This summary of Season 2 Episode 4 of Industry, “There Are Many Women,” gives away things about the episode.
In the last couple of weeks, the Industry has made sure to give at least one nail-biting moment, usually using banking terms that no one can understand. Even though most of us, including me, don’t know what any of the jargon means, we still get it. The deal is almost done. A client could drop out. The details don’t really matter; what matters is how it makes you feel. You know that whatever is at stake is important in some way and that whoever puts their head on the guillotine won’t have to wait long before they hear the blade go through their neck.
Industry Season 2, Episode 4 Recap
But “There Are Some Women…” doesn’t have that kind of moment. Instead, it sounds like a slow funeral march as one man moves toward his death. You can feel that the end is coming, even if you don’t know if it will be by his own hand or by someone else’s. The most telling part of the episode is when Eric’s employee fires him without any ceremony. In this world, you feed and care for an animal only for it to eat you in the end.
I wouldn’t say that this episode wants us to feel sorry for Eric, but it does want us to understand why he had to harden his feelings to protect himself. Even the people who taught him the most were racist. But he took what he needed from them. He watched them and learned from them. He figured out how to deal with it. So, he probably isn’t surprised when the people he helped start tightening the noose. But it still stings. How can a man who is known as “The Terminator” in everyday speech be reduced to this?
It’s really about putting things in their own places. Eric learned to close off and protect the parts of himself that were weak with calluses. But that meant he couldn’t talk to his family or friends, even though we’ve never seen any evidence to suggest he has any. It’s becoming clearer that the only way to survive in finance is to cut off the parts of yourself you care the least about, like how James Franco’s character Aron Ralston cut off his own arm to save the rest of himself in the movie 127 Hours.
The main theme of “There Are Some Women…” is what happens when you find out how much those sacrifices have cost you. It’s about slowly realizing that if you give so much of yourself away, you’ll eventually have to give up something you’d rather keep. When Harper casually tells Robert that Nicole made a move on her, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. The sudden realization that he was not special or unique to her clearly crushed him. He had basically bowed down to her in order to make a sale, and to her, he was just another thing she could use.
I wouldn’t say that this episode wants us to feel bad for Eric, but it does want us to understand why he had to harden his feelings to protect himself. Even the people he learned the most from were racist. But he took from them what he needed. He looked at them and learned from what they did. He worked out what to do about it. So, he probably isn’t surprised when the people he helped start to tighten the noose. But it still stings. How can someone who is commonly called “The Terminator” be reduced to this?
It really comes down to putting things where they belong. Eric learned to use calluses to close off and protect the weak parts of himself. But that meant he couldn’t talk to his family or friends, even though we’ve never seen any proof that he has any. It’s becoming clear that the only way to survive in finance is to cut off the parts of yourself you care the least about, like how James Franco’s character Aron Ralston cut off his own arm to save the rest of himself in the movie 127 Hours.
The main idea of “There Are Some Women…” is what happens when you find out how much those sacrifices have cost you. It’s about slowly realizing that if you give so much of yourself away, you’ll have to give up something you’d rather keep. When Harper tells Robert in a casual way that Nicole touched her, it’s hard not to feel bad for him. When he suddenly realized that she doesn’t think of him as special or unique, it broke his heart. He basically bowed down to her to make a sale, and to her, he was just another thing she could use.
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