This story contains major spoilers for the season three finale of Industry.
If you had asked to name four things I’d expect to see in Industry’s season three finale, I’d tell you blood, sweat, tears, and semen. And readers, we got all four liquids, plus some London rain.
Pierpoint’s offer from the Middle East has to go through uncontested from their shareholders, in this case Blackrock and Berkshire Hathaway. And part of that means cooling down the tension within the building in the last waking hours of the company’s 100th anniversary party. Yes, some people are still in their tuxes and gowns. No, the cleaning crew’s payroll still hasn’t been turned back on, so the floor is covered in takeout boxes and bags of McDonalds. Total frat levels of mess.
In an address to the bank’s employees, Eric tries to command the room. The scared employees start doing that UK parliament thing where they yell at the Prime Minister, and shout at Eric that they think their new Middle Eastern overlords are going to fire them, and that his circa-2008 analogies don’t land. Eric’s belief system takes over and he pivots to gospel mode, the only time he sounds confident these days: “Money tames the beast, money is peace, money is civilization. Your desk is your house—go home, go to work.”
Rishi takes this direction and heads to his desk, but only for a moment to hop on the mic and address the entire trading floor: “The Arabs are bidding for your service, and now I feel what IG baddies feel like.” Truly, the least graceful. He then throws on his jacket, and heads to the elevator.
Meanwhile, after getting picked up by Otto’s mob-ass car and driver last episode, Harper winds up in the countryside, where Otto is absolutely fitted in some fishing gear. “Et tu, Brute?” is how he greets her. Although Harper isn’t stabbing Otto to death (like Brutus’s assassins did to Julius Caesar), she’s definitely making things difficult for him. But it turns out he actually condones Harper’s risk-taking, the instincts people like Petra see as recklessness.
“I want someone who believes in trading like I trade,” he says to Harper while handing her a piece of freshwater sashimi (my worst nightmare) that he filets in front of her. Otto knows his practices are dangerous, but also worth the risk of getting caught—although he makes it clear that when you’re as good as him, you don’t get caught. And remember, earlier in the season he did say Harper was “One of us.” Everyone can place their bets now on whether Harper is going to stick with Petra (a snitch who doesn’t share her investing philosophy), or join the dark side with Otto (which could risk her getting arrested or spending the rest of her life with lawyers in the future).
When she gets back to the LeviathanAlpha office, Rishi is fired up for a job interview. But when Harper asks some basic interview questions, (When did you and Eric decide to fuck me? Do you think I’m a psychopath? Are you a predator?) he begins to sweat. Just as he attempts an answer to that last one, in walks Sweetpea, who’s just landed a job at the firm. Rishi attempts to humiliate Sweetpea about her OnlyFans job in front of Harper, Harper makes it clear that she doesn’t care and that she likes a woman who doesn’t leave money on the table.
