Industry Recap: Poisonous Double Acts

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Jim Dycker is going through a really tough time. He’s a new father with a very young baby, and he’s co-parenting with someone he barely knows – a coworker he had a brief relationship with. He’s struggling financially, and to make matters worse, his apartment was recently broken into. He’s also dealing with adult acne and anxiety, likely worsened by lack of sleep and medication for ADHD.

Early in the episode, Jim gets a bit of good luck. His editor thinks Tender overreacts to Jim’s persistent questioning, but the legal issues—accusations of defamation and threats of injunctions—that follow convince him there’s a real story here. The editor agrees to send Jim to Accra, but only if Jim promises to stop working with the short sellers Tender accuses him of helping. Jim readily agrees. However, the opening scene mirrors the dark, unsettling atmosphere of the season’s beginning, with similar lighting and shaky camera work reminiscent of the Bourne movies, hinting that trouble is brewing.

This is a terrible time for Tender to get negative attention. They’re almost ready to launch the app, but the team is still working hard to perfect how it looks and functions. Henry wants to remove the cryptocurrency section, and he’s right – it could give the app a bad reputation. He also wants to get rid of the line mentioning Pierpoint, although it turns out they’re legally required to include it. It’s not just about Henry believing Pierpoint messed up Lumi’s initial public offering; he fundamentally disagrees with partnering with them. Frankly, someone needs to remind him that he’s running a bank! Henry seems lost in the story Tender created to impress politicians and the media – the idea that their app will make investing accessible to everyone, improve people’s financial habits, and revitalize the country.

The disagreements also cover how to launch the app. Robin, the communications lead who favors comfortable quarter-zip sweaters, suggests a traditional approach: a press release, articles in tech publications like Wired and TechCrunch, and a podcast interview with the hosts of Breaking Banks. While this is a cautious plan, it might be best considering the app is still being developed and Henry has only been in charge for a short time – just six weeks.

Yasmin, who doesn’t have a formal job title but favors a subtle, sophisticated style at work, envisions a bolder marketing approach. She pictures Charli XCX posing at an event, promoting online investing with the idea that enjoying a fun, extravagant summer costs money. She’s particularly excited about a segment featuring Henry on the ‘Chicken Shop Date’ web series – a joke I came up with before learning that Amelia Dimoldenberg would actually appear in the episode. The character’s last name, revealed in the end credits, is a playful nod to the show, translating to ‘Chicken Store’ in French.

Honestly, it was a bit of a compromise, but Yasmin went for it! She booked Henry to speak at Web Horizons – she even pulled some strings with Jenni to get Lisa Dearn, a big name, to introduce him. I don’t think Yasmin really cares about Henry as a person, or even about Tender, to be honest. Being connected to ‘The Muck’ doesn’t hold the same weight it used to, and she’s clearly ambitious for both her husband and herself. Henry, though, is hesitant. He’s still rattled by the Lumi situation and says he wants to avoid being that ‘larger than life’ guy again. But if you ask me, he’s just protecting his ego – which is pretty ironic, considering what he says he wants!

Okay, so after watching Henry completely unravel during that regulatory meeting, I’m definitely leaning towards thinking Whitney is playing him. But here’s where it gets complicated: it wasn’t his wife who got Henry back on track, it was his CFO! Whitney is such a puzzle; I honestly can’t tell if he’s meticulously manipulating Henry or genuinely fascinated by him, like he wants to become him. That description of Whitney from Jonah – always avoiding direct answers, keeping everyone else’s drinks full but never touching his own – really adds another layer. He tells Henry to talk about his conscience, which feels… ironic, considering Whitney clearly knows the whole story Tender’s selling is bogus. They’re still relying on shady deals and covering their tracks. Is Henry a protégé Whitney secretly admires, or is he just a pawn in a much larger game? It’s a compelling question, and honestly, I have no idea.

Henry delivers a confident, though arrogant, presentation at Web Horizons, unexpectedly criticizing the lack of genuineness in today’s world without connecting it to mobile banking. He tells investors and journalists that everyone deserves the benefits he enjoys—claiming his app will reveal the reasons why his family is wealthy while most others aren’t. He argues that people in Britain don’t need welfare programs; they need Tender accounts. Energized by the applause, Henry walks past his wife to seek approval from Whit. It’s clear something is going on. Yasmin begins to notice how physically close the TenderBoyz are, and how their touches linger. A short while later, when a confrontational Jim arrives to question Whitney about the company’s activities in Sunderland, she observes the same thing.

Around the midpoint of “1000 Yoots,” Yasmin describes the struggling new partnership between Stern and Tao as a “poisonous double act.” Meanwhile, Tender’s stock is rising so quickly that Eric fears he’ll be forced to sell. Adding to the uncertainty, Jim’s breakup with Harper puts the future of the Sunderland story in doubt – they’re unsure whether to share it with another journalist. SternTao is operating entirely on borrowed money – £250 million, to be exact – and their only current advantage is that Jonah provided Sweetpea with all the emails from his own legal battle with Tender.

Yas tells Whitney she has a plan to manage the situation with SternTao, but it’s actually the same tactic she used with Moritz before – leveraging connections for influence. She calls her uncle-in-law and desperately asks him to use the power of Norton Media Group against a small industry publication. As evidence of a conspiracy, Whitney provides photos of Jim and Harper walking together. The most disturbing part, for me, is the smug look on Whitney’s face when Norton praises Yas for uncovering this – it highlights how truly unpleasant this whole situation is.

