And with it came episodes 7 and 8 industryThe rollercoaster third season has come to an end. It may have been 8 weeks, but it also feels like we just finished running a marathon and are in desperate need of an IV drip of fluids straight into the bloodstream. Season 3 of industry was tedious, operatic, and full of action, intrigue, degradation, sex, and violence. And if the comments on these recaps are any indication, it’s also been a divisive season, with people tearing into its pacing, its storylines from episode to episode, and its Sensory overload, which has undermined its most destructive and euphoric effects. Moments Season 3 wasn’t interested in patience, breathing things in, or letting things out. This worked both for and against the show. In the end, this year felt a little like attending one of his rich character’s drug-and-thriller parties and turning on the lights, forcing you to examine the craziness in which you happily participated. was How did you get here and what do you do now? The characters will have to answer those questions for themselves soon enough, but for now, it’s time to take stock of who came out on top this season and who’s headed down.

Eric Tao: go down. Eric Tao’s rise and fall is complete. For Eric, this season was about losing his youth, trying to maintain his youth by consuming the youth around him, in the hopes that it could save what he loved most. : His job and his strength in it. Eric has had his share of shit, from being the DEI poster boy for the top brass to undercutting and murdering most of his workforce. When Eric showed that he was willing to kill (at first metaphorically, which probably led to him literally) even Bill Adler in an attempt to save himself, he finally found himself Revealed everything he accused Harper of. If you’re Team Harper, you should have enjoyed her arrival after the events of last season’s finale. But somehow I still find myself feeling sorry for Eric. He has lost everything and spiraled out of control in the most embarrassing ways. He helped arrange the deal that ultimately got him fired. No matter how hard he fought, it only made his fate more inevitable. He got a $20 million cushion on the way out, which is a pretty sweet deal, but it was never about the money for him. There is never enough money for such people. He’s a dinosaur that staved off extinction as long as he could, but now he’s here.

Yasmin Kara Hanani: go up(?). Sometimes you just have to be practical. Yasmin didn’t need ayahuasca to see herself more clearly than anyone else on the show. In a world that designates either abuse or abuse, she chooses the former. There are all sorts of reasons why she decides to marry Henry Mick: joining a powerful media family to ensure an ally in her battle for reputation, the fact that she’s never Middle class love is not happy to survive. The story with Rob, or maybe it’s just that Henry means something to her. They are in solidarity in more ways than one. That doesn’t make the decision any less shocking, but of all the dramatic characters, it’s the easiest to trace. Sometimes you have to control your unhappiness.

Sweet P Golightly/Anraj Chabra: go up. Babies are the future, but god that future is incredibly dull. I can’t blame Harper for throwing that donut in the trash.

Robert Spearing: go up. Good Lord, Julius Caesar didn’t hold back that many Shivas. Robbie has been through a lot this season: traumatic experiences, manipulation, an abusive job, being thrown to the wolves at various points, and seeing the engagement of the girl of his dreams the night before the couple gets hitched. After On the bright side, there’s nowhere to go but up! Robert seems to realize this, at least, as he’s moved toward something akin to enlightenment in the past two episodes. He’s out of the Pierpoint hellscape and going out on his own with some support from Henry (at least he can!) He might even like it in the States, America is full of toxic people to this day. And encourages your self-destructive habits.

Harper Stern: go up. Forbes 30 under 30, with a glowing (for him) comment from his former boss/nemesis. Harper couldn’t have come off any better this season, but much like the heist movie Thief needed. Just another score Before being legal, she can’t help herself. It needs this process. Action is juice, after all. The problem with running crazy is that it doesn’t go away just because you’ve made it to the top. You have to keep making hoops to jump through, even if the hoops are questionably legal. Season 2’s Jesse Bloom story arc is a big reason. industry It became compulsive watching television for me, and it mainly hinged on the two of them as relative monsters, unable to quench their thirst for blood. No one can help themselves on this show, so much so that Yasmin and Harper talk on the phone about the former coming to the wedding. They need chaos in their lives. As cute as it might have been to force Rishi to suffer the consequences, she might have been happier with him instead of having a team dinner with Girl Boss Supreme and the Wonder Twins, Holly and Anraj. Harper made it to the top and now she can’t wait to blow it all up as soon as possible. Perfect character.

Rishi Ramdani: go up. Well then. Even I sometimes succumb to my own personal biases and prejudices. Perhaps it was Rishi’s bookie’s Britishness and Winnie the Pooh face that made me think he was dangerous. To be fair, his most dangerous behavior seemed to happen off-screen between episodes. If there’s one definite flaw in this season, it’s in Rishi’s storyline. Besides that Uncut gems The episode, with that, seems to happen so much more off-screen, so that when things escalate—not that it feels unearned, but more that it would have made it a little more tender. That would be nice. As it stands we are a bit like Rishi, standing in an apartment full of divorced guy energy, with a small cake and a dead wife, wondering how we got here. Does Rishi deserve the hell he has been put in? Almost certainly. But still, I can’t let it go. He could turn up any day now because of his luck!