Pro Forma
Episode 9 of Partner Track begins with Ingrid arriving at Nick’s door. Understandably, he’s not happy to see her. She tries to explain what’s going on with Jeff but it falls on deaf ears. Instead, she hands back the ring and tells Nick that he’s a good man. He’s at least grateful for her returning his ring but it seems this door has closed – but literally and figuratively – on this stage of Ingrid’s romance. Naturally, Ingrid jumps straight into things with Jeff instead. She invites him over and the pair start kissing immediately. Ingrid doesn’t really seem too bothered with her break-up and goes all-in on Jeff. A week passes and the pair continue to throw kisses and light touches any time they can at work and at home. Is it love or lust? Meanwhile, Tyler intends to get himself back in the saddle again. He has plans to check out a place in SoHo later on, and he’s even got an interview at rival law firm Hotham and White too. Things are looking up for him, and given how close he was at becoming a partner, Hotham nd White actually think he’d be a great fit. Unfortunately, in the elevator he overhears men objectifying one of the women, rating her out of 10. That immediately sours his impression of the law firm. Rachel is still twiddling her thumbs hoping for her writer gig, simultaneously deliberating over how to write her resignation letter – if she’s going to write one at all. Rachel is horrified though when she realizes Justin has replied to her email about bagels with a pretty raunchy message, including emojis and very subjective language, but replied to all instead. Woops! Dan is quick to point it out to her, and Rachel immediately lashes out at Justin. In fact, she severs ties with him completely. Ingrid is in attendance as the Min and Sun Corp partnership is celebrated and finalized for good. Ingrid is still a little uneasy about lying to Z, and even more so when she’s put on a pedestal as the person responsible for driving this deal through. Meanwhile, the partner gig at Valentine’s hits a snag when both Ingrid and Jeff learn that Hunter has added Bearington – a prestigious client – to his book. In fact, they told Marty that he’s their man. Given how well Ingrid is doing with Sun Corp, Jeff realizes that he’s the odd one out here and has no chance of being one of the three chosen partners at the firm this year. Tyler is given a lifeline when it’s suggested he head off and check out a sublet down in Queens. He immediately turns his nose up at it but this could be just the shake-up he needs. At the very least, it’ll get him off the couch. When Tyler show’s up and looks about, he’s cautiously optimistic. There’s a good gym nearby and guess who’s there? Valdo. He points out that Tyler is a mess but questions whether he’s the man in a suit or a man of action like the guy from Insta. This gives him a lot to think about. Tis the season for celebrations and Ingrid shows up in an absolutely stunning dress at the big Christmas work party. Everyone toasts Ingrid for what she’s done, including Dan and Hunter. Although these two are too busy toasting themselves for their prior victory at being made partner to be honest. Rachel shows up but things are awkward between her and Justin, although she does learn some devastating news. She hasn’t got into the Syndicate. She’s also not made Partner either, given she’s not doing as many hours as her coworkers. Naturally though, she blames Justin and claims his email is the reason she’s a laughing stock. Justin has enough of being a punching bag and tells Rachel to stop blaming him for her woes. The Annual Partnership speech takes place and for the M&A department Dan, Hunter… and Jeff make partners. Ingrid is livid after all her hard work and when she confronts Marty about it, he has the audacity to tell her to “work a little harder.” So naturally, Ingrid curses him out and decides to quit.
The Episode Review
So after all that hard work and securing the Sun Corp deal, Ingrid comes up short when Dan, Hunter and Jeff all make partners ahead of her. While it’s a little questionable how she actually quit, cursing out her boss like that, it’s understandable why she’s so angry. Ingrid has worked hard and put everything into her job, even if her personal life is still a big point of contention. It’s hard not to feel bad for Nick and in this episode Ingrid shows absolutely no remorse for her actions and doubles down on how she feels about Jeff instead. In terms of conflict, there hasn’t been an awful lot of it here and personally, it would have been nice to see something more akin to Extraordinary Attorney Woo, with an episodic structure and seeing Ingrid progress and secure a number of different clients along the way in her hunt to becoming a partner at the law firm. Still, the ending does seem to hint that we’ve got a dramatic finale to follow and it’s anyone’s guess how this one’s likely to end.
