Critic’s Rating: 4.7 / 5.0
4.7
Like Rishi Ramdani himself, Industry Season 3 Episode 4 was undeniably a high risk, but it resulted in one of the series’ finest rewards.
A fantastically frenetic “White Mischief” operated as a bottle episode that took us into Rishi’s world, and it’s a good thing we’re only passing through.
It was a taut, adrenaline-fueled, anxiety-ridden hour that was by far the series’ most intense to date; merely watching it felt like running a marathon.
Industry is the Phoenix Rising from the Ashes of Premier Television
Industry has fallen frustratingly under the radar despite being the pinnacle of prestige television at its absolute best.
For three seasons, it has consistently shown that intelligent, creative, character-driven, remarkable television still exists in a sea of reboots, revivals, and dwindling original ideas.
The series has also shown that, given enough time and trust, just as we used to do, a series can reach new heights and — gasp — build an audience and increase ratings.
We’re halfway through a scintillating third season, and the series seems to have hit its stride and become a latent breakout hit.
They simply aren’t missing with this carefully crafted season, and it’s a discernible truth as the season crescendos — Pierpoint and all of its characters dancing on a razor’s edge.
“The Ghost of Margaret Thatcher in a Handsome Asian Kid”
Breaking away from the tension-fueled season that includes a possible murder and the filial showdown of the CENTURY between Harper and Eric is a risk, a freaking huge one.
Indeed Industry Season 3 Episode 3 left many of us banshee screeching.
Harper fully leaned into her villainess era, toying with her former mentor like a fly in a web as he embodied the Kermit the Frog meme to avoid making eye contact.
Frankly, that scene is still happily resting in my head rent-free.
Shifting that narrative to the coke-fueled, harrowing misadventures of Pierpoint’s brash, unapologetically sleazy, and diabolical trader, often on the fringes of every floor scene, was a choice.
But that choice was a damn fine one, and Industry rewarded us with one of the most gripping character deep dives on television in some time.
It isn’t often a compliment when one remarks that a television series plays out like a movie, but in this instance, Industry Season 3 Episode 4 felt like a brilliant, full-featured film.
Focusing on Rishi was a Risk Worth Taking
From the opening to the exceptionally great Wu-Tang Clan needle drop, as the credits rolled, it was such a high-stakes hour of television that I felt like I stepped out of a two-and-a-half-hour fever dream of a film by the end.
If there was ever a secondary character deserving of the limelight and some narrative focus, it was Rishi Ramdani.
He’s a heavy player, but we don’t always know what makes him click, but with an hour that didn’t hold back, it’s of no surprise that Rishi is just as eternally fucked as the rest of them.
The challenge in exploring Rishi was in peeling back layers to a certifiable repulsive asshole in such a manner that we appreciate his complexities.
And the series delivers that on a silver platter while also remarkably keeping up with the season’s methodical dissection of masculinity.
Industry’s finest are slaves to the toxic masculinity they bear the burden of carrying, and it’s eating them alive.
Watching them stripped down was so delicious, and Rishi was certainly no exception.
Rishi as Industry’s Icarus Draws Fascinating Parallels to Harper
Do you know what Rishi is? Relentless.
Throughout Industry Season 3 Episode 4, it was difficult not to recall Rishi and Harper’s grimy bathroom hookup in the second season because it added more context to how they ended up there.
The two share a similar trait of running on all gas and no brakes, barreling forward and pushing everything to the limit in a quest for power, status, and prestige.
It’s not unlike what Eric likely experienced himself, which is why his unique dynamic with Rishi and Harper falls into place so brilliantly.
Truthfully, it also serves as a damningly honest reflection of their respective plights and motivations as scrappy characters of color navigating the blue-blooded, predominantly white circles.
Staying afloat is a constant grind, whether you’re breaking into this world, trying to maintain your place in it, or are terrified of losing it.
They don’t bat an eye or dwell as they dodge microaggressions — those bounce off the trio’s Teflon exterior, never slowing them down from their dogged pursuit of insatiable power, no matter the cost.
And it costs them gravely, but the quest never stops.
“Money Heals Antipathy as Fast as It Creates It”
Similarities aside, nothing could’ve prepared us for Rishi’s high-paced take on everything.
Life is a game meant to be played, and he will gamble with it until he’s in the ground.
He’s a chronic gambler and addict, and that permeates every aspect of his world, whether it’s pushing trades to the max on the floor, brushing past boundaries amongst his colleagues, or stretching the stability of his family and home life to the limit.
Rishi makes standing on the precipice a full-blown lifestyle, and no one can keep up.
Between the constant snorting up and the stress of being thousands of dollars in debt and nearly bankrupting his place of employment, it’s no wonder he hasn’t dropped dead by now.
Every scene from “White Mischief” was more stressful than the last, particularly as all these players in Rishi’s life were highly emotive and responsive to his recklessness or callousness; while he got so wrapped up in his actions, he didn’t give much mind.
The HR appointment was nothing more than a joke to him since, after 15 years of Rishi’s savage and reckless mouth, it was comical for them to chastise him as if there was a certain image they needed to uphold.
Life is a Game that Rishi Makes His B*tch
Interestingly, even through that, Rishi can still operate under the Pierpoint regime, which doesn’t hesitate to remind him that he never fully has a place or belongs there.
Rishi’s intervention of sorts after that teeth-gnashing gambling binge splendidly capped with The Little Drummer Boy seemed to have some impact as Rishi came down from his binge, but it wasn’t enough for it to matter.
In the end, none of it matters as long as money rolls in and they secure a win, and that may be why Rishi can function as he does with little consequence.
Beatdowns, bookies, berating coworkers, and partnering with adversaries are all part of the game.
