How ‘Industry’ put Rishi through hell in its most intense episode yet

when industry Actor Sagar Radia was in total disbelief when he first heard that his character Rishi Ramdani would be given an entire episode in season three.

“I remember (industry “Mickey, my co-creator on Down, told me about it about a year ago, and I kind of brushed it off and took it with a grain of salt, thinking, ‘That’s a great idea, but when I take it to higher-ups, there’s probably going to be some ideas and changes and it’s not going to happen,'” Radia told Mashable in a video interview.

But it happened, industry Season 3, Episode 4, “White Mischief” is the show’s most harrowing episode to date.

Until now, Rishi, a trader at Pierpoint & Co, has mainly played a supporting role but he has always provided a few things to count on. industry‘s best one-liners. But “White Mischief” puts the spotlight squarely on Rishi’s personal and professional life, and it’s not a pretty one.

Ken Leung and Sagar Radia in “Industry.”
Credit: Simon Ridgway / HBO

Encountering racism in the English countryside, facing accusations of inappropriate behaviour at work and being threatened with huge gambling debts, Rishi is in a downward spiral. How does he try to get back on track? He gambles more, takes riskier deals at work and goes to nightclubs where he gets bloody from cocaine. industry meet Uncut gemstonesis a non-stop stress ride.

for industry For co-creators Down and Conrad Kaye, this stress was at the heart of “White Mischief.” industryWith this being the 20th episode of “The Last Jedi,” the two knew they had to do something big.

“I wrote a note at the beginning of the script that I read out loud during the script reading, which said, ‘You haven’t seen anything yet. Basically, this has to be the most tense, fastest-paced, most archetypal episode.’ industry “It’s the greatest thing ever,” Down said in a video interview with Mashable.

When the world was first created industryDowne and Kaye, who both previously worked in finance, knew they needed a character like Rishi, who not only provided some much-needed comic relief but also added realism to Pierrepoint. “We know people like him,” Downe says, “so we thought he was the perfect person to have on the floor, but not the person who really drives the story.”

This has got to be the most tense, fast-paced and quintessential episode of Industry to date.

However, Down and Kay gave Rishi a larger role in season two. industryHe tried to defect from Pierrepoint with Harper Stern (Mihara) and Eric Tao (Ken Leung), and they got married (but not before having sex with Harper in a bathroom stall at a pre-wedding party).

As they watched Radia increasingly embrace Rishi’s importance, Down and Kaye realized they needed a Rishi-centric episode. The idea was always around for the writing team while developing Season 3. “We didn’t know what it was going to be,” Down says. “But we knew, ‘Something dark is going to happen.'”

Sagar Radia in “Industry.”
Credit: Liam Daniel/HBO

And then the really “dark stuff” happens. From gambling gone wrong to a terrifyingly specific scene involving a calf, “White Mischief” is a monster of an episode, and a tough task for any actor. Down recalled telling Radia about the episode: “You have to do every single scene and basically go from the depths of hell to heaven and back to hell again. You have to cry. You have to explore your masculinity. You have to explore your attitudes towards race in Britain, your identity as a British Asian man.”

Radia was more than up to the challenge. “I really wanted to know more about Rishi outside the trading floor, and over two seasons we’ve seen very much how dominant he is in that environment and how he executes in that environment,” Radia said. “But I think to really tell a three-dimensional story of the character, you need to see him away from work and see how the character code-switches in different environments.”

Interestingly, prior to this episode, Radia had never actually discussed her thoughts about Daun and Kay and Rishi’s inner lives, but it turns out there is a surprising amount of common ground there.

I think to really tell a three-dimensional story about a person, you need to look away from their work.

“I had discussed it with some friends in season one, and they were jokingly saying, ‘Where would you like to see Rishi go? If you could choose,'” Radia says. “And I said, ‘I think there’s room for addiction in there. I think he’s an addictive character, whether it’s gambling or alcohol or whatever.’ And now, two years later, that story is on the page, but I’ve never had that conversation with Mickey or Conrad. So it’s really comforting that we’re on the same page in terms of who this character is and what type of character he is.”

Rishi has now had his well-deserved moment. industryGoing into my third season with confidence and a desire to play on form. We are already industry Season 3 will see the series employ flashbacks for the first time, and new characters will be introduced throughout the episodes, adding to the sense of experimentation and growth each season.

“That’s the beauty of having a third season,” Down said. “We never would have been able to pull off[this episode]in seasons one or two.”

industry Season 3 is currently streaming on Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.