‘Partner Track’ (Season 1) Review: Lasklustre Romance Loses Track of the Plot
Netflix’s new romantic comedy Partner Track follows a young Asian-American lawyer determined to become a partner at her firm. The show is based on Helen Wan’s novel “The Partner Track: A Novel” and covers racism, sexism, and white fragility in the workplace. Partner Track is a sweet romantic comedy that reflects the real-life experiences of a young lawyer and focuses on a complicated love triangle. However, the show loses track of the romance and becomes overpowered with legal jargon that is just too dull to follow.
Ingrid Yun (Arden Cho) is on her way to becoming a junior partner at one of the biggest law firms in New York City: Parsons, Valentine & Hunt. For almost a decade, she has worked herself to the bone by missing reunions with her family and willingly chooses not to date since she doesn’t have time for it. All she needs to do is land a major deal with a company to prove to her boss, Marty Adler (Matthew Rauch) that she has what it takes to become a partner. Things become complicated when a lawyer from London gets transferred to the firm. Jeff Murphy (Dominic Sherwood) is a lawyer Ingrid hooked up with six years ago at a wedding and she still has some feelings for him. To make Ingrid’s life more complicated, she gets entangled in a love triangle with a millionaire socialite, Nick Laren (Rob Heaps). She begins to throw her best friends, Rachel (Alexandra Turshen) and Tyler (Bradley Gibson), under the bus and compromise her value to get to the top of the corporate ladder.
There are many reasons to watch Partner Track. It has an interesting conflict with twists and turns and corporate drama. However, when these elements are blended into the show’s plot, Ingrid’s character seems to forget her value just to get herself on the partner track. From the beginning, Ingrid makes it clear that becoming a junior partner would be a huge career move for her. She is frustrated with being treated as a token Asian-American woman and not as a serious lawyer, which means that she must work ten times harder to prove herself among her white, male-dominated counterparts. Ingrid’s biggest competition is Dan Fallon (Nolan Gerard Funk), who harasses and makes racist remarks toward his colleagues. These elements are great material but it is followed by dull moments, especially in the first few episodes. Regardless, in the scenes where Ingrid and her friends confront the toxic and abusive workplace that protects racists like Dan, it brings real-life experiences into the show’s storyline. Somehow, these conflicts get lost in the show’s love triangle and legal jargon, and it becomes exhausting to watch the show.
Partner Track’s romance lacks chemistry, and for a show that is a rom-com, it’s hard to keep track of Ingrid’s love life. There’s steamy banter between Ingrid, Nick and Jeff, but everything about it is just lacklustre. Most of the time, the scenes are filled with dull dialogues. Ingrid doesn’t want to make a long-term commitment with Nick, whereas, he is ready to give it all to her. On the other hand, Ingrid gets distracted by Jeff’s presence and denies having feelings toward him. There’s no fixing the lack of chemistry, even despite Cho’s magnetic presence. Neither Rauch nor Sherwood provides any passionate chemistry in their scenes with Cho, which is what the show desperately needs.
Cho’s performance as the romantic lead is splendid and she shines throughout the season. Her character is difficult to root for because of the decisions she makes and as a viewer, it is frustrating to watch. One thing about Ingrid that makes her a not-so-perfect character is when she chooses to put her partner track before her friends, which hurts their feelings in the process. It’s difficult to watch Ingrid’s values being doubled down for a job that doesn’t treat her equally. What is even more frustrating is that she forgets how Dan (and the firm) treated Tyler in the later episodes and because of this, viewers might find it hard to root for her. It seems like she doesn’t have a backbone and she would rather protect herself and her career over her best friend’s feelings.
Tyler and Rachel have very interesting character journeys in Partner Track. Ingrid’s best friends and co-workers have always been her biggest support, and vice versa. In the show, Tyler struggles to combat racism in the workplace. After Tyler calls Dan out for his white fragility, the situation escalates later at a company event. It results in the head of the HR department evaluating their employees’ perspectives of the event. Marty decides to offer hush money to Tyler and keep Dan in the firm instead of firing him. Ingrid delivers the news to Tyler, per Marty’s request, and she tries to make him understand that perhaps taking the money would be better than jeopardising his partner track. It’s not a great moment for Ingrid, who should have been supportive of her friend. It drives a wedge in their friendship, especially with Rachel, who becomes frustrated by her best friend’s behaviour.
Partner Track is not a perfect show, but it has interesting conflicts between friends and romantic partners, the politics within corporate firms, and racism within the workplace. There’s a lot of potential, but it all gets bogged down with an uninteresting love triangle and convoluted with legal jargon. However, Ingrid’s journey has a satisfying conclusion when she realises her actual worth in the firm. Her path to a redemption arc might not have been the best. Ingrid’s immoral streak doesn’t seem to help but the story releases her from it and shows her in a completely new light.