Even Risk Takers are Truth Tellers
One of the most captivating interactions in “White Mischief” was Eric attempting to assert some authority over Rishi and reining him in.
Somebody needed to call Rishi out for what little good it actually did, but then Eric deserved that verbal lashing as well.
Rishi hit the nail on the head when he read Eric for Filth about how he carries himself at Pierpoint and his relationship with Harper and Yasmin.
If Eric was worried about Kenny “seeing” him, Rishi’s insight was far more astute and on the nose.
Due to Eric’s vulnerability, Kenny sees Eric for what he could be, but Rishi sees Eric for who and what he really is and doesn’t mince words when he feels Eric is calling him out.
He plays power games with everyone around him, and he’s tough to read, so the junior associates never know where they stand with him.
Eric is pulling that similar move with Yasmin and Robert that he did with Harper.
But he’s also ego-bruised and paranoid about Harper on his heels, outplaying and maneuvering him.
Eric likely has the same impression of Yasmin as Harper regarding her being amenable and eager to please, so she’s safer.
“It’s Much Easier to Raise Strong Boys Than Fix Broken Men”
Industry Season 3 Episode 4 takes us behind the curtains of Rishi’s home life, and it is one of the most fascinating we’ve seen yet.
When it comes to his wife, two things can be true at the same time.
Rishi likes her as his “English Rose” and a status symbol one step closer, presumably to him climbing the rungs to the higher crust.
He’s gone into debt purchasing the pavilion, drives obscenely expensive and flashy cars, and relocated to the countryside, all for the sake of this coveted image and symbol of prestige.
But neither he nor Diana wants this life that they’re cosplaying in, as deep down, they know they don’t genuinely desire these things.
Rishi and Diana Have a Rare, Brutally Authentic Marriage and Partnership
What’s captivating is realizing how much of a genuine partnership he and Diana have.
She knows about all of his vices and attempts to manage them as best as she can, but more than anything, she wants him to simply try to do and be better for her and her son’s sake.
She knows that Rishi is a chauvinist, not misogynist, and how much of a cruel streak he has, but she distinctly implies that he isn’t normally cruel to her; they’re cruel together.
It’s an unexpectedly raw, candid look at a marriage built on a genuine partnership involving two undeniably flawed people.
Diana isn’t just an esteemed White woman who married a Brown man to rebel against her aristocratic parents, and Rishi didn’t solely marry her as a mark of his status climbing.
Infidelity isn’t a deal breaker that tears them apart, as it’s more about radical honesty than betrayal.
They’re two people who recognize that they only married because they thought they were supposed to, even though it wasn’t what they wanted.
While their son is a gift, they don’t hide that they didn’t plan for him or that parenthood wasn’t a title they actively pursued.
Rishi even pointed out that she was a mother, and she later asserted that it was a title she didn’t even want.
Somehow, as fucked up and utterly broken as Rishi is, a thrill-seeking addict and gambler who breaks out in stress hives, they’re a healthier couple than you’d expect.
Rishi Has that Dog in Him in Industry Season 3 Episode 4
It’s not surprising that Rishi has the layers he does, but it’s refreshing that the series explored them in depth.
In a long line of incredible performances that are worthy of Emmy nominations, Sagar Ridia was remarkable and worthy of every accolade.
Give. Sagar Radia. All. The. F*cking. Awards.
When given a full hour to show what all he can do, he delivers tenfold with one of the best uses of a bottle episode in ages.
Rishi’s highs were outlandishly high, and the lows were so crushing that it always felt like he was down and out.
Their full breadth was captured well within Industry’s high-stakes trading on the floor.
Half the time, you don’t know what’s happening, but the intensity draws you in and stresses you out.
It was sensory overload with all the shouting, blinking red lights, numbers jumping all over the place, and the tension so thick in the air one couldn’t even cut through it with a classic sharp comment.
In one minute, Pierpoint seemed on the brink of ruin and collapse, all at the hands of Rishi, a man who treated his $300 million risk limit as if it were a mere suggestion.
And the next minute, he’s responsible for making them $18 million across the books.
It’s all grit and glory for Rishi.
Industry’s Dictatorship of Dying Men
Rishi taking his power back and destroying the wall of founders at the pavilion was gratifying.
Nicholas was a prick, an entirely different sort than Rishi, and it was tiresome seeing Rishi at the service of this man who acted as if the property was still his, whether it was land, the pavilion, or Rishi’s wife.
But it was also nice to see Rishi get his comeuppance, even if it came at the expense of Venetia.
She got him good and nearly hemmed him up with HR.
And then she made her grand escape, resigning from Pierpoint’s toxic (but fun for us) work environment with its sexism, brutality, and lack of moral strength.
Loyalties change daily, all in the name of what’s good for the bottom line and procuring money.
In the hour, we saw Rishi’s fast life, which illuminated why this job was perfect for him.
The man is pure luck; even on his worst days, he has the staying power of a cockroach.
Unsung Heroes and Gamechangers on the Horizon?
No matter how often he hits rock bottom, he keeps bouncing back to take a bite out of life or fate’s freshly shaved c*nt, as he so vulgarly mused.
I certainly won’t look at Rishi the same way, and I appreciate his insight.
As an aside, though, inquiring minds would love to know more about Sweetpea.
It was her porn that Rishi was watching while bouncing the baby and battling a coke nosebleed.
But Sweetpea contains multitudes, and whatever figures she gathered together and has been dying for him to peruse, it’ll likely be a game changer.
And I’m still clamoring to know the significance of Fady El-Sayed’s mysterious and snarky character, who has now caught the attention of both Eric and Rishi and may be in cahoots with Adler.
Bring it on.
Over to you, Industry Fanatics.
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