Industry - General Discussion

[aghst]

Premiers on 11/9/20 on HBO, 8 episodes.  Appears to be another joint production with the BBC as it’s set in London’s financial industry.

https://www.indiewire.com/2020/10/industry-trailer-hbo-drama-series-release-date-1234593532/

Produced by the production company behind His Dark Materials, one of the episodes will be directed by Lena Dunham.

Hmm, so a show set in contemporary London, produced by a team known for a genre show, with an episode directed by an American who created a show set in NYC, her home.

Well the cast seems to be young workers in finance, so maybe characters at similar stages in their lives and careers as the characters in Girls?

As for the HDM ties, maybe the characters in Industry have daemons as well?  Or more likely they have demons.

[aghst]

Positive but not rave reviews ahead of the premier on Monday.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/industry/s01/reviews?type=top_critics

[aghst]

 

Not much happened in the pilot.

Harper, black girl with the whitest name ever, seems to be faking her way in to high finance.

But even with faked transcripts, she’s still the black girl from a “shit uni” with the nose ring.

She scores a big transaction after a big client feels her up.  OK the client committed half a billion on a deal where she only makes money if the US and China clash militarily in the South China Sea?  Nicole the client is that rich but insists on the firm wining and dining her?

So did Nicole feel guilty, thus gave her the deal?  The rich don’t have guilty consciences and in any event, she could have made the sexual harassment/assault go away.

Because we’re suppose to conclude that Harper has a price, which is treating herself to a luxury suite and room service.  Also how she acquired the fake transcript, is she suppose to be transactional?

Soon as Harper scored the deal her mentor Eric let her know to get rid of the nose ring, which she did right then and there.

For a moment, it appeared Harper was going to walk away from Pierson, as she looked at the wine spill stain left by Hari, the last night before he died in a Pierson bathroom stall.  She held back on uploading the transcript — BTW, I’ve never had to produce my college transcript for a job but for things like grad school applications, I couldn’t deliver it myself.

FInally Harper tapped upload on her phone after taking a selfie of her wolfing down probably a $35 hotel burger with the London skyline view from the Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard.

Hari’s death seems to be meant as object lesson for these aspiring bankers, all trying to make the cut at RIF day — 6 months after being hired the day when half of these new hires will be let go.  Harper already seems to have figured out what she wants.

 

[Rickster]

Full disclosure: I worked with investment bankers in a client company in a prior life, although not in the areas shown on the show so far. I tuned in curious to see what their lives were like outside of our offices.

I thought this was all a bit too much "inside baseball" to attract a broad audience. They probably need to focus more on their personal lives to keep viewers attention, or explain more of the work at a more elementary level even if it's a bit unrealistic.

I watched this half asleep, so thanks for the explanation on the transcript. I didn't understand what was going on there. I did find it pretty unbelievable someone from SUNY Binghamton would be hired directly into the UK office of a major firm, but I guess Harper is supposed to be the entry point into the show for US viewers.

 

[aghst]

Yasmin gets dumped on by her colleagues and superiors at the office and she gets bullied by her mother at home, where she lives in some basement with an extra room she can let out to Harper, solving her housing problems.

But she’s got Richard wrapped around her little finger — though if she’s having sex with her bf yet thinks to send that photographic tease, she’s fooling herself?

 

So far were suppose to get that it’s cutthroat and the probationary newbies are all trying to survive RIF — last hurdle before permanent hire.  But all the probationary employees are in different departments so they’re not really competing with each other?  Seems like for the most part they get along, party with each other, not trying to get ahead of each other.

But Gus doesn’t care, he confronts Sara, daring her to fire him.

Eric is a bit of a prick, confronting a major client.  But compared to some of the other bosses he’s cool and Harper should feel lucky?

[Bluesky]

On 11/10/2020 at 9:52 AM, Rickster said:

 

I watched this half asleep, so thanks for the explanation on the transcript. I didn't understand what was going on there. I did find it pretty unbelievable someone from SUNY Binghamton would be hired directly into the UK office of a major firm, but I guess Harper is supposed to be the entry point into the show for US viewers.

 

I find it harder to believe that their human resource department doesn’t verify through the university that the person actually went to the university and graduated.  It’s too easy to fake transcripts.  

[MCMLXXVII]

I’m enjoying it so far, finance shows usually bore me.

[aghst]

Harper takes a little initiative and causes a rampage on the trading floor, which is under pressure after losing a major client.

But she makes a crucial save when the client won’t go for her idea so she comes up with some FX trade that he goes for.  That placates Eric because he doesn’t care as long as they make money.

Yasmin also tries to take initiative but becomes a pawn in a turf war.

Wining and dining a client is one thing but now Richard and Gus has to get Usman, the protege of the client, laid too?

The grads have been put in situations where there are sexual transactions involved on more than one occasion.

They no doubt get paid well and have a chance to be on a path to make a lot of money but it seems to be no different from other high-pressure sales jobs.  Any minute now, you expect Eric to channel Alec Baldwin screaming about coffee privileges.

This is a group of “grads” so they don’t seem to be in relationships or in love.  Harper certainly isn’t looking for anything special with “Will Hunt,” just the first of a parade of uncut dicks or that seems to be her plan at least.  Girl is ambitious but she also has her needs.

Yasmin is living with a guy but she’s playing games with Richard, who seems to be into her but isn’t going to wait around for her if there’s a hookup available.

Maybe Gus and Theo are catching feelings after starting out as hookup buddies,  maybe since their days as school mates.

 

[hurrrz]

I feel like the overuse of sex and drug scenes really cheapen the show. I think there's something there to be told about this industry and world, but I have my doubt that grads are going full on debauchery every day. It seems like they're doing coke and booze 10am for breakfast, and then have quickies at tea time. A bit much and unrealistic, I suspect. I also have my doubts that this group of young people are all screwing each other, but maybe I am just too far removed from that generation by now.

As it stands, I am not sure what they are trying to tell here. If they want to go full on "the finance industry is an industry full of macho sexists guys" then sure, go there. But the drugs are distracting from this, I think.

[aghst]

They may be overplaying the sex and drugs since it’s television.

But in episode 4, Harper has a big night celebrating her birthday and people at the office notice she’s hung over and needed to shower the next day.

However her questionable decision making on a trade can’t be blamed on the hangover.  Rather, it seems most of these grads, less than 4 months into the job with RIF coming up, seems to make a lot of questionable choices, such as the sex and drugs.

Harper makes a bad loss a horrible one and goes to the rich woman who felt her up.  The woman sees that Harper is trying to cost her money to cover up another bad trade,  Harper leaves, figuring she will get fired but turns out the woman gives her charity and more than makes up for the loss.

Also her shenanigans with the transcripts apparently catches up to her but her boss apparently likes her enough to not fire her.

Seems unrealistic, because fabricating her background is grounds alone for dismissal.  Has she been making a lot of money for the firm otherwise?  They haven’t shown that’s the case, though she seemed to have impressed a couple of clients.

[Bluesky]

On 11/30/2020 at 1:18 AM, aghst said:

They may be overplaying the sex and drugs since it’s television.

But in episode 4, Harper has a big night celebrating her birthday and people at the office notice she’s hung over and needed to shower the next day.

However her questionable decision making on a trade can’t be blamed on the hangover.  Rather, it seems most of these grads, less than 4 months into the job with RIF coming up, seems to make a lot of questionable choices, such as the sex and drugs.

