series to rise above the surrounding noise.

And for those who love Yasmin and Harper, Industry season 4 may be its most brutal yet. There are major character shifts that serve as a testament to the foundation built by all involved, from Abela and Myha'la's performances to Down and Kay's thorny and compelling scripts. Once again, the pair write themselves into a corner, but now, the best part of Industry is watching how they'll thrash and claw their way out of it and who will survive the bloodshed.

Industry season 4 premieres on Sunday, January 11 at 9pm ET. New episodes air weekly.