Whew, what a rollercoaster ride!
With a change of stakes in Robert and Yasmin’s dynamic, Harper’s job on the line, and Gus’s mystery troubles, Industry Season 1 Episode 4 is the most tumultuous yet.
“Sesh” had so many twists and turns none of us saw coming. It was thrilling from start to finish.
First, there is Harper. Boy, she was in super hot water.
She made a mistake in one of her trades, but instead of owning up and telling Eric, she starts lying.
Both the client and another employee catch her lies, but that does not stop Harper. She risks her job and Pierpoint’s profits by messing with their system to cover her tracks.
However, nothing Harper tries actually works. The only thing Harper manages to succeed in is digging herself into a deeper hole that she will not be able to climb out of.
Harper has always been a character desperate to achieve perfection. When she asked an old friend for a fake university transcript on Industry Season 1 Episode 1, we saw just how far she would go to ensure her future at Pierpoint.
But first, let us backtrack to the beginning. Harper celebrates her birthday with Yasmin, Robert, and Greg at Robert’s apartment. They get high, converse, and have a grand old time.
Yasmin and Greg eventually leave, which is when the party really starts for Harper and Robert. They continue partying until dawn when Harper comes onto Robert. Needless to say, he rejected her advances, and the two friends went to work in a hungover state, without having showered or slept.
Despite what Robert thinks, Harper is not concerned about his rejection, especially when her mistake comes to light during her hangover while working. How could she make any rational decisions while under the influence?
Yasmin: Are you sure, Harper? Nothing good ever happens past 2 AM.
Robert: Everything good happens past 2 AM!
Harper knows she is not in the right state of mind, but that does not stop her from asking Greg for more drugs once she realizes she cannot easily fix her error.
Harper is not the only graduate or employee at Pierpoint that abuses substances. Robert has before, and when Greg offers Harper some pills, he implies that he has as well.
Greg is already a full-time employee at Pierpoint & Co., but his comment leaves us with questions. What has he done to ensure his job is permanent with Pierpoint? How many pills has he taken to power through a workday?
And we cannot forget Hari, who abused drugs until he overdosed on the premiere.
Clearly, graduates and employees alike feel pressured to do drugs, and if they do not, they feel as if they will fail. But at what price? Harper created a deficit worth well over one hundred thousand dollars. Hari died of an overdose.
Even if they feel like they made the right decision at the moment, the effects worsen considerably when they finally come down. In some cases, coming down means a hysterical crash, but it means literal death in others.
And the fact that Pierpoint photoshopped Hari into their brochure signifies that they are well aware of this situation, but they do not care enough to do anything about it. Pierpoint would rather keep the issue quiet to save their reputation, even if it is at the cost of real human lives.
Knowing where the investment bank’s priorities lie, the graduates will eventually have to decide if drugs are really worth this prestigious job. While substances might help in the near future, they are detrimental to their health in the long run.
The only real currency you ever have as a salesperson is honesty.
Nicole
Harper eventually realizes that her decisions are not working, so she makes one last desperate attempt — Harper goes to visit Nicole, her first client at Pierpoint.
Like everybody else, Nicole urges Harper to tell Eric the truth, the last thing Harper wants to hear. Eventually, she has no choice — Harper backed herself into a corner, and now she has to come clean to Eric.
A surprise turn of events occurs when Harper tells Eric the truth. His reaction was not quite what we had expected.
We were unsure if Eric would have fired Harper, given that she appears on all future episodes of Industry Season 1. But we did not expect Eric to casually relay an anecdote from his earlier days of working in this field.
While Eric is certainly not as bad as Clement or Kenny, he still seems like the type of boss who would get upset if something goes wrong, as we saw on Industry Season 1 Episode 3 with Daria.
But Eric shares a certain kinship with Harper. They are both people of color from lower-class backgrounds. Eric has known that from the beginning, which is why he forgives Harper and reminds her of her worth. He sees a younger version of himself in Harper — determined, hardworking, and willing to do whatever it takes to get to the top.
Coming from that perspective, how could Eric do anything else? He chose Harper as his graduate for a reason, and now we know why.
It also helps when Nicole makes an investment to save Pierpoint’s deficit as a favor for Harper. Still, both Eric and Nicole certainly surprised us on “Sesh,” and we hope they will continue to do so in a positive light.
When I was a summer analyst at Solomon, my boss looked like Newman from Seinfeld. Like Newman, if he was a linebacker. He once said to me, “I used to think if there was such a thing as reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president, or the pope, or a 400 baseball hitter. But now, I want to come back as the Bond Market because it intimidates everybody.” People like us, born at the bottom. Where would you put our percentage chance of ever making that top quintile? It’s about 3%. That’s intimidating; we intimidate people here. Why is that? Because hunger is not a birthright. Your qualifications don’t have to be a problem for you because they don’t have to be a problem for me. Understand what I’m saying?
Eric
Gus also seemingly has a lot of work troubles. The problem is, what, exactly, are they?
There are a million possibilities since Gus is such a private person. He has quite a lot on his plate, including his unresolved secret relationship with Theo, a tense work dynamic with Robert, and his adjustment to working on the trading floor.
But which one of these factors bothers him the most? Or is there something else entirely?
Whatever the case may be, it affects Gus significantly since he stepped out of line when conversing with his boss, Clement, on “Sesh.”
We would like to learn more about Gus. We are halfway through Industry Season 1, and there is still a lot we do not know about him. Most of our assumptions are just that — assumptions. We fill in the blanks because Gus does not express his feelings as far as we know. With only four episodes left, we hope Gus will open up soon.
Yasmin: Well, you can either stand on the sidelines and comment, or you could join us and try to affect change.
Robert: I think Yasmin’s very capable of navigating these things herself. But ultimately —
Yasmin: Ultimately, you come here because it’s one of the few workplaces where nobody cares where you’re from. There are many potential role models here. You can be one of them.
Robert and Yasmin’s dynamic has certainly changed now that Robert seems to have developed romantic feelings for Yasmin, putting their ball in her court entirely.
They continued to dangerously flirt with each other at a networking event when Yasmin has to replace Harper at the last minute. At this networking event, we finally realize Yasmin and Robert’s relationship is no longer balanced. For Robert, it is not just a game anymore — he is developing real feelings for Yasmin.
But Yasmin does not seem to have any intention of breaking up with her boyfriend, Seb, any time soon, nor does she seem interested in ending things with Robert. This aspect puts Yasmin in a unique position — Robert is completely putty in her hands because he has fallen hard for her.
Will Yasmin toy with Robert’s heart only to leave him heartbroken? Or will she also develop serious feelings for Robert? Only time will tell, but we are rooting for them. Seb has not been a very attentive boyfriend, and we think Robert would treat Yasmin like the queen she is.
Let us hear from you, Fanatics!
What did you think of Industry Season 1 Episode 4?
Were you on the edge of your seat? What would you have done if you were in Harper’s shoes?
How will Robert’s growing feelings affect his risky flirting game with Yasmin?
What do you think is troubling Gus the most?
Were you surprised at Eric’s reaction when he found out the truth?
You can always watch Industry online right here, at TV Fanatic!
Sarah Novack is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.