Harper makes a bad loss a horrible one and goes to the rich woman who felt her up.  The woman sees that Harper is trying to cost her money to cover up another bad trade,  Harper leaves, figuring she will get fired but turns out the woman gives her charity and more than makes up for the loss.

Also her shenanigans with the transcripts apparently catches up to her but her boss apparently likes her enough to not fire her.

Seems unrealistic, because fabricating her background is grounds alone for dismissal.  Has she been making a lot of money for the firm otherwise?  They haven’t shown that’s the case, though she seemed to have impressed a couple of clients.

She would have been gone after getting caught lying.  If someone so new is comfortable with being so dishonest they wouldn’t keep them around.  And the actress who played Harper sucked.   She had like two facial expressions, mostly miserable or blank.   I wouldn’t watch a second season.  

[qtpye]

On 11/28/2020 at 1:22 PM, hurrrz said:

I feel like the overuse of sex and drug scenes really cheapen the show. I think there's something there to be told about this industry and world, but I have my doubt that grads are going full on debauchery every day. It seems like they're doing coke and booze 10am for breakfast, and then have quickies at tea time. A bit much and unrealistic, I suspect. I also have my doubts that this group of young people are all screwing each other, but maybe I am just too far removed from that generation by now.

As it stands, I am not sure what they are trying to tell here. If they want to go full on "the finance industry is an industry full of macho sexists guys" then sure, go there. But the drugs are distracting from this, I think.

Can we please stop pretending that young adults having sex, drinking, and doing drugs is anything edgy or exciting? These kids’ grandparents were doing worse as hippies. I feel like this is HBO’s desperate attempt  to stay relevant.

I would much prefer them focusing on the finance, even though that aspect is pretty unrealistic.

The thing with Yazmine and the blonde guy is boring. I honestly don’t care if they hookup or if she cheats on her himbo boyfriend.

Gus feels older to me...I am not sure why.

It is more compelling that Harper and Jazmine are friends and also competitors in a very cut throat industry. Is she really paying 3,000 pounds a month for her room in Yaz’s flat? Harper must be doing really well.

The love of Capitalism almost reminds me of the 80’s and not necessarily in a bad way. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher would be proud.

Edited December 3, 2020 by qtpye

[hurrrz]

9 hours ago, qtpye said:

Can we please stop pretending that young adults having sex, drinking, and doing drugs is anything edgy or exciting? These kids’ grandparents were doing worse as hippies. I feel like this is HBO’s desperate attempt  to stay relevant.
 

PREACH! It's not edgy. It's getting boring the more you do it. I agree that a show about the cutthroat business side of the finance industry could've been super interesting, in a "let's see who the biggest b*tch is" kinda way, but it got distracted by lame attempts at being edgy. 

 

Same goes for the death of the one kid. It's hard to feel anything for any of the characters, because we barely know any of these kids. And none of them are really likeable enough to care for. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by hurrrz

[qtpye]

3 hours ago, hurrrz said:

PREACH! It's not edgy. It's getting boring the more you do it. I agree that a show about the cutthroat business side of the finance industry could've been super interesting, in a "let's see who the biggest b*tch is" kinda way, but it got distracted by lame attempts at being edgy. 

 

Same goes for the death of the one kid. It's hard to feel anything for any of the characters, because we barely know any of these kids. And none of them are really likeable enough to care for. 

His death was obviously nothing but a plot point to give the other character's depth.

I do think this show has potential. I knew that since Lena Dunham was at the helm, we are going to get a lot of cunnilingual shots. Again, could care less about blonde boy putting Yazmine's panties over his head.

I do think the show has potential. It is nice to see young people working hard to achieve their goals instead of all being artsy airy fairy types. 

[aghst]

Episode 5 Learned Behavior.

Eric tasks Harper to try to win back Felix, the big client who alone brings enough bus8ness to his dept. to cover payroll.  Harper goes clubbing to get Felims assistant to set up a meeting but Felix isn’t interested, even though Harper offers to be the go between so that Felix would never have to deal with Eric again.

There’s an expose by a former Pierpoint employee.  All the grads read it but none of them are the least deterred at doing whatever it takes to keep employed there.

Yasmin sexts Richard and then later they have phone sex, both masturbating to videos and photos of each other.  Funny, one of those Echo speakers catches Richard moaning over Yasmin’s phone and Seb, the bf hears it.  Later Yasmin finds him passed out while doing some cam girl sex session but she’s pissed at him?

Later Eric is upset that Felix isn’t coming back.  But turns out a Harper told Daria that Eric lost Felix because of personal reasons.  Eric screams at Harper, makes her cry, reminds her that she lied about her background and that he “protected” her. She goes home kicks out her visiting ex when he sees that he’s stolen some vest with a bank logo.

Yasmin sets up a wine and dine with Kenny, the SOB who’s treated her like shit, and some friends who have opened a hedge fund and may represent huge new business for Kenny’s dept.  Kenny gets all drunk and they want a late night drinking place.  There Kenny buys lap dances for himself and Yasmin, who’s grossed out by the stripper who grinds on her lap while her old friends look on horrified.

She goes home only to see Seb passed out and the cam girl still performing.  She crawls into bed with Harper.  Suppose to be a sisterhood thing, how both had been let down by their men?  While she’s been sending boob photos to Richard and masturbating to a video of Richard with her panties on his head?

Would like to see where they’re going with all this sex and drugs.  Even boring old Clement gets a tailor to fix him a syringe with heroin.

It’s a cutthroat environment so everyone has to act out, let off a lot of steam?  That’s kind of facile.

Another facile take, the show is all about épater le bourgeois?

 

 

 

 

[ICantDoThatDave]

This show is just cliche after cliche after cliche. I've seen these exact plots, these exact characters, so many times before. They even did a "72 hours earlier..." episode!  It was so formulaic I could pretty much call every major plot point well before it happened.  Except the very end I guess, just because it was so dumb & contrived that I would have expected it to get laughed out of the writers' room.

It's like they thought they could substitute sex, drugs, & elevator music for an interesting plot.

[MartyQui]

Just finished this...what a bunch of unlikeable characters. I didn’t want any of them to succeed, and the whole Daria/Eric situation was just gross.  Of course Harper the liar uses her agency (such as it is) to bring back a man who covered for her, but was abusive, over a woman who seemed to be on the ball and ready for change.  My skin is still crawling.  

[sheetmoss]

I hope it gets Season 2 - I enjoyed it

Edited December 8, 2020 by sheetmoss

[Pop Tart]

10 hours ago, sheetmoss said:

I hope it get Season 2 - I enjoyed it

I'm loving it. Yes at times the sex and drugs is a bit much, but these are attractive, A-type, 20-something's working in an extremely pressurized work situation in a powerful industry in London, so this is exactly what I'd think they'd be doing many nights of the week. I like that they're all so messy and I think each will begin to see the impacts of their behavior as they go along. 

I think they're doing some really powerful stuff with the Harper/Eric relationship. What was seemingly a normal mentor relationship has morphed into something that has the ground shifting under Harper's (and our) feet with every interaction with Eric. When he overlooked her lying about her transcripts it seemed that he was saying that it's "us (POC) against them" so I'm going to continue to give you a leg up. Now it's feeling more like a mutually assured destruction pact between them. If he goes down, she goes with him and vice versa. 

