All rise for the women of Industry
Harper Stern
Intelligent, stir crazy, controlled. She can axe anyone with her brain and uses that power very judiciously. The show’s set design is built for Harper. London’s grey sky and wet streets. It’s dim lit bars. Pierpoint’s sterile interiors and chaotic floor. Everything telling us this is her terrain. This world with its sins and madness is hers. She is the King here simply because she isn’t waiting for the crown. She isn’t infallible but she is unstoppable. There is only one way to be in her ambit. Accept her. Accept whatever shade of sorcery she is creating today. She sucks all of the air in any room, and leaves a wake behind her. She is so exceptionally good at what she does, all her human flaws are blurred. If I ever need an assassin, it’s her. My favourite Harper scene is every time she said “confidence”.
Yasmin Kara-Hanani
“I am good at making people feel like I love them” is the most accurate summary of how Yasmin works. She is drop dead gorgeous, completely and irreversibly broken but a picture of grace on the outside always. Everyone is attracted to her, and she looks like she is attracted to everyone. That’s her power. Yasmin is that friend/sister/aunt we all know who think they’re subtle, completely unaware that their vulnerabilities are always exposed. Open, bleeding. But they are so lovely, we don’t want to tell them their wounds are fully on exhibit. For a minute, I was mad at her treatment of Rob, but then again, she is Yasmin. if men can only be men, Yasmin must only be Yasmin. She loves misery too much to enjoy a country life - and I can’t wait to see her journey back into the financial chaos.
Venetia Berens
The bravest grad on the floor. She could be the Betty to Yasmin’s Veronica but she chooses to walk away, leaving a dumbfounded Rishi in the elevator, collecting his smart repartees from the floor. That was a moment. Venetia is the GenZ shakeup an old establishment like Pierpoint needed. She expects better, demands better, and pulls off the most GenZ move - walking away from the presumed vanity, valor and security of a place that pays your bills. I hope she comes back as a mega successful entrepreneur on the verge of an IPO that Miraj Pierpoint covets but can only read about in the news.
Sweetpea Golightly
The ultimate hustler, her accessories adding some much needed gold accents to Pierpoint’s grey everything. The kid in the family with the smartest ideas but dismissed purely for being a kid - don’t we all know one? My favorite Sweetpea moment is when she nails Rishi down as the selfish person that he is and convinces Anraj to spend the last day partying it up, instead of selling Rishi’s shorts. An influencer, a dabbler in adult side hustles, a trader, and for a brief but beautiful moment a Harper Stern hiring pick.
Smart, shrewd and flawed women in a spectacularly ruthless world. Stuff of great TV!
Love and Harper’s confidence,
Subani