One of the best TV shocks of 2020 was HBO’s banking drama Industry, which followed a group of young hires at the made-up investment bank Pierpoint & Co. The UK-based program pulled you in with its soapy take on the high-stakes office drama while simultaneously offering a scathing assessment of its sometimes-poisonous subject matter. It was packed with sex, drugs, and business jargon. More thrilling and visceral than the previous one, each episode was.
But in the two years since Industry was last on television, we’ve been left to stare about at the wreckage and wonder what’s next, like the characters blinking through a day of work after a ketamine-fueled night of revelry. In a post-COVID future, would the company’s constantly-busy open-plan workplace, where everyone is attempting to broker a deal for “half a yard” and going to get a “bevy” after work, need to change?
Is “Industry: Season 2” based on a true story?
“Industry: Season 2” is a fictional story. Although the first season of Industry was preparing the graduates for “RIF (Reduction in Force) Day,” when they had to defend their positions at the company to their superiors, there was always a sense that the show was laying the groundwork for storylines that would extend beyond the tense confrontation with management. There would be no employment losses. Even during her most damaging moments, Harper has a future in the company.
Indy Lewis (La Fortuna) will play Venetia Berens, a new hire on Yasmin’s desk, while Katrine de Candole (Dominion) will play the unnamed Celeste Pacquet. These actors will all be making their Pierpont debuts this quarter. Alex Alomar Akpobome (Twenties, For All Mankind) will play Danny Van Deventer, a sharp executive from the New York office. The Chair, Search Party, Transparent) as Jesse Bloom, a well-known hedge fund manager; Sonny Poon Tip (Anatomy of a Scandal) as Jesse’s son Leo; and Adam Levy (The Witcher) as Yasmin’s playboy father, Charles Hanani, round out the cast.
Midway through June 2022, HBO announced that Industry will return on Monday, August 1 at 9 p.m. EST and would also be streamable on HBO Max. The company also released some first-look images of the season. Since COVID vaccines were available, production has been active. Co-creator Konrad Kay posted a picture of the read-through copies of the first two Season 2 episodes with a “Management Offsite” shirt in the backdrop on June 29, 2021.