And the relationship that is building between Harper and Jasmine? Loving it and how complex it is and will become. 

As to the actress playing Harper, I think she conveys so much with just the ways her eyes react or what her mouth is doing. As a young black woman in a mostly white, mostly male workplace? She has to remain blank-faced and stoic. So seeing her break down when Eric demolished her? Clearly that's what it takes to get her to break. It was scary and heartbreaking.

I'm in for another season (fingers crossed) for sure.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Pop Tart

[qtpye]

On 12/7/2020 at 1:00 AM, aghst said:

Episode 5 Learned Behavior.

Eric tasks Harper to try to win back Felix, the big client who alone brings enough bus8ness to his dept. to cover payroll.  Harper goes clubbing to get Felims assistant to set up a meeting but Felix isn’t interested, even though Harper offers to be the go between so that Felix would never have to deal with Eric again.

There’s an expose by a former Pierpoint employee.  All the grads read it but none of them are the least deterred at doing whatever it takes to keep employed there.

Yasmin sexts Richard and then later they have phone sex, both masturbating to videos and photos of each other.  Funny, one of those Echo speakers catches Richard moaning over Yasmin’s phone and Seb, the bf hears it.  Later Yasmin finds him passed out while doing some cam girl sex session but she’s pissed at him?

Later Eric is upset that Felix isn’t coming back.  But turns out a Harper told Daria that Eric lost Felix because of personal reasons.  Eric screams at Harper, makes her cry, reminds her that she lied about her background and that he “protected” her. She goes home kicks out her visiting ex when he sees that he’s stolen some vest with a bank logo.

Yasmin sets up a wine and dine with Kenny, the SOB who’s treated her like shit, and some friends who have opened a hedge fund and may represent huge new business for Kenny’s dept.  Kenny gets all drunk and they want a late night drinking place.  There Kenny buys lap dances for himself and Yasmin, who’s grossed out by the stripper who grinds on her lap while her old friends look on horrified.

She goes home only to see Seb passed out and the cam girl still performing.  She crawls into bed with Harper.  Suppose to be a sisterhood thing, how both had been let down by their men?  While she’s been sending boob photos to Richard and masturbating to a video of Richard with her panties on his head?

Would like to see where they’re going with all this sex and drugs.  Even boring old Clement gets a tailor to fix him a syringe with heroin.

It’s a cutthroat environment so everyone has to act out, let off a lot of steam?  That’s kind of facile.

Another facile take, the show is all about épater le bourgeois?

 

 

 

 

I still don’t understand if Seb is just a boy toy that is fucking a rich woman to stay in a nice flat or if Yazmin actually has feelings for him. It is obvious that Yazmin likes to dominate in her sexual relationships and that is not as interesting as the show seems to think it is.

I am fascinated with the relationship between Eric and Harper. They have potential to be the Peggy/Don of this series. A mentor/mentee duo that can both be nurturing and extremely toxic.

It seems to me that being a full time employee of This firm slowly destroys you after a while. I have no idea how realistic this is in the actual finance industry.

I do think there is enough for a second season. I think if they streamline some of the issues, it can be really intriguing.

[Pop Tart]

50 minutes ago, qtpye said:

I still don’t understand if Seb is just a boy toy that is fucking a rich woman to stay in a nice flat or if Yazmin actually has feelings for him. It is obvious that Yazmin likes to dominate in her sexual relationships and that is not as interesting as the show seems to think it is.

Seb to me feels like Yazmin's college boyfriend who should have been left behind when she graduated. He's the kind of guy who's fine if you're taking classes and you have the time to hang out - which seems to be what he does most of the time. But now that she's got a 9-5 job in the business world, he's no longer a match for her. To me it feels like he's a habit for her rather than any kind of great love.

53 minutes ago, qtpye said:

I am fascinated with the relationship between Eric and Harper. They have potential to be the Peggy/Don of this series. A mentor/mentee duo that can both be nurturing and extremely toxic.

This is a great comparison and really underlines for me why I'm liking it so much. Don/Peggy is one of my favorite pairings because of how complex that relationship was and how it shifted in balance and tone over time as Peggy grew and matured in her job. I see something similar happening with Eric/Harper though it's very early days.

Oh and the show has been renewed: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/industry-renewed-season-2-hbo-1234850400/ 

[qtpye]

3 hours ago, Pop Tart said:

Seb to me feels like Yazmin's college boyfriend who should have been left behind when she graduated. He's the kind of guy who's fine if you're taking classes and you have the time to hang out - which seems to be what he does most of the time. But now that she's got a 9-5 job in the business world, he's no longer a match for her. To me it feels like he's a habit for her rather than any kind of great love.

This is a great comparison and really underlines for me why I'm liking it so much. Don/Peggy is one of my favorite pairings because of how complex that relationship was and how it shifted in balance and tone over time as Peggy grew and matured in her job. I see something similar happening with Eric/Harper though it's very early days.

Oh and the show has been renewed: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/industry-renewed-season-2-hbo-1234850400/ 

Peggy/Don was a fantastic pairing.

She grew into a talented person in her own right under his mentorship and simultaneously realized that she had to get out from under him.... because he would happily destroy her as he always emotionally destroys himself.

It will be great to see how Harper/Eric can develop.

[aghst]

S01E06 - Nutcracker

Quote

Daria picks up on the awkward tension between Harper and Eric and insists Harper sticks close to her through the Christmas party. Yasmin is tasked with getting Maxim to come to the Christmas party, and Greg is in a particularly unstable state after being embarrassed by Eric in front of the entire team.

Eric gives Harper a £50k bonus, bringing her compensation to just over £116k.  Right before the Xmas party instead of in January, he says.

Harper's a bit uneasy, considering that he screamed at her recently in a locked conference room for letting Daria know that Eric made Felim walk away.

Eric even wants to take Harper to the Xmas party as his plus one but Daria rescues her by saying she and Harper are covering the trading desk that night.

Turns out it's not even grads who have messed up personal lives.  It's also VPs -- looks like if these grads get past RIF, they will pretty much all become VPs -- like Greg who is out of control with drugs,  He shows up late for work after some binging and can barely function but the most you get is Harper telling Robert to keep him from getting too high again.

That's teamwork, keep each other from getting into too much trouble!

Yasmin and Robert are messed up, carrying on a seduction where he doesn't get to touch her, just pleasure himself to her.

Gus and Theo try to quit their secret affair but the jig is up at the Xmas party, Theo's wife sees what's up.

Greg gets high and keeps running into a glass wall in front of everyone, including the executives.  Next morning, his forehead is stitched up, but no consequences.  Presumably as long as his trades make money, there never will be.

But now there are consequences for Eric, because he locked Harper in and ask her if she felt she couldn't leave.  They make her sign an NDA.  Harper will get through RIF and probably get another bonus as long as she doesn't sue the firm.

It looks like they are negotiating an exit for Eric, who likes to call his accomplished wife a cunt.  But it's unimaginable that they'd write out the character, since he's one of the best one on the show.

Yasmin is depending on her friend Maxim to bring tons of business to the firm, a prospect which makes Kenny really nice after terrorizing her most of the time.  But Maxim tells her that it's not acceptable that she humiliates herself for the company.  She tells him to mind his own business but if he did that (and not give them his business), then she'll get humiliated more at Pierson.

[aghst]

S01E07 - Pre-Crisis Activity

Quote

With Reduction in Force Day fast approaching, the graduates scramble to curry favor with their bosses and clients.

