We live in an era of impunity. Crimes of world-historical scale are being committed before our eyes on a daily basis. The elite in both America and Britain are becoming known as the Epstein Class — a coterie of rich, pseudo-smart racist perverts pushing global politics to the right as part of their project of enriching themselves and exploiting the most vulnerable to feel more powerful. The Trump Administration is so lousy with these figures that the cabinet would have a staffing shortage if they all faced the justice they deserve, from the Oval Office on down.
Yasmin has chosen to embrace this evil. It served her father well; he faced no real justice while he was alive until she herself left him to drown. Whit Halberstram escaped punishment completely. Her ex-husband’s “disgrace” amounts to a life of luxury unimaginable to the vast majority of human beings alive in history. You can dress it up fancy and teach it to speak politely, but all that matters here is vulgar power. Yasmin sees this power in fascism — the libidinal thrill of smashing things just to show that you can. Yasmin has been destroyed in such a fashion over and over. Now it’s her turn to play destroyer.
By the end of last season, Harper Stern was in full Heisenberg mode, a criminal mastermind overseeing an empire, brooking no dissent. Compared to Whit’s utter lack of humanity and Yasmin’s embrace of authoritarianism, though, Harper is a veritable folk hero. As the interviewer says, the goal of her company is to uncover the ugly truth, when so many are so willing to listen to pretty lies. The financial world today is structured to reward fraud; Harper is rewarded when she exposes fraud.
As the last decent person in an increasingly reactionary Labour party, Jennifer Bevan gets on stage and says that neoliberalism has gutted the moral infrastructure of society for decades, a scheme with which she herself was complicit. In the wasteland left behind, monsters roam. Harper Stern is, or was, such a monster, until she encountered creatures even more loathsome and insatiable than herself.
I reviewed the season finale of Industry for Decider. This show is one of the all-time greats.
Tags: decider, industry, TV, TV reviews