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It’s a classic tale; girl meets boy; girl falls for boy. But boy again lacks emotional intelligence until he sees the person he wants is in love with someone else. First, let me just say that The Partner Track is a quick binge, so yay for that. But unfortunately, the storyline has quite a few cliche elements that were hard to miss. Based on the novel “Partner Track” by Helen Wan follows the main character Ingrid Yun (played by Arden Cho). A Korean American lawyer working at a prestigious law firm dominated by white men while trying to make partner.
The story starts strong, with Ingrid kicking ass at work and standing toe to toe with her pretentious white colleagues in a male-dominated legal profession, so she has to be as slick and clever as her male counterparts. Ingrid does this well…better, and you’re rooting for her the entire time.
Unfortunately, the story starts to go in a cliche route when Ingrid runs into a person with whom she had a one-night stand. From there, the story continues with unsaid feelings and Ingrid making her situation even more complicated with a love triangle between two wealthy white men. Yes, I said it, but unfortunately, this is where the story loses me. I liked the attempt of having a “diverse” cast, the power of friendship between Tyler (Bradley Gibson) and Rachel (Alexandra Turshen) and a woman of colour kicking ass at her job. I didn’t love that Ingrid’s only two love interests were white. Or the fact that there was a lack of addressing the racism that occurred in this series.
Ingrid is a beautiful, witty, and fun nerd with a beautiful family, a sister who doesn’t fit into any mould her parents created for her, and entertaining friends who check her whenever she starts acting up. I assure you Ingrid will act up. But I felt this character deserved more with her romantic choices and place of work. Tyler, played by Bradley Gibson, also deserved more than being the token Black friend of the show, and I will leave it at that.
Don’t worry; I won’t spoil anything for you! The Partner Track started fun, and I pushed through the entire thing. But I was hoping for less of a cliche story and more representation of the love interests and friends. While this series is being compared to Sex and The City and Suits, I think it is a little less edgy than Suits and more modern than Sex and The City.
I will read the book to see if I missed out on anything or if I like it more than the series itself. But unfortunately, this series fell short for me and will be a hit or miss with its audience. So, check out The Partner Track when it hits Netflix this Friday, August 26.
Portia is a Philly-based writer who shares her honest thoughts on the latest movies, shows, and video games. When Portia isn't busy writing, you can find her painting, reading outside, procrastinating to finish her book, or playing video games.