Turns out the £50k bonus that Eric gave to Harper was unauthorized.  It was twice what the other grads got.  Daria and Sara asks Harper to be discreet, not tell others, so you know it’s going to get out.

Yasmin organizes a party for all the grads the weekend before RIF but it’s really a way for her deadbeat bf Seb to fleece the grads, charging £100 a head for the food and booze.  When one guy objects, she offers to pay for him.  Turns out she’s paying for all of them.

Robert, after being cock-teased and played by Yasmin at the Xmas party shows up at the party in an expensive motorcycle.  He boasts to Harper that he hasn’t drunk alcohol in awhile and had a dry New Year’s for the first time in years.  But he will snort a lot of coke at the party using a £50 note to snort.  When the note goes missing he’s about to mess up some random guy who may have tried to steal it.

Yasmin before the party goes to drink expensive wine with her mother who regrets not leaving Yasmin’s father 20 years ago because of his money.  She’s been cut off and says Yasmin will probably be cut off as well.  But she advises Yaz to be with someone who “fulfills” her.

So she throws Seb out and then tries to initiate a threesome with Robert and Harper.  Initially she walked in on Robert and Harper getting hot and heavy so they start to have the threesome and Harper says she’s not into it and the whole thing breaks up.

First Robert though he was getting lucky,  then even luckier, to nothing.  Now he’s worried about his job because Kaspar retires and the firm cans Clement.

Yasmin is called in for a meeting because in her office chats she referenced “Charlie” and “brass” which are euphemisms for coke and hookers, supposedly.  So her position is precarious.

Harper and Daria go to visit Nicole, the woman who groped Harper and kept giving her big trades to bail her out.  Before they sit down, Nicole goes to the bathroom which has like 50 stalls and 2 sinks.  Harper accosts her and asks Nicole to make sure she expresses a preference for Harper being her coverage at Pierpoint.  That gambit backfires, Nicole accuses Harper of always asking for favors.  Then Harper demands Nicole apologize.  Nicole is taken aback but does in a mocking way.

Then she goes out and tells Daria that she won’t do business with Pierpoint any more.

So now Daria position in the firm is also shaky.  On top of that the firm learns that she told everyone about getting double the bonuS everyone else did.  She wasn’t bragging, she blurted it out because some asshole suggested they should have gotten Hari’s share.  Daria says he firm will be asking her t9 return half of it.

Gus tries to get a job with Goldman Sachsand the recruiter asks if he’s trying to bail on Pierpoint before RIF.  He doesn’t get the job for “hubristic” reasons.

 

[qtpye]

I thought the finale could have been better. It just felt flat to me.

[aghst]

I thought the season finale unrolled in some unpredictable ways.

First, you see Harper is obsessing over her RIF speech in front of the MDs (managing directors), listening to her reading the speech, trying to memorize it.  She spends the night before at some all-night Chinese joint trying to study.  Yasmin notices she hasn't slept in her room.

Robert is going around on his expensive motorcycle.  He knows he can be out of a job, doesn't have anything else lined up.  He tries to talk Usman into staying with Pierson but all the partying together means nothing and Usman rejects his appeal.  He talks to Clement, who had the Kaspar account (now run by Usman) for 20 years, basically got high most of the time.  Clement doesn't want to get off heroin and tries to offer Rob some advice.

Gus has a meeting with Sara, who tells him basically that he has a permanent job if he wants it, because she wants to build a new bank with more people of color, which seems to be what she's saying.  Theo comes over and tells Gus that his wife has left them so they can be together, spend some weekend together at his parents house in Polton but not this weekend, they just jetted back from Hong Kong.

Yasmin is worried about RIF but more than anything, she wants to get out from under that evil ginger Kenny.  So she approaches Daria, who's in charge of FX since Eric was dismissed.  Harper sees Daria and Yasmin talking, smiling together in a meeting room and immediately feels threatened.  She thinks perhaps Yasmin will not only get a permanent job but at her expense.

The grads and some of the older employees are buzzing, apparently some higher up named Adler is flying in from NY for RIF and in the past, when he's visited, there have been layoffs.

Harper eventually confronts Daria about Yasmin.  They have words, with Daria saying she's not a good culture fit.  Daria at this point plays the sexual assault card, talking about what Nicole tried to do to her.

The older guys are playing bingo using cliches which the grads are expected to use in their speeches, such as "team player" or "culture" and other inanities.

Gus goes in and makes a joke, mocking the things traders say during the day and then leaves the room with a big smile.  He no longer gives a fuck?  Someone alluded to the fact that he comes from a wealthy family.  But he apparently didn't like how the Hair incident went down but more than anything, he doesn't seem to have a heart for it, complained he didn't have a mentor.

Robert starts talking about having relationships with clients.  Then one of the MDs snarked "does he have anything else to say than the Pierson expense account."  They mentioned the fact that the Kaspar/Usman account is gone.  Then Robert starts bleeding from the nose.  He says it's from being nervous, a condition he had since he was a kid.  Daria calls him a cokehead.  So all the partying may have consequences after all.

Yasmin says safe, uncontroversial thing.  IN the previous episode, Hilary her manager sat down and talked about euphemisms for hookers in her chats.  Basically he didn't want her to mention any of it to the other MDs.  Yasmin still needed to get officially hired under Hilary and then she'd move over to Daria's dept.  After she finishes and leaves the room, Hilary says she's a "good team player" to the other MDs but the MD's discussions amongst themselves are not broadcast so no bingo!

Finally Harper goes in, starts her rehearsed speech, which includes the claim that she's the only grad who printed business.  Her speech is full of bullet points one might see in a resume.  She doesn't get far because she's stuttering and shaking.  She says maybe two sentences and leaves the room, runs out to the lobby, where Gus happens to be.  He comforts her as she seems to be having an anxiety attack.

Among the MDs, Daria says Harper's work makes her an easy hire.  Sara and Adler argue over talking to Harper.  Adler's main concern is to get back and keep the business Eric had because it's big money to Pierson.  Then Eric shows up at the meeting with a shit-eating grin.  Somehow they convinced Felim to come back.  Harper wanted to know if he apologized to Felim's wife but they don't really make it clear what happened.

Turns out Harper recanted her accusation vs. Eric and everything worked out.  That means that Eric's enemies or rivals, Daria and Sara, are out.  That means Yasmin is stuck working with Kenny, which she's not happy to find out.  She accuses Harper of only being for herself.

So maybe that's why they hired Harper, that she could be cutthroat, screw her colleagues and friends over if necessary.

Harper goes over to where Robert and Gus live but Robert is still riding his expensive motorcycle.  His situation is unknown but one of the MDs said there is a place for someone good with clients.  But apparently Harper has feelings for the cokehead.  When did this happen?  Previous episode she thought about hooking up with him and maybe she didn't like Yasmin messing with poor Robert.  So if Harper survives RIF, maybe Robert will as well.

 

[aghst]

Interview with the show runners, who talk about the finale and what's in store for season 2.

https://ew.com/tv/industry-star-and-creators-interview-season-finale/

They point out that Harper, given the chance to change the toxic culture at this workplace, chooses to go with Eric, who wins out because he brings in the money.

