With Sunday night’s thrilling season finale, “Industry” has closed its craziest, most heartbreaking chapter yet. And, boy, what does it say: The drug-fueled, sex-fueled group of 20-something bankers at the center of the show have been pulling off high-profile shenanigans — from adultery to insider trading — since the show premiered in 2020. That said, with HBO greenlighting a fourth season, we’re sure creators Conrad Kay and Mickey Downs will find a way to top themselves.
While “Industry” is doing well, and the latest season has seen particularly dynamic performances from actors like Harry Lofty, Ken Leong and Sagar Radia, Marisa Abella has become the star of the cast. Even though Twain and Kay constantly falter, her restraint and subtle turn as Yasmine Kara-Hanani keeps the show afloat.
For those who need a recap: Yasmin’s upheaval in the British press comes after her philanthropist father, Charles Hanani (Adam Levy), embezzled money from his publishing house and then mysteriously disappeared from a ship, leading to heavy criticism, dubbed “When Charles” is later found dead, Yasmin is forced to either accept responsibility for her wrongdoing or file bankruptcy in an attempt to clear her name, meanwhile, she privately returns to Pierpoint’s trading floor following a disastrous experience in wealth management, but she’s still pretty bad at her job. However, the Yas find a new workplace mentor in Eric (Leung), who also offers them a new career, bringing a slutty, sexy undercurrent that will make HR’s eyes bulge.
However, all hope is not lost for the Yas. After three seasons of complications, Robert (Lody) and Yasmin have finally consummated their will-it-or-won’t-it relationship. But just when you think these two might finally make it a real one, Yasmin chooses self-preservation over love and agrees to marry boy CEO Henry Mook (the lovely Kit Harington) — a move that will keep the press off her back (Henry’s uncle was a British newspaper tycoon), save her from financial ruin, and make her friends in high places. As Robert prepares to drive off, leaving Yasmin to Henry, Abella and Lottie share one last heartbreaking look.
It’s impossible to discuss Abella’s performance this season and the show as a whole without talking about sex, and for Yasmin, sex is inseparable from power. Yasmin is a beauty who uses sex as a tool to dominate, please and rise above – but she also endures abuse from men because of her sexuality. Season three gives us a glimpse of her fraught relationship with her father, which keeps her vulnerable to conflict and keeps her aroused when they argue.
After Charles’ death, Yasmine’s relationship with Eric, who is going through a midlife crisis after a divorce, becomes representative of her father’s issues. (At lunch, Eric tells her: “Desire is practical, pragmatic. It takes what it can get,” to which Yasmine pleads loudly. “Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to me?”) Henry also has some shades of Charles, both of whom are characterized by instability and poverty – not to mention sexual perversion (when Yasmine discovers she has a urge to pee, she becomes addicted to it.) However, in her scenes with Harington, Abella adopts more of the sly eyes and domineering tone that Yasmine used with Haggard’s Robert in Season 1 of I Fucked Robert.
In Sex with Robert: Abella puts her inhibitions aside in her scene with Lottie, acting with such urgency and catharsis that she almost succumbs to despair. Of course, it’s a strategic move – it’s Yasmin’s way of saying goodbye – but with her hair matted to her sweaty face and the veins throbbing in her forehead, it all feels completely real.
Yasmin may be a victim of her father’s crimes, but Abella refuses to make her a martyr, repeatedly reminding us that Yasmin is not humbled by her circumstances. (In one episode, she even dressed up as Princess Diana.) She’s still as calculating as ever, watching Robert play scratch-offs while she blackmails Hanani Press to send her straight into Henry’s arms.
While Abella deserves praise for her no-holds-barred screaming matches and slaps in season three, the disgust that flashes across her face when Yasmin is compared to her father solidifies her outstanding performance. “I don’t look like her,” she said. “She’s weak.”
