Hacker Cinema
Industry
2020 · TV series · 4 seasons
Created by Mickey Down, Konrad Kay
In the cutthroat world of international finance, a group of young graduates compete for a limited set of permanent positions at a top investment bank in London. The boundaries between colleague, friend, lover, and enemy soon blur as they immerse themselves in a company culture defined as much by sex, drugs and ego as it is by deals and dividends.
3 positive1 mixed6 neutralfrom 10 commenters
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11 comments on Hacker News
> They allow instant deposits with credit card
This is my biggest takeaway, and I really wonder what payment processor(s) they're using, because the chargeback and fraud rate in filling 'real money' into an online gambling account using visa or mastercard must be through the roof.
Exactly same reason why porn sites use their own specialist payment processors (alluded to in popular fiction in Industry season 4 recently, for instance).
The back end of how they're able to get money "instantly" into peoples accounts must be fascinating, in a how the sausages are made kind of way.
After you watch the entire season if you are into the behind the scenes there were some pretty good interviews with the creators and performers talking about it - stop reading now and come back cause even the text in the links is spoilery
If you are not into the UK dance scene, this explains some of the music choices https://www.gq.com/story/how-industry-curated-the-best-soundtrack-on-tv
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/industry-season-4-episode-7-max-minghella-interview-1236668640/
https://www.avclub.com/industry-interview-myhala-and-marisa-abela-on-season-4-finale
https://www.avclub.com/surreal-watching-industry-epstein-fallout-hbo
https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/industry-season-4-finale-last-shot-whitney-explained-1235181956/
This was kind of the scam in season four of Industry which was loosely based on Wirecard scandal. Obligatory New Yorker story: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/how-the-biggest-fraud-in-german-history-unravelled
I think you might be over-fixated on a very prediction-market-esque framing of this plot device... if you broaden it slightly, the idea of someone in a fictional world manipulating the news reporting of an act or set of acts, rather than caring so much about the root act itself, is as stated before, quite common.
For example, this from House of Cards: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/arts/television/house-of-cards-season-4-episode-6-recap.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T1A.50wr.Pr_LeKa7xeiz&smid=url-share
> Pollyhop is a fictional, Google-esque search engine that according to Leann’s polling expert is being exploited by the Republican candidate Will Conway in ways that suggest Underwood can’t possibly beat him in the general election. The explanation of how Pollyhop works is convoluted at best, but the gist is that Conway and his people are manipulating search engine results so that only positive coverage of their side appears.
Or more recent examples of what essentially boils down to the plot device of "media manipulation" aka manipulating the "news reporting of the act":
- See the most recent season of Industry, which included several plot points about manipulating news coverage as a short-seller and the company being targeted fought back and forth (including specific focus on the individual journalists involved)
- See Andor, everything about how the Empire twists perception of what's happening on Ghorman, leading up the Ghorman massacre itself, and then culminating in Mon Mothma's speech in the Senate denouncing "the death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil"
- See The Orville, a particular episode: https://orville.fandom.com/wiki/Majority_Rule which includes the plot point of hacking that society's "master feed" to plant false manipulative stories to curry public favor and save a character from being punished
- See The Boys, how Vought manipulates the media to twist coverage of their "heroes" even when they commit atrocities
- See other House of Cards plotlines involving Zoe Barnes and being a direct mouthpiece for Frank Underwood
I think the only real difference if any, is that in the most common form of portrayal, maybe less attention is paid to the journalist as the point of leverage, and how they deal with threats or bribes or whatever. The fact that such manipulation occurs, is commonly accepted as a trope, without requiring too much of a deep dive. Whether a story choose to focus on the "reporter's perspective" is perhaps less common, but not uncommon IMO.
One of the driving themes of "Industry" Season 4 is precisely this: what happens to your data once big players ahold of it.
This is reminiscent of the plot for Episode 1 of Season 1 of the TV Show Industry :-(
TLDR: Discusses how popular TV shows of the '90s like "Friends," "Seinfeld," and "Cheers" portrayed characters spending most of their time hanging out at cafes, diners, and bars. These shows depicted work as an afterthought or a joke, with the characters prioritizing their social lives and relationships. In contrast, modern shows like "Succession," "Superstore," and "Industry" emphasize work as all-consuming, leaving little room for personal connections outside of work. The article suggests that the decline of places for people to socialize, such as bars and parks, has contributed to the loneliness epidemic. It argues that shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" provide a cure for loneliness by depicting characters who prioritize social interactions and spending time with friends.
Also covers a study conducted by the Canadian design firm Happy Cities in Seattle called "the lost-tourist experiment." The study involved an actor pretending to be lost on two different street corners, one with a blank wall and one with shops and cafés. The results showed that people were four times more likely to stop and offer help on the street with shops compared to the street with the wall. The article highlights the importance of having more things to do in a community to encourage interaction and engagement among people
This is a storyline from Industry season 2 right?
Industry (TV Show - HBO)
It's a but over the top at times, but I enjoyed the drama of the interns joining the finance industry. Reminded me of what it's like to be in your twenties and not really know how life will turn out for you... Like Ted Lasso, it made me think of when I visited London for work.
Since they mention "junior bankers", i'd say most of it is:
- re-formatting presentations decks - re-formatting booklets - checking numbers - being available
The first two to three episodes of HBO's Industry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_(TV_series)) reflects this well, and darkly. It is also fairly accurate w/r/t what my banker friends experienced.
This post reminds me of the first episode of the HBO show "Industry", where (spoiler alert) the workaholic guy dies of having a panic attack after discovering a typo.