Quote

To ensure her spot, Harper — when faced with the opportunity to retract her complaint that got him fired — chooses to bring back her toxic boss Eric Tao (Ken Leung) over Sara Dhadwal (Priyanga Burford), who wants the young grad to help her change the culture at Pierpoint. The decision secured her job but shattered her relationships with Daria Greenock (Freya Mavor), who was fired to make room for Eric, and her friend Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), a fellow grad banking on Daria to get out of a toxic situation of her own.

While they wanted to show people of color and wanted to tell a story about the people at the bottom, not at the top, like other shows on banking, they make it clear that Harper will choose herself, that is advance her career rather than push for change.

Second season will show why Harper came to work for Pierson.  They will show the same for the other grads.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 12/23/2020 at 12:25 PM, aghst said:

I thought the season finale unrolled in some unpredictable ways.

Good summary! And thanks for the interview link! Just a few things:

Alice was Theo's girlfriend rather than his wife.

Harper is the one who plays the sexual assault card rather than Daria, speaking to Daria. I assume that was a typo.

Yasmin's chats were flagged because of the use of words that can be euphemisms for drugs and hookers (Charlie and brass), but she wasn't actually talking about those things but rather about dog names and stuff and Hilary doesn't care about that. But the chats also revealed Kenny's demeanor with her, which is what Hilary doesn't want her to mention.

Harper claimed she was one of very few grads who printed business, rather than absolutely the only one.

Daria is out but Sara is still employed, although her attempt to get Harper to make the right choice didn't work.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Noneofyourbusiness

[DB in CMH]

When did HBO start making CW shows?

Terrible. Terrible writing, terrible plotting. After an entire season, I still don't understand the motivations of any of these characters.

[Mikay]

I will sit at a table for one and say that I liked the show!

I actually think there are relatively few shows out there right now that really capture the desperation of the millennial/Gen Z generations trying to make it in a world with an uncertain job market, rapid technology change, and the increase of the price of living more generally(I know that I for example will probably never own a house and neither will anyone I know who is my age). We are now in a space, where you could go to college, graduate and still be unemployed or dirt poor. You need the something extra to be successful in this day and age—desperation and ambition.

Maybe that’s why the drug use didn’t bother me, and I actually did think they were showing something new and deeply sad. In the 60s, people took drugs because it was fun. Today’s working people(according to the show) don’t just take drugs to unwind or look edgy, though that was part of it, they also take drugs to keep going at their daily lives. To handle the insane pressure of their jobs, which requires long hours and meeting their supervisors' every capricious whim. Rob had serious drug problems, but it wasn’t just his own problems driving him in the addict direction. His use of drugs was also obliquely encouraged by supervisors to allow him to bond with clients. Meanwhile a few of the people above the new grads on the ladder are also shown with serious drug problems(Greg, Clement), or to be off in some way(Eric). No one seems happy or fulfilled at the top, and yet it’s the only place these people want to be because if you aren’t at the top, then you are at the bottom. That’s where we are now. 

I also thought the motives of the characters became pretty clear by the end, particularly Harper. While at first glance she seems stoic and put together, I think you get a hint of her problems early when she has a full on break down at the thought of admitting to a simple mistake. She’s a deeply insecure and anxious person that has trouble connecting with others. Most of this seems to be because of the loss of her brother, who clearly played a major role in her life as an emotional touchstone. Her mother is quite unable to handle her emotional outburst in their one phone call this season, so I don’t get the impression of a close household. Without her brother, the only thing left for her is her job. It’s why she reacts possessively to her friendships and mentorships, viewing threats to them as threats to her own security. When Yasmin puts the moves on Rob, Harper can constantly be seen glaring at them. When Yasmin tries to nudge in her space at CPS, she reacts with jealousy and agitation. 

She ultimately chooses Eric, because Eric, even though he’s an extremely toxic boss, saw her. Not just as a brochure charity case, but as a poor American minority, with the deep hunger to succeed that would make her the most cutthroat person in the room. She was his person. No one else at the company offered her that level security(and money), so when it came down to it, she chose him over Daria and Sara, who couldn’t guarantee her anything. They say they want to change the culture, but the first thing they did when under the influence of alcohol Harper confessed to being afraid of Eric, is corner her about the accusation and foist a NDA on her that she didn’t even have time to even read. All things being square, she looked at her options and picked the safest one. It definitely made me love the character.

So often black women on tv shows are self-sacrificing, willing to throw themselves on the frontlines for the “greater good,” which conveniently is often the happiness of others. You can actually tell this isn’t a CW show because the black female character is allowed to be complicated, flawed and sympathetic. I did just watch a show that could definitely have been on CW though because they sidelined the black female lead and made her everyone else’s champion. Harper isn’t like that, which made me smile. 

The show isn’t perfect, but I will definitely watch a season 2. 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Mikay

[aghst]

I liked the show too.  It made some ten best lists.

They make a lot of money but it's a bleak scene.  

One wrinkle could be that with Brexit, a lot of these jobs in London could disappear or be moved to the EU.  IRL several banks have moved their London operations over to Germany or France.

I don't know if they will go there next season.  The show runners deliberately chose to depict the lives of the entry-level workers in the high finance so they will continue with that in season 2.

[dmc]

Also team Harper, of course she chose Eric.  Eric is invested in her. Yasmin will have tons of people invested in her throughout her career.  Harper will probably have one or two. 

[qtpye]

11 hours ago, Mikay said:

I will sit at a table for one and say that I liked the show!

I actually think there are relatively few shows out there that really capture the desperation of the millennial/Gen Z generations trying to make it in a world with an uncertain job market, rapid technology change, and the increase on the price of living more generally(I know that I for example will probably never own a house and neither will anyone I know who is my age). We are now in a space, where you could go to college, graduate and still be unemployed or dirt poor. You need the something extra to be successful in this day and age—desperation and ambition.

Maybe that’s why the drug use didn’t bother me, and I actually did think they were showing something new and deeply sad. In the 60s people took drugs because it was fun. Today’s working people(according to the show) don’t just take drugs to unwind or look edgy, though that was part of it, they also take drugs to keep going at their daily lives. To handle the insane pressure of their jobs, which requires long hours and meeting their capricious supervisors every whim. Rob had serious drug problems, but it wasn’t just his own problems driving him in the addict direction, it was also obliquely encouraged by supervisors to allow him to bond with clients. Meanwhile a few of the people above the new grads on the ladder are also shown with serious drug problems(Greg), or to be off in some way(Eric). No one seems happy or fulfilled at the top, and yet it’s the only place these people want to be because if you aren’t at the top, then you are at the bottom. That’s where we are now. 

I also thought the motives of the characters became pretty clear by the end, particularly Harper. While at first glance she seems stoic and put together, I feel like you get a hint of the problems early when she has a full on break down at the thought of admitting to a simple mistake. She’s a deeply insecure and anxious person that has trouble connecting with others. Most of this seems to be because of the loss of her brother who clearly played a major role as emotional touchstone. Her mother is quite unable to handle her emotional outburst in their one phone call this season, so I don’t get the impression of a close household. Without her brother, the only thing left for her is her job. It’s why she reacts possessively to her friendships and mentorships, viewing threats to them as threats to her own security. When Yasmin puts the moves on Rob, Harper can constantly be seen glaring at them. When Yasmin tries to nudge in her space at CPS, she reacts with jealousy and agitation. 

