Although green energy company Lumi was at the heart of Industry's third outing, Kit Harington's Sir Henry Muck wasn't really the main character that bowled everyone over last season.
Henry's reeked of entitlement since first exploding into the series and what with Yasmin (Marisa Abela) picking him over Robert (Harry Lawtey), that sense of self-assurance was only set to grow tenfold in the show's fourth instalment, right?
While Industry is a glowing example of stellar writing in a TV landscape that often prioritises quick wins over steady character development, that sentiment really takes on new meaning with Henry this season. However, Sir Muck simply wouldn't be the character he is without Harington, who surprisingly comes into his own as an Industry scene-stealer in his own right.
We've known Henry has a troubled past, with the former CEO confiding in Yasmin in season 3 about his father's death. At the time, he told her that his father had walked out onto the moor during Sunday lunch and "blown his head off". He follows that up rather calmly admitting that he too had suicidal ideation in his last year of school. But along with the quick-moving pace of Industry, that snippet of dialogue is almost forgotten as we careered through the series.
Champagne bottles litter the room that Henry clearly does not share with his wife, he's clearly hoarding some level of embarrassment about the way in which Yasmin just can't let the hired help do their jobs and oh wait, an opulent elevenses is ready! "Oh what a life," we're initially thinking.
He's shouted at by his uncle like a child and told off about his apathy. In the web of that conversation, we nonchalantly find out about Henry's more recent lithium medication use, something we've never known about and which is used to treat mood disorders like mania and bipolar disorder. "F**k my father and his genetic inheritance," Henry tells his uncle. But Alexander tells him to "ignore it, numb it or integrate it into your life".
The "it" in this case being Henry's depleting mental health, for which he's turned to drugs and alcohol to satiate.
Harington embodies all of that in this episode as a pained prince, a fallen star and someone who is visibly being crushed by the weight of societal expectation. He's a shell of his season 3 self, no more bravado and instead, having to confront a past that is clearly impacting his present. It must be difficult to be an actor that is constantly compared to a breakthrough role and for Harington, Game of Thrones is only a breath away in any conversation about his new work.
But that doesn't mean Henry's suddenly likeable – the very fact that he still isn't is what makes him endearing, however. Henry still has a mean streak, continuing to hold onto the fact that by marring him, he's granted Yasmin this invisible societal access pass, lauding it over their marriage like an unspoken dark cloud. He whips it out when he thinks it'll hurt the most, using it as a weapon against her despite the pair initially posing as a love story of messed up individuals.
The lavish party is really just a backdrop to Henry's downward spiral, but he lights up when old friend Edward Smith (Jack Farthing) enters the room. Edward whisks him away to a local pub and speaks of infidelity, clearly being a bad influence on Henry and sitting idly by as Henry beats up a gobby local to the point of complete incapacity.
"None of that darkness s**t, not tonight," Edward tells Henry in the pub. But things take a turn after the attack when Henry chats to the local priest again, who reminds him of his father's funeral many years ago. The priest apologises for not talking to Henry that day and while Henry tries to get the attention of Edward, he's ignored. We then see that he has disappeared. Their dynamic has shifted entirely – from bantering friends on a night out to now, an ice cold chill in the space between them.
We see Edward in Henry's kitchen, talking to a small boy before leaving the dining table. It all becomes clear that Edward isn't just a friend from Henry's past, he's his father. We get a fleeting heartbreaking image of a present-day Henry looking after his father and then, as a boy, watching as Edward makes his way across their acres of land to a tree, with bundles of rope in his arms.
Henry's boy-like wonder is somewhat accounted for by that vignette into his childhood; he never got to fully enjoy a childhood after seeing such atrocity. Once again, Industry creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay present a character that isn't too far from saving. Sure, Henry's a former hopeful Conservative MP for a county he actually doesn't really respect but like all the delicious characters in this series, he's got a story – and it's one that Harington pulls off with the emotional complexity it not only warrants, but needs.
Really though, it takes a lot to shine in a cast that's headed up by the likes of Myha'la and Abela, with a raft of strong talent also coming in for Industry's latest outing. But Harington's strong performance only shakes off any preconceptions that fans may have, with the actor coming into his own in an entirely new – and heartbreaking – way this season.
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