Words by Jeffrey Arthur
Ahead of Industry’s second season, we spoke to Mickey Down, one of the show’s creators, about what to expect.
Films and shows about bankers generally do well. Since time immemorial, audiences the world over have been obsessed with the high-rise, money-driven world of finance. For proof, look no further than your own friendship circles: the Patric Batemen Halloween costumes, the political rants against ‘fat cat bankers’, and the never-ending parade of finance bros demanding you “sell me this pen.” Post-2008, that obsession with banking has arguably increased, thanks to some big Hollywood pictures. The world of finance was oh-so-cool again thanks to Martin Scorcese’s Wolf of Wall Street, and Adam Mckay’s The Big Short was as funny and sexy as it was terrifying.
Bar the fancy cars, suits and complicated references to derivates and just about everything else no one understands, we know little about bankers. That’s all part of the grandeur, though, the ‘sexiness’ of banking. Don’t take my word for it, take Mickey Down’, the writer of Industry, the hit HBO/BBC show about young bankers. I spoke to him prior to the show’s second season release in the UK, and we chatted about what’s coming up in the new season (no spoilers, promise), the reasons behind our never-ending love affair with the industry, and the show’s huge global success.
On audiences’ long-standing obsession with banking, he’s fairly candid: “I think people are interested in any world they think they know – but actually don’t. Worlds that they think they understand… worlds that feel like a black box.” It’s a fair assessment and one that makes sense when you try and account for the show’s huge success. For those unaware of the show (seriously?), a quick run-through is in order: season one followed a group of young, graduate bankers as they navigate the world of ‘elite’ finance (Pierpoint & Co, to be exact), exploring everything from self-identity to personal morality. The graduates – Harper Stern, Yasmin Yazdini, Robert Spearing, Gus Sackey, Hari Dhar – are all widly different, with an almost illogical ambition being the common denominating factor.
It was a big hit; so good, in fact, that HBO had little choice but to renew it for a second season. If you’re struggling to imagine what it’s like, think The Big Short meets Euphoria meets Game of Thrones – just with young bankers and suits instead of swords or varsity jackets. In season one, episodes drifted between large banking deals and what seemed like never-ending depictions of sex (seriously, a lot of it), drugs and large volumes of alcohol. Pierpont’s bankers work hard – and play even harder.
It’s the perfect stage for a good TV drama, one worth binging and one that audiences could easily get sucked into. The characters, too, offer plenty to keep you gripped throughout. Harper’s the hardworking, knows-her-worth type; Yasmin’s the same, with a side of added ruthlessness. Then there are the men: Robert, the handsome lad, seemingly unable to focus on his work for more than two seconds – or keep ‘it’ in his pants. There’s Gus, a loveable, sweet character intent on juggling his work and his passionate workplace romances. And who could forget Eric, a man with a stunning ability to switch from charming to fierce in a New York minute.
That’s not to say the show’s all fun and games. Amidst the deals, sex and inter-character drama, the creators of the show – I think – are trying to make a serious point: ambition’s great – but at what cost? “What we’re trying to do is explore, actually, what the stakes are for these young recruits”, Down tells me. The stakes are high. So high, in fact, that Hari Dhar (played by Nabhaan Rizwan), a fresh Pierpoint recruit, loses his life: “It is a matter in the end… of life and death.” In the real world, those stories, Down says “obviously exist’: “There are analogues in the real world, even when I was in finance, I heard a few of those stories [people working themselves to death]”.
If you thought such a vivid depiction would turn away aspiring bankers from the industry, think again. Like Suits, the series about high-flying corporate lawyers, young, ambitious folk just can’t get enough: “They’re cautionary tales, but they also serve as recruitment tools sometimes because people take the wrong end of the stick, shall we say, when they watch them.” So big is the show’s influence, that people admit to wanting “to go into banking because of Industry.” Something, Down says, that makes him both “proud and horrified.”
The first season itself aired during the pandemic when the real world the show’s bankers would’ve occupied was all but shut down. In season two, that world is portrayed, with the show’s leads confined to figuring out the whole working-from-home thing – just like everyone else. It gave the show’s creators a chance to figure out what happened to the characters – and their relationships during that time: “people have been isolated… so it’s really about like, what has happened to Yasmin over the lockdown that has made her act as she does in season two and how does relate to how Robert reacted… it’s the beauty of having a young cast of characters that are coming into the workplace for the first time.”
Season two, he says, is a lot more serious and sober. That’s not to say the endless debauchery that made the show what it is will be disappearing. You can still expect to see the young bankers of Pierpont engage in debauchery that rivals the likes of shows such as Game of Thrones. As well – some fans would say – they should be. No one’s really tuning into the show for its riveting depiction of banking and trading deals, are they? Audiences like Industry for the same reason they like any other good banking show: it displays the sort of societal excesses that we either hate or secretly love, and it portrays a world far removed from most people’s reality.
Industry follows the example of some other, very good HBO shows. Like Game of Thrones, Succession, and Euphoria, HBO’s latest hit somehow manages to balance audiences’ desire for dramatic storytelling with real-world optics. Yes, some depictions might be excessive – but you’re left largely grounded that most of what happens in the show could happen in the real world. The dialogue is proof of this. There’s little attempt to make things up. These are real people, they show will have you know – and their life is just as real as yours. Leaning on a young cast is always risky, but the creators of the show have little to worry about with Industry’s lot. The individual stories are rich enough to play on – but not overbearing enough to make any of the characters the sole focus. That means new characters make the show better, rather than spoil the fun for the current, established cast.
It’s fun, Down says, being able to “plop” in a new character and see how their story interacts with that of the others. For all the moments of excess wealth and fun that the show depicts, Down and the show’s creators tell a sobering tale of life in a big, elite corporate firm. It’s a Shakespearean tale of ambition and the consequences that occur if it’s left unchecked. Is what the show portrays what real-world banking is actually like? Maybe, I don’t know. What I do know is this: Industry is a damn good show, and you’ll do well to watch it.
All episodes of Industry are available on BBC iPlayer.
Read our interview with our first cover star, Josh Denzel, here.