She ultimately chooses Eric because Eric, even though he’s an extremely toxic boss, saw her. The poor American minority, with the deep hunger to succeed that would make her the most cutthroat person in the room. She was his person. No one else at the company offered her that level security(and money), so when it came down to it, she chose him over Daria and Sara, who couldn’t guarantee her anything. They say they want to change the culture, but the first thing they did when under the influence of alcohol Harper confessed to being afraid of Eric, is corner her about the accusation and foist a NDA on her that she didn’t even have time to even read. All things being square, she looked at her options and picked the safest one. It definitely made me love the character.

So often black women on tv shows are self-sacrificing, willing to throw themselves in the frontlines for the “greater good,” which conveniently is often the happiness of others. You can actually tell this isn’t a CW show because the black female character is allowed to be complicated, flawed and sympathetic. I did just watch a show that could definitely have been on CW though if they cut the over the top sex scenes because they sidelined the black female lead and made her everyone else’s champion. Harper isn’t like that, which made me smile. 
 

The show isn’t perfect, but I will definitely watch a season 2. 

I appreciate you taking the time to write this out. It really puts things into a good perspective for me.

I do think the show has great potential. It kind of reminds me of the desperation of the eighties/greed is good/Reagan era mentality. The difference is that at that time all the main characters would be white men and the women would be nothing more than arm candy.

Also, in the eighties, people did these types of jobs to be masters of the universe, while here they seem to be doing it to survive and just get to the next level.

I will be interested to see next season how Yazmine handles not having money if her father cuts her off. Yazmine can be gracious and generous in a way that regular people can not, simply because she has money. When her horrible boyfriend invited all her coworkers to the 100 pounds per person party...she graciously covered a fairly large group of people so he would not feel like a failure.

I would also bet that she paid for the high qualify food and liquor being served. If he was really going to do sashimi, then the quality of fish needed to be excellent and that is not cheap.

I think she was only in relationship with him because he was familiar and she thought he was hot, though their sex life had become disappointing to her. He stayed with her because being with her provided a high end life for himself. However, the fact that she was financially providing for them (maybe through a trust fund) seemed to emasculate and decrease his sexual desire for her.

I am glad Yazmine figured out that his stupid insecurities are not her problem. She really needs to move on from him.

[dmc]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:59 PM, qtpye said:

I appreciate you taking the time to write this out. It really puts things into a good perspective for me.

I do think the show has great potential. It kind of reminds me of the desperation of the eighties/greed is good/Reagan era mentality. The difference is that at that time all the main characters would be white men and the women would be nothing more than arm candy.

Also, in the eighties, people did these types of jobs to be masters of the universe, while here they seem to be doing it to survive and just get to the next level.

I will be interested to see next season how Yazmine handles not having money if her father cuts her off. Yazmine can be gracious and generous in a way that regular people can not, simply because she has money. When her horrible boyfriend invited all her coworkers to the 100 pounds per person party...she graciously covered a fairly large group of people so he would not feel like a failure.

I would also bet that she paid for the high qualify food and liquor being served. If he was really going to do sashimi, then the quality of fish needed to be excellent and that is not cheap.

I think she was only in relationship with him because he was familiar and she thought he was hot, though their sex life had become disappointing to her. He stayed with her because being with her provided a high end life for himself. However, the fact that she was financially providing for them (maybe through a trust fund) seemed to emasculate and decrease his sexual desire for her.

I am glad Yazmine figured out that his stupid insecurities are not her problem. She really needs to move on from him.

There’s something about Yazmine I don’t entirely trust. She can be generous but her generosity almost always comes with strings.  Almost immediately when Harper moves in, she becomes critical and weird...Even her boyfriend comments on it.  You asked her to live here and now you criticize her or something like that. Then out of nowhere she decides to set Harper up with Greg.  Her boyfriend comments on that too.  Why would Harper be interested in a guy that just offered me acid on the way to the bathroom is my favorite quote?   I almost thought she did it just to get Harper away from Robert but Robert seems interested in Yazmine so why bother.  I think she just likes playing with people to see what happens.  Harper was smart to pay rent.  I suspect she doesn’t want to owe Yazmine anything.  

Also Harper seems into Greg now, who I  already like better than Robert, he just needs to quit drugs 

 

 

[qtpye]

7 hours ago, dmc said:

There’s something about Yazmine I don’t entirely trust. She can be generous but her generosity almost always comes with strings.  Almost immediately when Harper moves in, she becomes critical and weird...Even her boyfriend comments on it.  You asked her to live here and now you criticize her or something like that. Then out of nowhere she decides to set Harper up with Greg.  Her boyfriend comments on that too.  Why would Harper be interested in a guy that just offered me acid on the way to the bathroom is my favorite quote?   I almost thought she did it just to get Harper away from Robert but Robert seems interested in Yazmine so why bother.  I think she just likes playing with people to see what happens.  Harper was smart to pay rent.  I suspect she doesn’t want to owe Yazmine anything.  

Also Harper seems into Greg now, who I  already like better than Robert, he just needs to quit drugs 

 

 

Yes, she uses her money to seem generous but it is actually a form of control for her. 

[dmc]

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

Yes, she uses her money to seem generous but it is actually a form of control for her. 

This.  

[Mikay]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:59 PM, qtpye said:

I appreciate you taking the time to write this out. It really puts things into a good perspective for me.

I do think the show has great potential. It kind of reminds me of the desperation of the eighties/greed is good/Reagan era mentality. The difference is that at that time all the main characters would be white men and the women would be nothing more than arm candy.

Also, in the eighties, people did these types of jobs to be masters of the universe, while here they seem to be doing it to survive and just get to the next level.

I will be interested to see next season how Yazmine handles not having money if her father cuts her off. Yazmine can be gracious and generous in a way that regular people can not, simply because she has money. When her horrible boyfriend invited all her coworkers to the 100 pounds per person party...she graciously covered a fairly large group of people so he would not feel like a failure.

I’m glad!  As someone nearish to the age group of the characters I feel like I’m living with a lot of the anxiety about the modern workplace/life, which is very tumultuous these days. It’s like the bigness of 1980s backlit with the economic downturn and general upheaval of the 30s. Just basic survival is now the goal. 

I think Gus and Yazmine(I've been spelling her name wrong this entire time!) are in a different place than the rest of the characters for much of the season. Their wealth provides a cushion to what would otherwise be big earth shattering events to the others like RIF, and so while they are at turns deeply upset by their neglect(Gus), and rightfully bristling at a hostile work environment(Yasmin),there isn’t that same desperation/without this I am nothing mentality that define Harper, Robert and Hari.

It’s curious to consider what Yazmine will do next season if/when her finances are challenged by her parents divorce. She’s shown to be a very Type A person, someone who reacts to setbacks by grasping for more control in other areas of her life. Not having her usual resources may translate to her being a harder more calculating worker less likely to take abuse from her superiors. I mean as grim as it sounds, the fact that Yazmine ultimately didn’t report on the toxicity/harassment from Kenny/others on her team might make that team more willing to have her back/include her in actual assignments. Though the idea that you would have to betray your morals to be part of the team really emphasizes the toxicity of the workplace. 

