Industry Season 3 Episode 3 “It” takes our main characters on a little bit of a field trip to Switzerland. We’re told early on in the latest episode of the HBO show that the COP Climate Conference is a pivotal moment for the future of Lumi and Pierpoint. Both Lumi CEO Henry Muck (Kit Harington) and Pierpoint boss Eric Tao (Ken Leung) are set to sit on a panel about the future of green energy just as it seems the market is souring on the start up’s economic prospects. While Harper (Myha’la) and Petra (Sarah Goldberg) woo potential clients and Sir Henry Muck woos Yasmin (Marisa Abela) romantically, it’s up to Robert (Harry Lawtey) to figure out what Pierpoint’s internal buy note guy Frank Wade (Joel Kim Booster) plans to write about Lumi.
**Spoilers for Industry Season 3 Episode 3 “It,” now streaming on Max**
We’ve known since the Industry Season 3 premiere that while Pierpoint has bet big on green energy company Lumi being the next big titan of industry, others worry it’s all a bit of a scam. Industry Season 3 Episode 3 opens sixty days after Lumi’s public offering launched and while various rival banks have published notes advising investors to sell Lumi, because it’s only expected to depreciate in value, Pierpoint’s analyst Frank has yet to pub. As soon as Eric, Yas, and Rob arrive in Switzerland, Eric desperately tries to press Frank on when he’s going to publish his “buy note.” Frank outruns Eric at first, but eventually, Robert finds himself alone in a sauna and he takes his shot.
As soon as Rob introduces himself to Frank, the buy/sell guy cheekily says he already knows who he is. “We have a WhatsApp where we share the directory photos of all the hottest and straightest Pierpoint employees.”
“Hoo,” Robert says. “What an honor.”
The blocking of the scene immediately shifts to reveal both men in the same frame. Robert is wearing boxer brief-style trunks while Frank is completely nude, legs spread wide. There’s a bit of back and forth about what Frank is planning on publishing before it gets flirtatious. The scene ends before we knows what happens next, but later in the episode, Frank publishes a “Hold” on Lumi. It’s not the “Buy” Eric wants, but it’s not the damning “Sell” most research analysts are putting out.
So what was the point of this graphic full frontal male nudity? How did American comedian (and former Decider contributor) Joel Kim Booster come to be cast on the edgy UK-based show? And why was this short scene deceptively so important for Robert?
Industry co-creator and co-showrunner Mickey Down told Decider that — like new Season 3 star Kit Harington — Booster was another fervent fan of the show who reached out them.
“We had a meeting with him, and he was just, like, hilarious,” Down said. “So, we were like, obviously, let’s put him in it.”
“We didn’t write the character towards him, because the character kind of predated Joel’s involvement in it. But again, he brings lightness. He brings humanity. He feels like totally within the world.”
Both Down and Booster’s primary scene partner, Harry Lawtey, had nothing but the highest praise for the American comic, actor, and writer’s performance.
“It was great working with Joel. He’s such a brilliant guy,” Lawtey said. “Yeah, he’s lovely. Such a talented person. And we really enjoyed that dynamic that’s going on between them in the episode.”
“It’s Joel. He just can’t help but be hilarious,” Down said. “And especially that scene. He’s like so over the top. It’s a big thing for him to do, as well. I don’t know. For someone who’s so incredibly funny, he’s professional, as well.”
Down mentioned, too, that the sauna scene was “a quite pivotal moment for Robert.” While it may not seem obvious at first, Lawtey explained this interaction is the beginning of Robert “getting his mojo back.”
“Which, for me, was a really gratifying thing to play,” Lawtey said. “Because as kind of toxic and misguided and immature as he was in the first season, there’s something about that confidence that he had, that kind of self-assuredness, which was really appealing.”
We’ve seen Robert repeatedly lead with his sexual machismo over the course of Industry, to varying degrees. “As long as I hoped you could kind of see his heart beneath it, then there’s no harm in it, as well, I suppose,” Lawtey said. However, the sauna scene with Frank is “part of the arc of Robert realizing, like, this might be what his USP is and this is what he has to offer.”
“He can make people feel good about who they are. He can create chemistry and spark off of people. And those skills are crucial in this world,” Lawtey said. “So to have Joel’s character reveal that to him and remind him of that was really amazing.”
“I think that’s what that sauna scene is about: regardless of his kind of fluid sexuality, Robert feels his most in control and his most confident and, ultimately, his most kind of proficient, professionally, when he has a degree of sexual confidence.”
