Partner Track follows Ingrid Yun, a hotshot lawyer at a huge firm working down to the bone to make partner and fulfil her dreams. She eventually realizes that it’s not easy to break the glass ceiling. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Ingrid Yun works at Parsons, Valentine & Hunt with her best friends, Rachel and Tyler. Each of them works in different departments and is on the partner track at their firm. Becoming a partner at the firm is highly competitive and Ingrid is determined to make it.
She already has to contend with the unbearable Dan Fallon and a few other colleagues but when Jeff Murphy, a transfer from London arrives it makes things complicated. Jeff and Ingrid had a one-night fling many years ago and Ingrid felt they had a transcendental connection.
Ingrid works in Mergers & Acquisitions and gets to work on a considerable deal involving SunCorp and Min Enterprises but she has to do it along with Dan, under managing partner, Marty Adler. It’s a major deal and working with Marty will do well for her chances of making partner.
Rachel works at Litigation and prefers coasting through her job because she has immense confidence in her ability. She’s the one that shoots straight and talks sense into Ingrid whenever she needs it.
Tyler works in IP and wants to impress his boss which means snagging a high profile luxury brand client called Luxe. He does the required research and impresses the client but he goes above his boss’s head to do and that hurts his standing.
Ingrid meets Nick Laren at a party and they hit it off immediately. They begin dating but Ingrid also has to spend more time with Jeff because they’re working together on the SunCorp deal.
Rachel meets a client that inspires her to be more aware of what she wants in life and to go after it. She is tasked with managing the talent program of the company and she takes it in stride including writing the annual skit herself.
Tyler goes to a new low to please his boss and he also gives Dan a piece of his mind after Dan makes some racist comments. At the company retreat, Dan performs a racist stand-up routine, completely undermining Tyler who quits in a blaze of glory after Dan is only stuck with a reprimand.
Rachel hooks up with Ingrid’s paralegal, Justin after weeks of flirty tension but she doesn’t want anyone at work to find out. Things move fast between Nick and Ingrid and she has to move in with him after her sister floods her apartment.
Her sister also steals a pair of earrings that Nick loaned her and tries to pawn it off but it lands Ingrid in jail for a night. She calls Jeff to help her out and keep things quiet.
SunCorp plans to shut down Min Enterprises’ green energy department and Ingrid has to convince the man behind it, Franklin Min’s son, Z, to sign a non-compete clause without letting him find out.
Tyler cheats on his partner who is also a politician and breaks up with him so that he can figure out his own life out of the public eye. He’s forced to move into a smaller and more affordable apartment while he looks for a new job.
Ingrids messes up her relationship with her friends as she’s hyper-focused on becoming a partner. Nick proposes to her but he’s moving too fast and she asks for some space. She does this after being disillusioned at her company’s diversity gala that discredits Tyler’s anger that their firm is racist.
Ingrid and Jeff finally close the SunCorp deal and hook up at the office. Nick shows up a little later and the two of them break up. Ingrid and Jeff start dating soon after.
The year-end party where partner announcements are made arrives and Ingrid isn’t made partner despite all the work that she did. She quits after Marty tells her to work a little harder the following year.
Rachel isn’t made partner either because upper management knows that she doesn’t put in as many hours as the others. Things between her and Justin get rough after Justin replies to a group email with a personal message.
Partner Track ending explained in detail:
How does Ingrid’s family take the news?
Ingrid tells her family on Christmas day that she quit the firm. Her father insists that she apologise and get her job back so that because a job is important. Ingrid storms off in anger but her mother tells her that he father means well.
He came to America with nothing and struggled in his own life to make sure his children are happy. Ingrid also makes peace with her sister for all the trouble that she has caused.
How does Ingrid fix things with Z?
Z calls Ingrid as soon as he finds out that SunCorp is shutting down his green energy department and he accuses her of lying to him. She tries to find a way to make it up to him.
After making up with Tyler, she gets an idea and approaches Z with it. She suggests ousting the chairman of the board, Ted Lassiter so that they can make changes. Along with Z and a company called Newleaf they try to get the majority shareholders on their side for the vote.
Tyler invites Rachel to help and Ingrid fixes things between her and Rachel as well. When they’re left with just 2% for the majority, Rachel calls one of her clients and convinces her to buy the 2% as soon as the market opens.
Does Rachel get back with Justin?
Rachel is hurt because she isn’t made partner and she takes out her anger on Justin because he made a mistake with the email and it gave her a bad reputation at the firm.
While working on an issue for her client, she realizes that she shouldn’t let a tough work life get in the way of what she wants. She considers pursuing a career in writing after she was initially inspired while writing the company retreat skit which got a lot of praise.
After she and Justin help Ingrid, Rachel talks to Justin who tells her that he wants to be with her but when he asks her if she wants the same, she says maybe and he walks away.
Does Tyler get a job?
Tyler visits the gym near his new place and runs into Valdo, the upstart designer who Tyler himself shut down as a way to get ahead in work. Now that Tyler has quit, he wants to help Valdo get back at the corporate giants that are putting the little guy down.
He gets an idea while helping Ingrid and convinces Valdo to join up with all the other smaller designers who were trampled by Luxe. He offers to work with him to help.
During one of his visits to the gym, Tyler runs into another guy and they go back to his place to hook up. The next morning he finds out that the person he hooked up with is going to be his new CFO at Valdo’s company.
What happens to Ingrid?
Ingrid, Z and everyone else involved manage to oust Ted Lassiter as the chairman of the board and Franklin Min makes Z the next CEO of SunCorp.
Marty Adler is enraged by what Ingrid did and he threatens to end her law career in New York but Z shows up and tells Marty that he will take his business elsewhere unless Ingrid serves are their relationship partner with the firm.
Marty brings up Ingrid’s arrest to dissuade Z but he stands by his decision. Ingrid asks Marty how he found out and he tells her that she should have asked the firm for help or told them at least, instead they had to find out from Jeff.
Ingrid immediately feels betrayed by Jeff, the person she very recently considered her soulmate.
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