Why Did Rob Leave ‘Industry’? Creator Explains Harry Lawtey’s Exit Ahead of Season 4

HBO‘s Industry boasts one of TV’s most traumatized groups of characters. They’ve spent every season so far ignoring the things from their pasts that have messed them up, and how those experiences shape how they interact with the world professionally and personally. There’s a twisted self-awareness to characters such as Harper (Myha’la), Yasmin (Marisa Abela), and Eric (Ken Leung) that shows that they’ve identified their struggles on some level, but there are occasional moments of evolution.

In Industry Season 4, viewers will actually see some of them wanting better for their lives. Ahead of the January 11 premiere, TV Insider asked the Industry team if there’s hope for healing for their characters, or if they’re purely making a tragedy (with writing this strong, we’re on board for both outcomes). Their answer was more hopeful than you may expect, and it explains why Rob (Harry Lawtey) was written out of the series in Season 3.

“I think they evolve. The show deals with people who are interrogating their trauma more and more,” series co-creator Mickey Down explains. “The characters of the show now stop and think about things in a way they didn’t when they were younger, which I think is a reflection of how you feel when you’re younger. You’re so single-minded in your approach to stuff when you’re 22, that by the time you get to 32, you look back at that person, you don’t recognize them, but you also realize what they’ve become, how they’ve shaped and been instrumental in the person you are at 32.”

Down notes that it was this healing evolution that led to Rob’s departure last season after the shocking development that was Yas accepting Henry’s (Kit Harington) marriage proposal. That same weekend, Rob and Yas had finally addressed their love for each other that had been bubbling under the surface since Season 1.

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“Very boldly, there is a redemption arc for some of the characters,” Down says. “Characters do change in this show. Robert evolved out of the show because he had somewhat of a redemptive last episode of Season 3. The show operates in a world where people haven’t quite come to terms with their trauma yet or haven’t been healed of it. And when they do, or they are healed of it, they kind of leave the show. I’m not going to say that’s going to be the same for every single season, but it is currently the sort of operating system of the show.”

In Industry Season 4, Harper and Yasmin are at the top of their game and living the lives they set out to have as Pierpoint grads. They’re drawn into a high-stakes, globetrotting cat-and-mouse game when a splashy fintech darling bursts onto the London scene. As Yasmin navigates her relationship with tech founder Sir Henry Muck and Harper is pulled into the orbit of enigmatic executive Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella), their twisted friendship begins to warp and ignite under the pressure of money, power, and the desire to be on top.

Industry Season 4 also stars Miriam Petche, Sagar Radia, Toheeb Jimoh, Charlie Heaton, Amy James-Kelly, Roger Barclay, Andrew Havill, Kiernan Shipka, Kal Penn, Jack Farthing, Stephen Campbell Moore, Claire Forlani, and Edward Holcroft. Down co-created the series with Konrad Kay. They write the series together.

Industry, Season 4 Premiere, Sunday, January 11, 9/8c, HBO

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