Before the penultimate episode of “Industry” Season 4 begins, directors Mickey Down and Konrad Kay hold for a few moments, letting the synthetic flute notes of Daft Punk’s melancholic “Veridis Quo” spill out over a black frame. It’s an unexpected move, given that the previous week’s installment turned the heat on its principal characters up to a boil. But Down and Kay, who co-created HBO’s gripping finance drama after quitting their jobs as investment bankers, understand that viewers still need a second to catch their breath, preparing for what new crises await.
Yet again, Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), the down-and-out heiress to a disgraced media empire, finds herself embroiled in scandal. This time, her troubles have potentially massive legal ramifications, ones that stand to implicate her and her equally posh husband, Henry Muck (Kit Harington). Desperate to repair their reputations, Yasmin and Henry let themselves be wooed by the charismatic Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella) on his quest to make the fictional payment processor Tender into the most powerful banking app in the world. But after months in their high-level posts at the company, some globe-trotting sleuthing by Yasmin’s sometimes-friend and former colleague, Harper Stern (Myha’la), has revealed Tender’s operation to be all smoke and mirrors. Yasmin and Henry are perched at the very top of a house of cards, and there’s a strong wind coming just over the horizon.
