Industry season 1 recap: What happened during the first season of the banking drama

Rolling back to 2020 for a quick recap

David Jonsson, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Harry Lawtey, Sagar Radia, Myha’la Herrold in Indsutry season 1
(Image credit: HBO/Warner Media/Future)

Season 2 is nearly here, but what exactly happened in season 1? We’ve got you covered.

HBO’s Industry is a drama series following a group of young graduates as they compete for permanent positions at prestigious London investment bank Pierpoint & Co. The first series aired on BBC Two in the UK, in November 2020. Despite being renewed for a second season shortly afterwards in December 2020, the long awaited second season is only just airing. If you’re struggling to cast your mind back to everything that went down in the acclaimed drama, here’s a handy Industry season 1 recap for the key plot points from the show’s first outing, ready for season 2 to drop.

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What happened at the end of Industry season 1?

The day of reckoning had arrived, and it was time to determine exactly who had made the cut and gained a permanent position at Pierpoint & Co. Gus is the only one of the original gang who realises how truly toxic the work culture is, and he wants to talk about Hari’s death properly - since he worked himself to death at the start of the series and this was never truly acknowledged. It’s made clear to him that he puts his principles aside if he wants the position. 

A desperate Harper asks Daria to vouch for her, and wastes no time being awful about the other graduates to try and elevate her position. She then messes up the interview completely, struggling to get anything coherent or of note from her mouth. Robert enters the interview with no clients to show off, but is made to feel special by the executives anyway. Daria is hugely unimpressed by this, and after his nose bleeds during the interview she accuses him of being a cokehead - she insists he has no future at the company.   

Yasmin threatens Kenny with exposing his awful behaviour towards her if he doesn’t bring her favour with the board - he refuses. She responds by telling the executives she loves the culture at Pierpoint, and that it’s not at all toxic - which is a huge lie but she is desperate. Gus doesn’t look like the job will be his when he goes through with his initial promise of telling everyone exactly what he thinks of the company - and it’s absolutely nothing good. Sara still has really good things to say about him despite this, and Daria stays on Harper’s side despite the blackmail attempt and terrible interview. 

Bill asks Harper to take back her allegations against Eric, while Sara and Daria really want her statement to attempt to improve Pierpoint’s culture of toxic masculinity. Harper ultimately sides with Eric and Bill, and gets Daria fired by suggesting she forced her to lie about Eric’s behaviour in the first place. Ultimately, we are yet to find out who got the job and who didn’t. 

Marisa Abela, Conor MacNeill in Industry

(Image credit: HBO/Warner Media)

What did Kenny do to Yasmin? 

Kenny is abusive to Yasmin, wasting no time in screaming at her at the slightest provocation.

As reported by GQ, the incidents fans most remember involving the pair include Kenny laying into Yasmin for forgetting croutons on his salad, and humiliating her at an important client dinner by getting too drunk and ruining the deal she was desperate to make. He then forced her to get a lap dance from a stripper afterwards, in the ultimate display of wielding power over her and abusing his position as a means of control. 

In an the same report, Kenny actor Conor Macneill said “Look, being mean is fun, but when it's Kenny mean, you sometimes feel horrible after shooting scenes. When you read it on the page, you're like, ‘Oh, this is going to be amazing to shoot’. And then you've got Marisa [Abela] staring at you brokenhearted and it kills you. After the scene, you have to be like, ‘I'm so sorry’”.  

Marisa Abela and Myha'la Herrold in Industry

(Image credit: HBO/Warner Media)

What happened between Yasmin and Harper?

Yasmin and Harper fall out at the end of season 1 when Harper turns on Daria, resulting in her getting fired. 

Once Yasmin finds out Harper threw Daria under the bus, she confronts her on the office floor. Harper calls out Yasmin for being weak and hypocritical - referring to Yasmin’s own incident where she was forced to choose between shopping the toxic behaviour of a fellow employee, or remaining a team player. Yasmin too had taken the easy option, and let bad behaviour go unchallenged. The friendship between the two is effectively ruined following the fight. 

Harper choosing herself over anyone or anything else, was something series co-creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay had always wanted according to EW. The mixed thoughts about her choice were exactly what they wanted. Kay said "That visceral reaction is exactly what we were aiming for”. Down added that anyone watching closely would’ve known the choice she’d make, saying “if anyone looks at Harper and the way we conceived the character, it's just not in her wheelhouse”.

Myha'la Herrold in Industry

(Image credit: HBO/Warner Media)

Does Harper get fired in Indsutry? 

No, at the end of Industry season 1, only Daria Greenock and Sara Dhadwal have been fired. 

Despite faking her university degree and making a huge loss for the company by completely messing up a deal, Harper still has a job at the end of season 1. Speaking about the amount of time spent in the world of finance and the effect it had on her, Harper actress Myha'la Herrold changed her mind about financial workers. 

Speaking to GQ, she said “What Industry did was make me more sympathetic towards them. If I passed some bros on the street, I'd be like, ‘ugh,’and now I'm more like, ‘Oh, they're hurting.’”

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Lucy Wigley
Parenting writer - contributing

Lucy is a mum-of-two, multi-award nominated writer and blogger with six years’ of experience writing about parenting, family life, and TV. Lucy has contributed content to PopSugar and moms.com. In the last three years, she has transformed her passion for streaming countless hours of television into specialising in entertainment writing. There is now nothing she loves more than watching the best shows on television and sharing why you - and your kids - should watch them.