Forget Game of Thrones – Industry season 4 just aired Kit Harington's finest hour

*Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Industry season 4 episode 2.*

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.

Admittedly, there was a lot going on, what with the scandal surrounding Yasmin's father Charles, Rishi's mounting debts from his gambling addiction and, lest we forget, the downfall of Pierpoint & Co. So, it's safe to say that I – like many other Industry fans, I'm sure – wasn't really expecting all that much from Henry's story this season. Nor, if I'm being totally honest, really wanted much from it.

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?

It's a role that, for Game of Thrones actor Harington, didn't seem all that challenging. The actor had postulated about how the character was "molded" on "various people" he's known in life. With a personal background that includes a knighted baronet father, as well as various familial connections to the Gunpowder Plot, I'd hazard a guess and say that encapsulating someone in that upper echelon of society wasn't as alien to Harington as being Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. But there's reading lines on a page and there's acting, as we all know.

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.

Lumi is no more and as we see in the closing scenes of season 4's premiere episode, Henry is licking his wounds playing a harpsichord in his grand manor. It signals the dawning of a second episode that lifts the lid on where Henry's been. But like this season so far, it's a risk. Are fans really that invested in Henry to get an entire episode (à la Rishi in season 3) centred on him? But I needn't have had reservations, as The Commander and the Grey Lady, which is all about Henry and his demons, will leave many bowled over at Harington's performance.

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.

Now, Henry's 40th birthday brings all of that back into sharp focus as the season 4 episode reveals that Henry has been struggling in the aftermath of losing out on a local election. He's gone from climate change to trying to be a Conservative MP, but Sir Henry loses out to Amy James-Kelly's Jennifer Bevan in the process. The man-baby that Henry is, he finds solace in weeping into Yasmin's lap after his loss but we don't see the immediate aftermath and are instead pulled forward in time to his birthday.

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.

But as Henry sits down with his uncle Alexander Norton (Andrew Havill) and Yasmin, she gifts him his father's old watch which she found and had serviced. That small, thoughtful gesture really does upend his entire day, though.

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.

Season 3's Henry was characterised by the air that he could do anything he wanted, simply because he was the kind of man the world never told 'no'. His business took a dive and his attention turned to winning over the attention of Yasmin, but Harington previously described his character as "a strange, fucked up, charming, but deeply sad guy".

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.

However, this episode (and some more to come) really does underline the actor at a new career high and consequentially, he's a genuinely unexpected highlight of the series.

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.

Abela continues to shine in this series and comes into her own in this episode, physically convulsing at the thought of being unfaithful to a husband with a new non-existent sex drive, but then cuttingly ordering Henry to "roll up your f**king sleeve" to reveal his drug use. Ding ding, she's found the loophole in their water-tight prenup. Together, Harington and Abela bring such electricity to the series in their joint performances, making even the most cutting of scenes with them the most glorious to watch.

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.

All is revealed when Edward hauntingly lifts his scarf to reveal a bloody neck, a scene that would fit seamlessly into any horror montage. The background beating drum and the loud tick of Edward's watch signals something is coming but as the viewer scrambles to figure out what, it slowly comes into focus. Henry, in his garage, blocks the vents and starts the engine which in turn, triggers a flashback sequence.

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.

The entire episode is the kind that takes on new meaning once you know what the twist is, something akin to a pulsating thriller rather than an episode of Industry – but it really is a clever way of opening up Henry's story.

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.

Thankfully, Henry wakes up with the voice of Yasmin in his head and runs home to her. He's back to his usual infantilised self as Yasmin says she'll kill him if he ever puts her through this again, with his uncle watching like a voyeur from the window as the pair make love on the hood of his car. Henry is none the wiser but Alexander's eye contact with Yasmin only proves that Henry's being puppeteered by those around him. For those repercussions, we'll just have to watch and see.

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.

Industry seasons 1-3 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer in the UK, and season 4 continues every Monday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The drama airs on HBO in the US.

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