Yahoo News Industry is about more than the trading floor in season 2
Harper Stern (Myha'la Herrold) and Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela) are back for another season of anxiety-inducing drama.
Industry season 1 ended with the two friends on the outs, and when the show returns after the pandemic, they will be reunited for the first time. Harper will return to work after a year of isolation and isn't prepared to bump into her former bestie right away in the bathroom at Pierpoint. There will be a lot of simmering tension between the pair, and that tension explodes before there is any chance of reconciliation. "The whole season is based around those two [women] and their relationship; even though they zigzag into each other's work lives this season, they're so present and important to each other's arcs," Industry co-creator Mickey Down tells EW. Industry goes beyond the trading floor in season 2, but Harper and Yasmine remain at the story's center.
The pandemic is a jumping-off point for the season. While the creators have no intention of making "a pandemic show," the workplace drama couldn't avoid the unique reality of working in a world impacted by COVID. For Harper, the isolation has taken a toll, but Yasmin's experience is a different story. No longer the shy new member of the FX desk, she's spent the time hanging out with other rich Europeans. When we meet her again, she's more confident in her skin.
Meanwhile, seasoned financial professional Eric Tao (Ken Leung) is thinking about his mortality after his lifelong dedication to work was interrupted by isolation with his family. "[Eric] is thinking about being pushed out by the younger crowd, most acutely in the form of Harper, and that's his big insecurity this season," Down says about Harper's mentor's mindset in the new season.
Nick Strasburg/hbo Marisa Abela as Yasmin Kara-Hanani and Myha'la Herrold as Harper Stern in 'Industry'
Harper's anxiety about returning to the office concerns more than the pandemic. "[Harper] did this thing to get Eric back, and she doesn't know how that's been met by colleagues, but she's also terrified about how she's left things with Yasmin," Down shares. Now in their third year at Pierpoint, Harper and her colleagues are at a stage where they can make bolder moves to take their careers to the next level.
Those bolder moves take Harper and Yasmin, and Industry overall, into uncharted territory. "In season 1, there are a lot of little seeds laid about some of the characters' back stories, and this season we water some of those," Jami O'Brien executive producer tells EW. "One of the things season 1 was about was surviving the trading floor, and now they're starting to branch out a little bit and go deeper with all the characters." Get ready to see the Pierpoint staff away from the bank: there will be an investor event in Wales, where they go shooting, a work trip to Berlin, and a recruitment drive at Oxford this season.
There's also a new part of the bank that will be explored in season 2, O'Brien says: "private wealth management, which is exciting for Yasmin and a cool addition to the show." He's talking about the introduction of Celeste Pacquet (Katrine De Candole), who acts as a new mentor for Yasmin, who wants off the FX desk and to avoid her supervisor, Kenny Kilbane (Conor MacNeill), after the trauma she endured last season. Yasmin will chase this new opportunity while also reuniting with her estranged father, played by Adam Levy.
Meanwhile, Harper's arc will help Industry explore client relations a bit more through her dealings with billionaire Jesse Bloom (Jay Duplass). We saw some of those dynamics through her work with Felim Bichan (Andrew Buchan) and Nicole Craig (Sarah Parish) in season 1, but Jesse's introduction will "open up a whole other side of the business. We didn't spend as much time [with Felim] as we spend with Jesse, and we see what that salesman-client relationship is."
Simon Ridgway/hbo Jay Duplass as Jesse Bloom in 'Industry'
Taking things even further afield, Gus Sackey (David Jonsson) enters the political arena in season 2. After leaving life at Pierpoint behind, he begins working with a former Pierpoint employee-turned-Conservative MP. "People spend a few years on the trading floor, then end up going into the Conservative government and go right up to the top of the country," co-creator Konrad Kay tells EW. Through Gus, Industry will explore the systems of power that come from attending Oxford or an Ivy League school and the connections it provides.
Still, Harper and Yasmin are this universe's center, meaning Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey) is caught in their orbit. Having pursued a toxic relationship with Yasmin in season 1 and having a tight bond with Harper in the new season, he's in two very different relationships with the strained friends. One of Kay's favorite scenes features Rob and Yasmin having a vulnerable conversation over a beer where they talk through what happened in season 1. "Robert feels like his part in the world is to be used by women like Yasmin and part of his growth, if we get to a third season, we'll be breaking out of that view he has for himself," Kay explains. In the meantime, Rob is entering this season sober and trying to make better decisions, which puts him in the surprising spot of being this season's moral compass. He discovers his sensitivity is not an asset to success at Pierpoint, which includes entering a relationship with an older woman.
Ultimately, Industry season 2 is about whether Harper and Yasmine can find a new normal. "We're rooting for that friendship in the same way in another show you'd be rooting for a romantic couple," O'Brien says. Like a will-they-won't-they romance, the pair often won't be on the same page. Harper reaches toward Yasmin exactly when she's not in the place to hear it, prompting a dance we will see play out when the new season arrives on HBO August 1.
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