Industry Power Rankings: “Do They Have Any Pubs at The Bottom of The Thames?”
Where Pierpoint and friends stand after episode 302.
You can find the previous ranking here, and you’re still confused here’s a recap of where we left off at 209.
Major Spoilers for Industry’s “Smoke and Mirrors.”
Last week Henry Muck’s IPO launch and Pierpoint underwent a brief power outage in toto. This week continues the events of that same day, with phones ringing off the hook and nearly everyone trying to verify that all existing stock orders are filled after Lumi gets overvalued. In simpler terms, as Robert Downey Jr. once said, “If money’s evil, then that building is hell.” Let’s get into it (yuh):
Otto Mostyn
Is he destined to soon accompany Nicole Craig in hell? Yes. Is he also making a lot of money? Yes, but it happens exactly as he planned: through Yasmin. As soon as she gets the paparazzi to snap images of Muck leaving a gentlemen’s club with Greorgy Clark, it causes surges of re-evaluation towards Lumi’s fundamentals, making hundreds of people invest in the company more. Regardless of Otto’s character, he remains a partner at Lumi, indicating that his financial resources are continually increasing.
Anna Gearing
Even though Anna initially panicked about Lumi's shrinkage and criticized Petra Koenig's new trade confirmation, she ended yesterday's stress test with a small victory. When Harper convinces Koenig to expand her company's trade in listed oil and natural gas CDS via Yasmin, FutureDawn quickly benefits from an increase in its stock investment. Gearing then takes over Petra's keyboard, puts on a serious expression, and wraps up her board meeting by opening bottles of fine champagne. How she balls in the club—I know you hate it!
Sweetpea Golightly
In addition to being the most notable enhancement of the season, Sweetpea further solidifies her rank as a cool girl. While others are frantically reacting to the decline of Lumi's stock, she stays composed, engrossed in a Guardian article about Henry and his sexual preferences. I don’t know a better individual! Golightly is the mother I never had, the sister everybody would want, and the friend everybody deserves.
Petra Koenig
Twenty-one years ago, Sofia Coppola said, “You don't have to be loud. If you know what you want, people respect that.” Petra has shown this to be true. Rather than engaging with Eric’s calls, Koenig seeks Harper's assistance to devise a plan to manage the Lumi chaos: hedging their exposure by purchasing natural gas futures and shorting the Great British Pound. This approach undermines FutureDawn’s reputation as an ethical fund, yet Petra seems unfazed. When Anna accuses her of betraying their friendship, Petra remains steadfast and does not yield to emotional manipulation. Koenig tells Gearing that she doesn't have control over her trading choices. She then brings focus towards Anna’s feelings and informs her that their friendship is getting in the way of their work together. This leaves Gearing briefly without words before she goes to her meeting.
Petra has all the traits Harper has always wanted in a coworker, but she can also see Harper's negative side. In the parking lot, Koenig informs Harper to put aside her animosity towards Eric Tao and points out that she knows Harper didn't graduate. Although Petra could be a great mentor for Harper, she focuses on what’s best for FutureDawn first.
Rishi Ramdani
Rishi starts the season by continuing from where he left off, handling a lot of stress while staying in his element. On the trading floor, he keeps pointing out his colleagues' mistakes, especially focusing on Eric: “There is a second-year analyst (Venetia) having to pick up Kenny’s line, Eric. Does that seem like joined-up thinking? The market is deciding in real time that this thing is a dog with fleas.”
His criticism of Tao’s erraticism grows stronger. When Venetia tells Tao she shouldn’t take on Kenny’s tasks along with her own, Ramdani steps in to support her. He calls out Eric’s management style as poor, especially after losing Kenny, their direct line manager, on the day of an IPO.
Rishi may get angry when things start to go wrong, but like Kendall Roy, he knows how to do his job effectively, which, to be candid, is pretty hot. That's five more points for him!
Harper Stern
Harper is no longer engaged in trading, but that does not imply that she cannot still derive satisfaction from financial matters. When Petra seeks her counsel regarding FutureDawn’s Lumi exposure, Stern advises her to purchase credit default swaps on oil and natural gas futures. She then explains that government intervention will cap buyer prices and ultimately place the major companies in line. This situation gives Harper the chance to impact Koenig’s choices, which is exactly where she is skilled.
While she may have ceased her gab in Jesse Bloom's ear, she has promptly identified his successor.
Yasmin Kara-Hanani
The idea of wearing heels to the office every day is hard for me to grasp, but Yasmin seems to accept it. When Mostyn distracts her from Lumi’s share price drop, Kara-Hanani gets overwhelmed. She even collapses from her chair on the trading floor until Eric shows her some kindness.
