Monday, December 7, 2020

What I’m Watching: Industry

Industry: Season 1, Episode 5 “Learned Behaviour” (B+)

It’s been almost two months since I watched the first four episodes of this show over the course of a day or two when they first premiered at AFI Fest. Now, the back half of the season is available to stream on HBO Max, but I’m going to take it one episode at a time and follow their airing schedule on HBO on Monday nights. Getting back into it didn’t feel too difficult since the power dynamics and the relatively graphic sex are still there. Yasmin’s sexting relationship with Robert was extremely intense, starting with her taking topless photos of herself and him waking up in a bathtub to enjoy them. Accidentally pairing her phone so that Seb could hear it wasn’t great, and he knew exactly how to sure her how unhappy he was when she walked in on him passed out on the bed with his computer still open to what he was watching. It seemed like Kenny was going to treat Yasmin more nicely, but his behavior after the meeting was despicable and showed how insecure he was about her success. What Robert is seeing in all of the time he’s spending with Clement is interesting, and the relationships between the newbies and the established pros are what make this show most worth watching. Gus got chewed out loudly and publicly by Eric when he showed up in a purple sweatshirt, but it wasn’t anything compared to the way he took down Harper in the office. Todd’s presence wasn’t terribly helpful, and it’s a good thing that she and Yasmin are able to support each other while dealing with this very stressful and demoralizing work environment.

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