SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains plot details from “Both, And,” the Season 4 finale of “Industry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
Henry’s really mucked it up this time.
Sunday saw the end of a sensational fourth season of “Industry,” HBO’s high-flying financial drama from Konrad Kay and Mickey Down. It delivered yet another bottoming out for Sir Henry Muck, played for a second season by the dazzling Kit Harington.
Muck, a British aristocrat and perpetual fuck-up married to Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), spent most of the season trying to restore his reputation and portfolio after a failed political run and, before that, founding the disastrous clean energy startup, Lumi. Sir Henry’s latest deus ex machina was meant to be Tender, an aspiring British bank led by Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella). But, as tends to happen in the bleak world of “Industry,” the fintech product was populated by fake users driving juiced numbers. This Trojan horse of fraud was exploited and eventually revealed by Harper Stern (Myah’la), whose shorting of Tender paid off big time, at the expense of Henry and her old pal Yasmin.
Oh, and Yasmin’s own spiral of destruction, loneliness and narcissism led to another inevitable finale bombshell: she wants a divorce, especially after spending an eight-episode run watching Halberstram obsessively lust after Henry (culminating in the former rubbing the shoulders of the latter as he received oral sex at a glory hole). (To read a Season 4 breakdown of “Industry” with creators Down and Kay, click here.)
Variety caught up with Harington to discuss what options his character has left, and the Freudian dynamics playing out in Henry’s relationships.
We’ve finally learned Henry’s Season 4 fate. What do you make of it?
He’s not covered himself in glory, has he? But then, he wouldn’t. I watched the final two episodes with Mickey and Konrad the other night, and I came away saying, “God, Henry is a tragic character.” I enjoyed playing him so much that I hadn’t realized quite how tragic he was. But what fun. The arc of this season for me was, “Can you at any point feel for this guy?” If anyone did, even for a moment, then I think I achieved something.
Courtesy of HBO
As it stands at the end of the finale, Henry’s life has truly imploded again. Tender and Whitney Halberstram have been exposed as frauds. Yasmin tells Henry she wants a divorce. What do you think will become of Henry in the minutes and days following?
I believe the final image of Henry in the last episode, he’s on a boat in a pond taking Lithium to calm down. He’s physically and metaphorically on that boat. He’s away from shore, away from causing any more damage. It’s as close to a padded cell as you can get. I think Henry has had good intentions. In the previous season when he was launching Lumi, his goal was to address the climate crisis. When he ran for office, he was a good Tory politician and wanted to be for the people. Henry tries to do good, but because of his blinders he always creates a huge amount of damage. He needs to stop trying to do good. Sit on that boat, and not touch anything.
“Industry,” thank heavens, was renewed for a fifth and final season. Do you know whether Henry will return?
I’ve got no information to give you, I’m afraid. But there is a final season to tell, and I can’t wait to watch it, whether I’m in it or not.
Do you feel Henry and Yasmin are done for good?
It’s done, I think. It’s really deeply sad, because they did actually have some sort of love there. That’s what Marisa and I were playing at, investigating and pushing. It wouldn’t be interesting if they weren’t really in love, and it was purely a partnership of convenience. They ran fast, but it’s clear they’re not the people for each other.
Courtesy of HBO
I found Henry’s other relationship this season, with Whitney Halberstram, a lot more nuanced than one man desiring the other. I think Whitney understood the kind of worship that someone like Henry needs to be effective. Yas, on the other hand, was someone demanding authentic partnership and looking out for her own relevance.
I would agree with some of that. Whitney falls in an obsessive kind of love with Henry, and the system that made him. Henry grew up in immense privilege, where Whitney’s had to strive and claw and fight. I’ve always thought that Henry had a mother figure in Yas, but what about his father? We learned this season quite how many daddy issues Henry has. In terms of Whitney, I don’t think Henry thinks he’s gay or bi [regarding his feelings for him]. It’s more he feels strangely held and looked after, and that there’s someone responsible in power above him. Henry’s always lacked that.
I think one of the funniest lines ever on “Industry” was this season, when Yasmin confronts Henry about Whitney’s obvious sexual attraction to him. She brings up an encounter Henry had in college with another man, and he says that school is like prison and “everyone is a homo at uni.”
I howled when I read that.
I love your showrunners, I don’t think we’ve seen a glory hole on television in ages.
I set myself up for that. I remember for Season 3, they were talking about a potential scene and asked, “Are you OK being peed on?” And I said, “Yeah, man. I’ll do anything.”
The ratings for “Industry” are bigger than ever. Has it occurred to you that you’re on another blockbuster cable series that’s the lead-in for the “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”?
Huh. I’ve not done badly by HBO, have I?
This interview has been edited and condensed.