Industry Season 4 Episode 4 Ending Explained: Did Rishi Die?

“Industry” can’t stop doing it, can they? By “it,” I meant delivering anxiety-inducing episodes where you have your heart in your mouth almost constantly. We’re talking about the fourth episode of season 4, which, in many ways, seems like both an introspection about what happened in season 3 episode 4, and the culmination of Rishi Ramadani’s story. Unlike that episode, this one is not all Rishi, as we do get our regular doses of Harper and Yasmin (indirectly) trying to take each other down, which, like always, is so much fun to watch. But Rishi and the FinDigest journalist Jim Dyker are the main deal here, for sure. Did you imagine these two meeting and going on a drug-fueled bender, ending in catastrophe? Most likely not, but literally anything can happen in “Industry,” so you shouldn’t be surprised. In this article we’re going to talk about Rishi’s fate in the end, and also speculate a bit about what can happen in the upcoming weeks. Here we go! 

Spoilers Ahead

Does Rishi live or die?

He lives. Sure, a death would have been poetic, but “Industry” without Rishi Ramdani wouldn’t have been the same. That said, there’s a chance that Rishi might not ever walk again, given how he has banged up his feet after jumping off his balcony. There’s no doubt that while he was jumping, he fully intended to end it forever. He was contemplating it even before the police started banging on his door because of the loud music Rishi, Jim Dyker, and this random guy they picked up from the gay bar were playing—well, it was mainly this guy, and you know for a fact all hell is going to break loose whenever someone starts playing the “Vienna” song. What are the chances of the random guy having been planted by Tender to ruin Jim? Quite strong, I would say. Anyway, after having a change of heart at the very last moment, Rishi returns to the drawing room and finds a knocked-out Jim, who has (most likely) ODed. This is the worst time to have police coming to your place, but Rishi Ramdani has always been dealt the worst hand to play with. So he does the only thing you’d expect him to do, rushing to the balcony, and, after taking a few seconds, jumping. Five out of ten people die after jumping from such a height, but Rishi clearly has nine lives, so that doesn’t happen to him after all.

Why does he smile after the fall?

Is Rishi the worst character in “Industry”? The answer would have been a resounding yes had this been any other show, but here, we can’t really say for sure, with the likes of Harper, Eric, and Yasmin around. That said, this guy has been carrying the “doomed forever” energy from the get-go, and the ending of this episode can actually be perceived as the cumulative outcome of every single choice he’s made in life. The Rishi we’ve seen this season is no longer the one from before—the Pierpoint trader whipping the floor. Thanks to what he did last season, he’s already lost everything—name, fame, and the semblance of family. It would be overreaching to say Rishi loved his wife, because a man like this doesn’t really go for that kind of emotion, but witnessing her head getting popped firsthand had done a number on him for sure. Not to mention, it was, after all, his fault. Men like Rishi are usually perfect candidates for the “absent father” role, but since his wife died in that manner, the guy is repenting inside. And it shows from how he breaks down when his mother-in-law brings his son to see him. That’s an act of kindness that he probably doesn’t deserve; he knows that deep down. He has been in introspection mode throughout this season, trying his best to clean up his act—apologizing to Sweetpea was a sign of that actually. But the drug-fueled adventure with Jim makes him realize that he is too far gone. Does it also have something to do with the fact that Rishi sort of saw himself in the FinDigest journalist? They’re two different people trying for different things, but both having the same recklessness and giant ego is revealing. There’s also a privilege angle here. Men like Henry Muck are blessed enough to have a redemption arc because they are loaded. But Jim Dyker and Rishi Ramdani are not as fortunate. Rishi also points out that his skin color has a lot to do with it, and to be honest, we can’t really ignore that, can we? 

Now, coming to the question I raised, I suppose the smile in the end implies both acceptance—this is what life is for him—and also relief—that he doesn’t have to fight anymore. Rishi is going to live for sure, but at that very moment, he probably feels that he’s dying and is going to remain forever young. Yes, that Alphaville song is the perfect choice for the sequence; I can’t help but think of “Marty Supreme” here, a film that also used the same song to depict the attitude of its lead character, who has the same energy as Rishi Ramdani (you’ll understand if you’ve seen it).

What happens to Jim Dyker?

Jim Dyker has been trying to win an (already lost) match against Whitney Halberstarm from the start of the season, and there are moments where we’ve almost believed that this guy can pull it off. His association with Harper has strengthened that belief as well. But the events of this episode prove two things. The first is that Jim sealed his fate the moment he walked into Hayley’s flat, in the opening moments of the season. And the fact that he might have violated her—in fact, we can cross out the “might”—I suppose it further makes me think that he had it coming. And the other thing is rich White men (and Yasmin) are always going to win in this world, no matter what. Sure, Whitney is running some shady business, and he might go down at some point. But Jim Dyker is not going to be the man taking him down, come on. So Jim gets properly punished after questioning Tender publicly, as a sexual allegation is thrown in his face. And his supportive boss, Edward, has no choice but to fire him. That leads him to eventually meet Rishi, and you know the rest. Like Rishi, Jim also has a young son, and as we’ve seen in this episode, the guy hasn’t quite set a good example as a father. Is he dead? Most likely, as the police fail to find a pulse. The next episode will confirm the news of that, but as that’s still a week away, let’s speculate for a bit. 

What to expect next week?

Rishi is going to end up at the hospital, and then in jail, if Jim is dead. But given he still has allies in Harper and Eric, our man might somehow make it out of this ditch as well. Meanwhile, Yasmin is eventually declaring all-out war on Harper for sure, as Harper is effectively on a quest to short (read: ruin) Tender, which is going to affect Yasmin; she can’t let that happen after all this, right? Then there’s this interesting shift of power between Yasmin and Hayley. While it seemed like the former had control over the latter, this episode has confirmed Hayley is not what you think. Not only has she manipulated Yasmin in order to get a promotion, but it does seem like she has eyes for Henry too. Are we going to see Hayley shifting teams just to mess with Yasmin? Time will tell. Lastly, Henry Muck does seem like a man who wants to do good, despite who he is, where he comes from, and the men (like Whitney) around him. But will “Industry” let someone like that succeed? That’s a question I leave for you to ponder over.

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