 

On 1/2/2021 at 8:53 PM, dmc said:

There’s something about Yazmine I don’t entirely trust. She can be generous but her generosity almost always comes with strings.  Almost immediately when Harper moves in, she becomes critical and weird...Even her boyfriend comments on it.  You asked her to live here and now you criticize her or something like that. Then out of nowhere she decides to set Harper up with Greg.  Her boyfriend comments on that too.  Why would Harper be interested in a guy that just offered me acid on the way to the bathroom is my favorite quote?   I almost thought she did it just to get Harper away from Robert but Robert seems interested in Yazmine so why bother.  I think she just likes playing with people to see what happens.  Harper was smart to pay rent.  I suspect she doesn’t want to owe Yazmine anything.  

I agree that Yazmine is a bit difficult to trust. She both seems like one of the nicest characters on the show, but also someone whose motives are hard to read. Her desire to set Harper up with Greg(seemingly unprompted), going so far as to plan a dinner for the two of them, is really weird(as commented on by her bf). Harper just moved in, they've bonded, but probably not to the level where she should be setting up dates on her behalf. It seems like she just has a lot of control issues and tries to manage people around her to satisfy some internal need. I also found Yazmine posture toward Harper and Rob a little strange. She's shown to be jealous of Harper and Rob's relationship a few times in the show, but since Robert was obviously interested in her, it comes off as her being controlling for controlling's sake. Like when she interrupted the Harper&Rob hookup in episode 7(out of jealousy?), even though Rob wasn't playing hard to get and had made his interest in her known several times. And then even in episode 8, she shows almost no interest in Rob at all..so was it just the chase, the desire to control?

Despite some of that weirdness, I did think there were surprising moments of emotional tenderness with Harper. That moment when she crawls into bed with Harper rather than sleeping on the couch. I think she was being pretty sincere there. Interested to see where it all goes in season 2. 

Edited January 6, 2021 by Mikay
Typo

[dmc]

59 minutes ago, Mikay said:

I’m glad!  As someone nearish the age group of the characters I feel like I’m living with a lot of the anxiety about the modern workplace/life, which is very tumultuous these days. It’s like the bigness of 1980s backlit with the economic downturn and general upheaval of the 30s. Just basic survival is now the goal. 

I think Gus and Yazmine(I've been spelling her name wrong this entire time!) are in a different place than the rest of the characters for much of the season. Their wealth provides a cushion to what would otherwise be big earth shattering events to the others like RIF, and so while they are at turns deeply upset by their neglect(Gus), and rightfully bristling at a hostile work environment(Yasmin),there isn’t that same desperation/without this I am nothing mentality that define Harper, Robert and Hari.

It’s curious to consider what Yazmine will do next season if/when her finances are challenged by her parents divorce. She’s shown to be a very Type A person, someone who reacts to setbacks by grasping for more control in other areas of her life. Not having her usual resources may translate to her being a harder more calculating worker less likely to take abuse from her superiors. I mean as grim as it sounds, the fact that Yazmine ultimately didn’t report on the toxicity/harassment from Kenny/others on her team might make that team more willing to have her back/include her in actual assignments. Though the idea that you would have to betray your morals to be part of the team really emphasizes the toxicity of the workplace. 

 

I agree that Yazmine is a bit difficult to trust. She both seems like one of the nicest characters on the show, but also someone whose motives are hard to read. Her desire to set Harper up with Greg(seemingly unprompted), going so far as to plan a dinner for the two of them, is really weird(as commented on by the her bf). Harper just moved in, they've bonded, but probably not to the level where she should be setting up dates on her behalf. It seems like she just has a lot of control issues and tries to manage people around her to satisfy some internal need. I also found Yazmine posture toward Harper and Rob a little strange. She's shown to be jealous of Harper and Rob's relationship a few times in the show, but since Robert was obviously interested in her, it comes off as her being controlling for controlling sake. Like when she interrupted the Harper&Rob hookup in episode 7(out of jealousy?), even though Rob wasn't playing hard to get and had made his interest in her known several times. And then even in episode 8, she shows almost no interest in Rob at all..so was it just the chase, the desire to control?

Despite some of that weirdness, I did think there were surprising moments of emotional tenderness with Harper. That moment when she crawls into bed with Harper rather than sleeping on the couch. I think she was being pretty sincere there. Interested to see where it all goes in season 2. 

Yes the date setup was so out of nowhere, I wondered if I missed a scene or it got cut.  Then we find out from Robert, Greg is essentially Harper's boss which I have zero experience with investment banking so it's difficult for me to keep track of superiors.

 

There's Sara, Eric, Greg, Daria, Gross Kenny, the guy that yelled at Kenny about the article and says buying salads is a right of passage (okay creep), and the guy that kept Robert despite his nose visibly bleeding (are you ready to bite the head off a bear guy?) which is also the guy that had Harper readmit Eric.  I mean this seems like an inordinate amount of people in charge.  

 

But the date was VERY weird.  I actually had the thought is she maybe trying to sabotage Harper due to all the misogyny Yazmine has faced that Harper has mostly side stepped.  Having Harper date someone at work, a superior was bound to get some comments in that toxic environment.  Yazmine has been through it, the night Kenny is legit dissing her to her face in front of everyone at a dinner to RAISE moral after their colleague died is some next level shit.  Even before Daria got fired, I know she resented Harper too. I am fairly certain Eric would not want people answering his phone like Daria claims.  Then the whole push to get Harper to get rid of Eric was definitely calculating on Daria's part.  I cannot imagine at that job, you can have close friends with people who work there.  

I know this won't happen but if I worked there I would live alone and only see these people at work.  Robert is legit the only person not worried about how well he does or who he competes with but drugs use will do that for you.  

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by dmc

[Pop Tart]

On 1/3/2021 at 10:44 PM, Mikay said:

I mean as grim as it sounds, the fact that Yazmine ultimately didn’t report on the toxicity/harassment from Kenny/others on her team might make that team more willing to have her back/include her in actual assignments. Though the idea that you would have to betray your morals to be part of the team really emphasizes the toxicity of the workplace. 

The interesting thing is that Yasmin and Harper did nearly the same thing. They both covered for abusive behavior by their male superiors in order to not face setbacks in their careers. Harper's actions look more cutthroat because Daria ended up losing her job, but in reality Yasmin had endured far more abuse and toxicity than Harper and yet Yasmin was furious that Harper backed off on the abuse claim so that Eric could come back.

Both were approached by higher ups in the organization, Yasmin by Kenny's boss? and Harper by the CEO of the company?, to keep quiet about the abusive behavior they were witness to. Both decided to keep quiet in order to move up in the company. The only difference was that Harper's choice led to Daria being ousted.

I think Yasmin has a love/hate thing going for Harper. She admires her but is also jealous and feeling competitive. All of which makes sense. She's wildly envious of how Eric allows Harper to do the actual work while Yasmin is relegated by Kenny to picking up salads. So while she seems to be a supporter of Harper, there are several times where she sabotages her, not always consciously, but it's happening. She is the one who lets the cat out of the bag about Harper meeting with Daria's client, she sets up Harper with Greg, she inserts herself into the friendship between Harper and Rob, she nudges Harper into seeing Eric's behavior as scary, etc. 

Yasmin is convinced she's all in as a friend to Harper, but there are a lot of conflicting things going on with her, many of which she's not even fully aware. And that's okay. Harper is her own mix of good and bad and that makes me happy. I love that there are two complicated, sometimes problematic, young women at the heart of this.

 

 

[aghst]

Season 2 trailer.

Premiers August 1.

[BetterButter]

[qtpye]

On 7/22/2022 at 1:30 PM, BetterButter said:

Can't wait...looking forward to it.

