How the ‘Industry’ Season 3 finale pulled off that heartbreaking Robert and Yasmin moment

Industry‘s Season 3 finale is both a blessing and a curse for viewers who ship Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey) and Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela).

After three seasons of buildup, the pair finally admit their love for each other and have sex for the first time. Then, just hours later, Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington) announces that he and Yasmin are engaged. Talk about whiplash.

The announcement comes at a lavish birthday dinner for Henry’s uncle, Otto Mostyn (Roger Barclay). Dozens of guests gather around a long table, chattering loudly and enjoying the rich feast before them. But in the moments following the news of the engagement, the revelers disappear, leaving only Yasmin and Robert staring at each other from across the table.

“I’m sorry,” Yasmin tells Robert.

“I understand,” he replies. And so do we: For Yasmin, the entire season has been built around trying to find security in the wake of her father’s disappearance and various legal troubles. Marriage to Henry would mitigate these woes, especially since Otto all but told her that if she stayed with Henry, he’d ensure none of his tabloids would run stories about her involvement in her father’s death. Matchmaking by blackmail, if you will.

The exchange between Yasmin and Robert is only two lines long, but the decision to clear everyone else from the room for it speaks volumes. For almost all of its run, Industry has rooted itself in realism. With Season 3, it’s begun taking more stylistic swings, like Robert’s surreal ayahuasca trip and now this near-fantasy moment with Robert and Yasmin. As the world narrows to just the two of them, we feel like we’re watching something out of a period drama — think the dance scene between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice, when all the other dancers fall away. Yasmin and Robert’s entire stay in Henry’s manor plays out like a period drama overall, so the choice to depart briefly from reality here is further proof of the show’s playing with genre.

However, as Lawtey revealed in an interview with Mashable, the sequence wasn’t originally scripted that way. Instead, the disappearance of the rest of the crowd came about as a request from Lawtey and Abela.

“[Marisa and I] were both talking about that scene a lot days in advance. We knew it was a really significant moment, perhaps the climactic moment of their relationship thus far, and we really wanted to get that right,” Lawtey said. “Even though it was only two lines, it was all in the atmosphere and connection of that instant.”

In order to nail the scene, Abela and Lawtey asked co-showrunners and finale directors Mickey Down and Konrad Kay whether they could be the only two actors in the room for their close-up coverage, since the supporting cast wouldn’t be in frame.

“We thought it might be easier to have some stillness in the room and really find that moment organically,” Lawtey said.

Down and Kay agreed, and once they’d shot the close-ups, they ended up liking the visual of the almost-empty room so much they realized they wanted to incorporate it into the show.

“It was a very instantaneous, almost impulsive decision that came from what was ultimately a practical request from Marisa and I. I think that really speaks to [Down and Kay’s] freedom as showrunners, and this ‘best idea wins’ kind of culture and ability to just go with the flow of shooting, which can be very unpredictable and hard to restrain,” Lawtey said. “If what is often a very technical process can generate something that feels creatively interesting, then we all have license to pursue that and follow it.”

Industry Season 3 is now streaming on Max.