industry, Now in its third season, Lived in the shadow of two HBO juggernauts, Excitement And legacyFor the past four years. Similar to this legacy The particulars — the British makers, the corporate settings, the loathsome characters, the acerbic dialogue, the gray-toned palette — make it difficult for the young, ketamine-snorting bankers to grab everyone’s attention.
But now that is it It has been said — including on this website — that the overall quality of scripted television isn’t what it once was, it seems like the perfect time for an ever-evolving show to reset our expectations for what prestige TV can be.
That’s a well-touted idea the industry its successor legacy Sounds like good marketing. And the show’s writers and co-creators, Mickey Down and Conrad Kay, took the comparison with humor. “If the industry The pressure was the same [as Succession]Me and Mickey would be quite happy,” Kay said The Daily Beast In 2022. In the season two finale, they even inserted a winking reference to Kendall Rae. Vultures also release a profile The cast and makers of the show titled “Can the industry successful legacy?” as the new season begins legacyIts former Sunday time slot.
But these two series scratch the same itch or that suggested the industry is intended to be like legacy Critics of the show seem to be undersold. when the industry Has all the markers of a sophisticated, boogie drama, spiritually akin to a messy teen soap. Gossip Girl.
This is definitely not a bad thing. In fact, it’s exactly what this brooding, monotonous state of television needs. One of the most impressive things about the industry It avoids many of the problems of how prestige TV reigns. While supposedly high-brow shows have become predictable, with their focus on hurt and sadness as the main quality of the human experience, the industry Seems to be one of the few shows interested in giving viewers mischief and joy.
The conventions of “prestige TV” have become restrictive … and boring
the industryIts first season followed a group of postgraduates — with the exception of protagonist Harper Stern (Maiha’la), whose transcript is a little less complete than her bosses realize — vying for permanent positions at the fictional investment bank Pierpoint & Company. Immediately in London, they encounter abuse and impossible demands from tyrannical bosses and inappropriate colleagues, including hair-raising sales manager Eric Tao (Ken Leung).
Onscreen badness isn’t limited to Peerpoint’s higher-ups, though. The show’s promising young bankers — especially Harper and publishing heiress Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abella) — play all kinds of emotional and sexual games with each other and their peers in order to climb the corporate ladder. Almost every interaction is fraudulent or transactional. Weakness can hardly be trusted.
In a show about depraved, broken people, it’s refreshing that Down and Kay refrain from relying on a narrative device that has become a rather tiresome cliché in prestige television – the trauma plot. A 2021 New Yorker article, Parul Sehgal writes about the conventional use of a single subversive backstory to easily explain the totality of characters, leaving little mystery and denying the consumer a morally complex experience. “Trauma flattens the plot, distorts it, reduces the character to symptoms, and, in turn, dictates and emphasizes his moral authority,” he writes.
This sense of predictability — and simplicity — has dampened the impact of several shows recently, such as the buzzy Netflix miniseries Baby reindeer. Despite the miniseries’ potential to go in weird and ambiguous directions, it ultimately provides a pretty clear theory about the show’s annoying stalker, Martha — she had a bad childhood.
In other cases, overuse of backstory can hinder plot movement or character development. take it ExcitementFor example, is probably the biggest offender in this regard. In its first two seasons, the show was so concerned with revisiting its characters’ disastrous pasts that the show had no idea where they were going in the present. The result was season two Immobile and motionlessHammer down the same character details. Sam Levinson’s follow-up miniseries wasn’t much of a surprise Idol On the same basis quickly fell apart.
Similar comments have been made about its latest season bear, Which landed as a disappointment among fans and critics. In A review for SlateWriter Jack Hamilton criticized the season’s “constant use of flashbacks” for avoiding “the show actually moving forward.”
It’s not in that character the industry They are not deeply disturbed by upbringing and family relationships. For example, Harper and Yasmin’s colleague Robert Spearing (Harry Lotte) vaguely describes the mother issues that lead to an inappropriate relationship with a predatory female client at Pierpoint, and possibly his submissive sexual dynamic with Yasmin. Harper is the product of an abusive mother. It’s also clear that Bad Boss Eric’s lust for dominance comes from being perceived and undervalued as a “diversity hire” throughout his career.
Although the authors do not dwell on this information for too long, nor do they give us that much detail. The story still works, even if these personal details never quite explain why these reckless 20-somethings and their mean supervisors are the way they are. Instead, they drive the characters forward, leading to exciting plot twists and head-scratching decisions.
Its best case is the portrayal of Yasmin’s breakup with her father (Adam Levy). A lazy show Yasmin will spend an inordinate amount of time revisiting the wounds she sustained from her father during her childhood. Instead, Yasmin’s father issues are an obstacle she must escape in the present. When she discovers her father’s sexual abuse in season two, it provides a mirror for her sexual relationship with a mentor at Pierpoint and begins her own power trip as she moves through the company. In the third season, her father’s legal troubles come back to haunt her, causing her to once again discuss her morals.
In all its chaos, the industry Don’t lose sight of what makes it good
as the critic there is Unanimously statedThe third season is indisputable the industryBest offer yet. After being fired from Pierpoint in the second season finale, Harper has a new job and a new manager, Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg), to experiment with her risky, often legally dubious business moves. Meanwhile, at Pearpoint, the company invests in a new client, Lumi, a green-energy company founded by incompetent CEO Henry Mook (Kit Harington), which sets off an avalanche of problems at the bank.
Although Harper is still fighting a one-sided battle with Tao and Pierpoint, his former colleagues seem a bit more confused and disillusioned than in previous seasons. He also faced how powerless his new position as a partner at Pierpoint actually was. Yasmin realizes that she cannot overcome the lifelong curse of coming from a dysfunctional family through her work. Arguably, the best episode of the season centers on Pierpoint associate Rishi Ramdani (Sagar Radia), whose greed (and anxiety) finally reaches a tipping point.
Overall, Kay and Down have become more adept at executing plotlines, experimenting with cinematography, and nailing the show’s frenetic pace. While the second season was a bit heavy with commentary on representational politics and “glass ceiling” feminism, the third season feels lighter on its feet.
Stress and turmoil may still define these characters’ lives, but watching them navigate their mostly self-inflicted dilemmas is surprisingly funnier and funnier this time around. The writers seem more interested in creating fun (but smart) plotlines for entertainment rather than hammering home the show’s already inherent theses on the damage of capitalism. At the end of the day, the industry A show about horny, stupid, mostly young adults who desperately need therapy.
The fact that the industry It got better over time a huge relief. So far, we’ve seen several popular, critically acclaimed shows — the bear, atlanta, Killing Eve, big lieetc. — lose their way after one or two good seasons. (I might be the only person who thinks so legacy got worse after the second season.) The limitations of streaming allowed the creators to be more spontaneous in their work. Some have been more focused on experimenting with show structure where it doesn’t seem like they’re interested in making TV anymore—rather, college-level film projects. Others seem to bow to the demands of social media, like legacyWhich gradually lost its “eat rich” bite in favor of sympathy for fan-favorite characters
thanks, the industry None of this trend has yet succumbed to it — perhaps, in part, because it hasn’t been rewarded or given a great deal of attention. Instead, the show reflects what prestige TV still has the potential to be in an age of forgettable television — charming characters, smart storytelling and respect for the medium as we knew it before Netflix and Twitter.