Honestly, exposing Jim or Harper wasn’t the point of any of this. What we really needed to stop was Jim’s next article from getting published. So Percy sent the whole thing – “The Men Who Hate Britain,” including Whitney’s really damaging artwork – to Fin Digest to get their opinion before it went live. And it looks like Tender let Ed in on how Jim was harassing Hayley Clay. Ed thinks Jim has potential, but he’s left with no choice – he has to fire him. If he doesn’t, the next story won’t be about Jim’s writing, it’ll be about a fintech employee being assaulted by a reporter who was out of control.

I’m starting to see how they’re dealing with Eric and Harpsichord, and even Harper and Jim, but honestly, I’m worried about all the manipulative pairings in this “1000 Yoots” situation. It was interesting when Robin decided she didn’t want to work with Yasmin on communications and started looking for someone else to help. Whitney actually encouraged her to try and get Hayley on board, and Hayley even came to Yasmin early on, clearly upset about what happened between them in the Alps. Yasmin’s reaction was…intense. She comforted Hayley, telling her not to let someone like Jim Dycker control her, and the whole thing felt really unsettling. Honestly, Yasmin’s behavior was almost as obvious as Whitney’s constant need to be praised.

When Yasmin offers Hayley the promotion, it’s obvious she underestimated Hayley’s boldness. Hayley immediately questions why she was chosen, and her response is shockingly direct: she implies she got the job because of an affair with Yasmin’s husband. Hayley then playfully calls Yasmin “Mommy,” which seems to signal her acceptance of the position. Yasmin is completely shocked and disgusted, realizing she simply wanted someone submissive, not this assertive response.

Before we reach the dramatic end of this episode, let’s take a moment to remember some of the characters who made self-destructive choices throughout the last four seasons. Think of Jesse Bloom, who went to prison for tax issues, and Greg Grayson, who famously ran through a glass wall. Don’t forget Nicole Mallon, and Hari Dhar, who tragically overworked himself in the very first episode. Now, with all of them in mind, consider this: in the world of Industry, is there a more toxic pairing than Jim and Rishi?

Rishi Ramdani is deeply unhappy. He spends his days driving around, selling drugs to wealthy clients and acting as a benefactor to a young woman who reminds him of his late wife. When she suggests his in-laws might have valid reasons for not contacting him – they are raising his son – he’s frustrated, especially given the circumstances of their intimacy. Later, Rishi meets with his mother-in-law to legally change his son’s last name to Smith, allowing the boy’s grandparents to travel with him more easily. This is important to them, as even serious issues can’t overshadow the trivial concerns of the wealthy, like maintaining their vacation home in Biarritz.

It seemed unlikely Jim and Rishi would meet at the pub, but now that Harper’s out of the picture, Rishi is working alone. It turns out Rishi was the one who broke into Jim’s apartment, but Jim is too upset and intoxicated to care, now that they’re supposedly friends. They both share their troubles. The man who shot Diana is in a hospital instead of prison because he was found to have limited mental capacity; Rishi is actually the one serving a life sentence for it. And despite everything, Jim confesses to having performed a sexual act on a nearly unconscious Hayley, but he blames pornography for his actions.

These two are self-destructive and seem determined to reach their lowest point. They’re also easily taken advantage of. When someone prevents a pickpocket from stealing from them at a pub, they immediately buy the stranger a drink. Soon after, they invite him back to Rishi’s apartment for drugs. But the man isn’t interested in connecting with Rishi or Jim; as they become increasingly intoxicated and erratic, he simply turns up the music, deliberately provoking the neighbors to call the police because of how loudly Rishi, someone they likely ignore in their building, is playing Ultravox’s dramatic song, “Vienna.” He seems completely indifferent, echoing the song’s lyrics: It means nothing to meeeeee.

Rishi and Jim are completely out of it, barely registering when someone quietly leaves. Jim, in a bizarre state, rambles about needing a war to become a man like his grandfather. Surprisingly, Rishi is actually taking responsibility for his own issues, which is both a new and upsetting development. He isn’t present when Jim overdoses, and by the time Rishi returns, Jim’s face is already turning blue. The police are trying to break down the door. Someone dramatically declares they feel nothing.

Rishi seems aware he’s about to be arrested, either for Jim’s death or because of the drugs hidden in his toilet. But I kept remembering Jim’s earlier words – that Rishi was too self-centered to imagine life without himself. I briefly hoped Rishi might fall from his balcony, and that the show would finally give this troubled character some peace.

I was completely mistaken. Rishi is utterly alone – he has no one, no job, and no future. Even his son’s name has been taken from him. While he might still be alive, Jim is still wrong; Rishi has effectively disappeared from the world. He releases his grip on the railing, surrendering to the fall. It should be the end. Please, let it be over. But somehow, despite being heavily drugged, Rishi seems to have forgotten he isn’t in a luxurious apartment. The fall will break his legs, but he’s likely to survive. He’ll probably end up in a prison hospital, but at this point, he doesn’t seem to care about anything. He feels absolutely nothing.

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2026-02-02 07:01