Stories that mix romance in the workplace seldom give a balanced look at both fronts. The workplace is simply a setting, a place for illicit affairs and flirtation, while the romance takes center stage. Partner Track attempts to balance both a romantic storyline and the story of an Asian American woman navigating her professional role in a male-dominated prestigious law firm. Does it succeed in balancing the two? Kind of.
We follow Ingrid Yun (Arden Cho) as one of the ambitious lawyers in the mergers and acquisitions division of her law firm trying to make partner. She's best friends with Rachel Friedman (Alexandra Turshen) and Tyler Robinson (Bradley Gibson), who also work at the firm, Parsons Valentine & Hunt, as a litigation lawyer and IP lawyer, respectively. While Rachel and Tyler are definitely more carefree, Ingrid is your standard Type A personality. She enjoys organization, she likes to over-prepare, she listens to legal podcasts to fall asleep, and she will go above and beyond when it comes to her job.
If Ingrid was a white male at her firm, promoting her to partner would be a no-brainer. It's clear she is overly competent at her job and has the killer instinct necessary for mergers and acquisitions. However, Ingrid is Asian American and a woman, and it puts her at a distinct disadvantage. Although none of her colleagues will say it, it's obvious. Then in waltzes Jeff Murphy (Dominic Sherwood), a new transplant from the London office and a one-night stand that Ingrid had 6 years ago that she's still not over.
While Cho and Sherwood do a valiant job flirting and tossing barbs back and forth, unfortunately, the chemistry is not perfect. Jeff is the mysterious type, and while we can tell he has a heart underneath all that British coolness, it clashes when we're vacillating between Ingrid's struggles at work and her romantic issues. Because, although Jeff is back in her life, Ingrid is in a relationship with a trust fund kid named Nick Laren (Rob Heaps). Although he plays it low-key, the guy clearly comes from old money, and considering the show's commentary on nepotism and wealth, it really is never mentioned. While their relationship is cute for a while, there are no real on-screen sparks.
Surprisingly the gem of Partner Track is not its romantic storyline (shocking to me as a lover of romance) but it is how it tackles discrimination in the workplace. While it's hardly subtle, the show faces issues like racism, harassment, favoritism, and sexism without flinching. One major storyline involves office asshole Dan Fallon (Nolan Gerard Funk) making several incredibly racist jokes at a company retreat while doing stand-up in their talent show. It is clear he is targeting Tyler, who is Black, but when the room laughs along with Dan and his racist jokes it becomes clear that this is an environment that would happily support Dan over Tyler.
Similarly, we see Ingrid face discrimination and pressure from her family. Although to some, Ingrid's background might seem stereotypical, it feels very familiar as a second-generation Asian-American myself. Her drive to overachieve and be perfect is fueled by her parents and her relationship with her younger sister Lina (Lena Ahn) suffers because of it. On top of that, we see her relationships with the other Asian women at her office suffer because of the competitive nature of the office. Her mentor keeps a cold distance from her, and she has no strong bond with her own mentee. In an office where there might only be one female partner, there's no time to band together when you're all vying for the same spot.
For the season, the most interesting storyline is when we see Ingrid using her powers for good, not just for the good of Parsons Valentine & Hunt. She's talented and intelligent, but more than that, she has empathy and ethics. It's clear from looking at some of the men around her that their ethics have either been skewed or never were in the right place to begin with. While the soapy drama of her love triangle adds an extra layer of fluff, it's Ingrid's own professional journey that is exciting to watch. Realizing that simply "working harder" will never make her an equal in the eyes of her superiors and harnessing her powers for the greater good is immensely satisfying.
Rating: B
Partner Track is currently streaming on Netflix.