[AntFTW]

Alright, here we go with a new season.

Yasmin is a piece of work... 🙄

[aghst]

How about Harper coming on to Robert?

So is this how the financial industry works, young traders party hard in their high-stress job, with all manner of bullying, in that frat house atmosphere?

But they also have to cultivate big clients, any way they can.

Yasmin was bullied in her first year and the guy who bullied her is trying to make amends.  But she pays it forward to another first year female hire.

Harper is learning, trying to line up the big whale who's staying at the hotel where she's living.  Why is a billionaire settling for a 4-star hotel that someone like Harper, who's early in her career, lives at?

Yasmin is doing coke with someone who she assumes is a sex worker but turns out to be her next potential boss.  It turns out she's the heiress to a huge fortune but why is she working so hard?

[AntFTW]

18 hours ago, aghst said:

Yasmin was bullied in her first year and the guy who bullied her is trying to make amends.  But she pays it forward to another first year female hire.

I think with the new hire, Venetia, it's showing that the environment doesn't have to be toxic. The new hire is coming in bright-eyed and bushy tailed and showing that she's making the experience work for her and shaping her own experience. We'll see how long that lasts. Whereas, Yasmin was the opposite, she let the experience shape her and break her down.

Kenny is trying to make amends with Yasmin and actually be a supportive manager, and Yasmin is seemingly rejecting all of that. Yasmin has her view of how this experience is "supposed" to be and now she thinks everyone has to go through it like she did. It was a toxic work environment for her and now she's continuing that toxicity.

18 hours ago, aghst said:

Yasmin is doing coke with someone who she assumes is a sex worker but turns out to be her next potential boss.  It turns out she's the heiress to a huge fortune but why is she working so hard?

She's trying to create her own lane and be her own successful story. What I don't understand is why does that not embolden Yasmin to be a little more risky in her job. Unlike others, she'll be fine if she loses her job. Others are building connections and their careers, and she's already connected and can likely work at her family's business if she wanted. I would think that would enable to be a little more bold in her pitches, be a little more proactive, and more aggressive because there's much more upside than downside for her, relative to anyone else.

Edited August 2, 2022 by AntFTW

[nb360]

On 12/30/2020 at 10:50 AM, Mikay said:

So often black women on tv shows are self-sacrificing, willing to throw themselves on the frontlines for the “greater good,” which conveniently is often the happiness of others. You can actually tell this isn’t a CW show because the black female character is allowed to be complicated, flawed and sympathetic. I did just watch a show that could definitely have been on CW though because they sidelined the black female lead and made her everyone else’s champion. Harper isn’t like that, which made me smile. 

Yes, I like this as well. I thought this was actually a bold and unexpected move.

[qtpye]

On 8/2/2022 at 12:32 AM, aghst said:

Yasmin is doing coke with someone who she assumes is a sex worker but turns out to be her next potential boss.  It turns out she's the heiress to a huge fortune but why is she working so hard?

On 8/2/2022 at 9:49 AM, AntFTW said:

She's trying to create her own lane and be her own successful story. What I don't understand is why does that not embolden Yasmin to be a little more risky in her job. Unlike others, she'll be fine if she loses her job. Others are building connections and their careers, and she's already connected and can likely work at her family's business if she wanted. I would think that would enable to be a little more bold in her pitches, be a little more proactive, and more aggressive because there's much more upside than downside for her, relative to anyone else.

It's ridiculous to think that her coworkers would not be kissing her ass just to have a chance at managing her family's portfolio.

The scam artists that ran Theranos had banks throwing money at them (both personally and privately) at very low-interest rates because it is that lucrative to manage the money of potential billionaires.

I really do not know why she seems so timid. Heck, the guy whose family manages HER family's money just blew up a fund and doesn't care because he's financially fine, no matter how bad he fails.

It would be interesting to find out that her family is not as flush as we think and now she really has to work to maintain her lifestyle but that seems unlikely. 

I mean, the new girl is demanding respect while Yasmin just let everybody walk all over her during her first year.

[AntFTW]

3 hours ago, qtpye said:

It's ridiculous to think that her coworkers would not be kissing her ass just to have a chance at managing her family's portfolio.

Honestly, I don't remember such about the first season. Snippets of scene come back to me in bits and pieces, and I haven't rewatched it recently. Do her coworkers know that she comes from a wealthy family? I know a few do, like Harper and Rob, but what about the others?

3 hours ago, qtpye said:

I really do not know why she seems so timid. Heck, the guy whose family manages HER family's money just blew up a fund and doesn't care because he's financially fine, no matter how bad he fails.

The thing that gets me about that is she used that connection to further her goals in her own career. She used someone she already knew to bring business in and boost her own worth to the firm. It seems like she got that one client and stopped there. Why? I have so many questions.

3 hours ago, qtpye said:

I mean, the new girl is demanding respect while Yasmin just let everybody walk all over her during her first year.

and Yasmin is really hating it LOL

Edited August 8, 2022 by AntFTW

[aghst]

I vaguely recall Yasmin's mother being a bully.  I don't remember much about her husband or why she apparently is single now.

I don't know, I get the sense that the character was created and the actress cast for the nude scenes.

Investment banks have a rep for attracting the smartest and most ambitious and they have a very tough hiring process.  They showed a bit of it in the first season, with Harper not coming from a school with a pedigree.

But you really don't see them using their brains, it's more emotional, cultivating relationships.

Hell they might as well be selling Amway or luxury cars, the way they emphasize landing big fish clients and courting them to get their business.

A lot of the rich are not really into making a lot of trades.  They already have a ton of money and they make millions just from dividends, so they wouldn't be interested in trading often.  Yet the department that Eric heads is about finding the perfect trades, kind of like criminals making big scores.

Or the way a hedge fund business is depicted in Billions, they either cheat with inside information like bribing scientists at drug companies or they find some special insight, like going to a chicken farm and learning how chicken futures prices are likely to trend.  They pretend it's brainiacs finding these big trades.

In Industry, it seems to be about finding rich clients and getting them to trade currencies and such.  So they don't need to trade to make money, they already got it, but Harper and her colleagues have to convince them to make more trades.

Now Harper is trying to reel in this big fish, another guy who's already rich and supposedly made some great bets about the pandemic.  Why would he need traders with a couple of years of experience recommending trades for him?

[AntFTW]

15 hours ago, aghst said:

Investment banks have a rep for attracting the smartest and most ambitious and they have a very tough hiring process.  They showed a bit of it in the first season, with Harper not coming from a school with a pedigree.

I thought she didn't come from any school or maybe she dropped out. I actually thought she faked graduating completely.

15 hours ago, aghst said:

Hell they might as well be selling Amway or luxury cars, the way they emphasize landing big fish clients and courting them to get their business.

A lot of the rich are not really into making a lot of trades.

That's why they normally target fund managers, rather than people with money.

From my own experience of courting individual investors and institutional investors, when I was in specialty finance, we were essentially packaging financing products and securitizing them to be sold to investors. When I started, we were targeting people with money, wealthy people. However, the wealthy people were more skeptical and they invested less money. Often, you had to do a little more teaching to individual wealthy investors.

The fund managers, however, were more willing to invest big, buy whole swaths of what we were pushing, or do what we recommended when it made sense because they were sitting on cash and chasing returns for others. They make money by making their clients money. Fund managers were much easier to deal with.

Edited August 8, 2022 by AntFTW