After that, she goes back to her calls, and Tao tells her they can influence reality. This makes her realize that to save the Lumi holdings, she needs to improve Muck’s public image in the media. Kara-Hanani steps away from her desk to manage Muck directly: “Be polite,” she instructs him from outside the bathroom. “Look me in the eye.”
Henry becomes compliant, allowing her to enter the bathroom. Yasmin then sets up a meeting between Muck, Rob, Otto, and Gregory Clark from British Electric at a gentlemen's club. She tips off a newspaper that Charles Hanani's daughter was also seen near it. Her plan, similar to Gossip Girl (2007), goes perfectly. Journalists circle outside as Muck, Rob, Mostyn, and Clark leave together, changing public opinion about Lumi.
However, despite all of Kara-Hanani’s efforts, Tao still wants to bring her down a notch. “I saw the gossip piece of you getting close to those titans of industry who also happen to be our clients,” Eric comments. “It’s market manipulation.” Later, Yasmin meets Henry at a restaurant, where he tries to impress her by saying he got his uncle, Lord Alexander Norton, to pull the article titled “Embezzler Heiress” about her. She decides to thank Muck in her own way: by using her influence. She rejects Henry and recalls some spicy gossip from Sweetpea earlier: Muck has some incongruous kinks; he's, uh, really into urine.
Kara-Hanani walks to the latrine and proceeds to urinate, which makes Henry smile and causes him to leave a very rare bottle of wine at their table for Yasmin to take with her. Empowered, she chugs it on the bus ride home yet faces the ordeal of being captured by the lenses of unfamiliar observers. Sadly, Yasmin always stays in her father's shadow, no matter what happens.
Robert Spearing
...and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014).
Everything that will never happen to you has already happened to Robert, and it's quite fantastic. I don’t approve of sharp vicissitudes, but I'm impressed by how Spearing keeps his underdog image even when he succeeds.
Robert attempts to handle Muck, but he keeps failing. Henry tries to take charge of Lumi’s story by setting up interviews with reporters, but he doesn’t listen to Spearing’s advice. This frustrates Robert and sparks off a zany wrestling match between him and Henry, but in the end, Spearing wins! I say again: Spearing wins!
But Robert is not just facing issues with Muck. He is also coping with the unexpected death of Nicole. This leads him to sneak into her house, where he finds a surprise: Nicole’s daughter. Spearing “explains” why he is there, saying he needs some papers signed by Nicole, but she sees through his facade and recognizes him as Nicole’s boy toy. She then attempts to kiss him, which reminds Spearing of how Nicole acted with him at first. Luckily, he rejects her because she is only 15 years old.
Robert soon discovers that Henry has confined himself to a bathroom. Uncertain about the next steps to take, he enlists the help of Kara-Hanani. To Pierpoint’s astonishment, this decision results in a stabilization of the market, allowing him to retain his job. But whatever, that’s what he always does somehow.
Henry Muck
From the very start of this episode, Muck is in a tough spot. He not only enjoys being peed on but also refuses to accept the reality of his situation. At the Lumi office, he creates a “war room” to tackle their PR disaster. To Robert's dismay, he allows video interviews with the press, causing Lumi's stock to drop even more and making the board lose faith in their CEO. Henry, wearing his assistant's sweater vest, sneaks out of the conference room and hides in a bathroom after taking a large dose of psilocybin. Fortunately, thanks to Yasmin, Lumi and Pierpoint end the day with a “safe launch,” but Henry is still just a rich man-child.
Eric Tao
On the Pierpoint floor, Eric is a complete mess without Harper. Tao’s words of support don’t match what his team is doing. It gets so bad that Bill Adler comes in to help with some phones, which lifts Venetia’s and Rishi’s spirits a little, but he still feels purely understaffed and looks to Eric for answers. “I let go of an expensive ED, Kenny Kilbane.” Tao explains. This prompts Adler to yell at Eric for his choice: “On the eve of an IPO? I meant over the next quarter. Hey, what kind of fucking decision-making is that?”
Tao tries to frame his mistake as an “executive decision,” but Bill calls it “an irrational decision.” Eric, now feeling unsure about his role, ends the night wanting to humble Yasmin to better himself. Just nasty!
Boadicea
I know it’s ACAB, I know billionaires can be strange, and I know Hypnos and Bird’s Eye are both great—but Anna naming her firstborn child “Boadicea” is just too much for me, sorry. #DefundBoadicea !!!
And goodnight.