Sagar Radia in"Industry."If you had to pick one word to describe Sunday night’s episode of “Industry,” the first one to come to mind might be “chaos.”
Rewatching this episode, knowing that we’re about to find out about Rishi’s gambling addiction, Rob’s questions and Rishi’s bombastic answers take on a greater, eyebrow-raising significance. Here are two examples I wrote down:Rishi: “Money is an illusion. It’s a social contract built on trust. Unless you think I’m fucking you?”Rishi: “Who in history was ever helped by a paper trail?”
I got so tense watching all of the microaggressions flying around: the neighbor accusing him and Vinay of “loitering,” the line from Nicholas about Diana moving back into town — of course, the implication being that Rishi is not from there. Hoo boy. A lot going on here. The Eric/Rishi conversation after the HR meeting was another exchange that was so illuminating! We get this window into what Eric and Rishi’s relationship has been like. Similar to his dynamic with Harper, Eric sees a lot of himself in Rishi, probably mentored Rishi from the start, and is still looking out for him. But he also treats his underlings like adversaries.
I also thought this bit of dialogue on the trading floor was *chef’s kiss.* Rishi: “I didn’t know Milton Friedman wore Manolos.” Sweetpea: “That’s because these are Bottega, so…” — MarinaSo, um, Rishi has a severe gambling problem. He refuses to acknowledge limits of any kind. I have never seen this man so on edge. Vinray & Associates are quite literally breathing down his neck to get the money they loaned him.
Rishi is a mess. What a mess all around. Something I love about great TV: when you feel for a character despite them being stuck in a crisis of their own making.