HBO's financial thriller 'Industry' season 4 is drawing attention as it is being praised for portraying the dark side of the tech industry more realistically than reality itself, TechCrunch reported on Feb. 7.

In the show, protagonist Harper Stern leads a newly established investment firm and digs into a scam involving a fictional fintech company called Tender. Harper obtains information that Tender's financial data was manipulated and dispatches a team to Ghana to verify it. Tender is ultimately revealed to be a fabricated company run on false revenue and fake users.

Season 4 is packed with details that bring the real tech industry to mind. Tender starts out as an adult-content payment platform but faces a crisis due to regulation under Britain's Online Safety Act. CFO Whitney tries to convert the company into a bank, but this triggers another set of problems. He lobbies politicians and seeks merger opportunities, deploying a tech industry-style "win at all costs" strategy.

Harper once left her former workplace after being treated as "diversity staff", but she is now recognised in the industry. Tensions deepen as she clashes with her friend Yasmin, who is married to Tender CEO Henry. The drama sharply depicts corruption and power struggles in the tech industry, and through Whitney's character also includes criticism of "tech fascism". Harper tells investors, "My real passion is finding companies that will collapse," revealing a calculated, sociopathic side.

The drama also resembles real events in the tech industry. TechCrunch said Tender's storyline recalls the collapse of German fintech company Wirecard and serves as a reminder that there are many cases in the real world of companies inflating fake success and deceiving investors.