Netflix’s Partner Track overlooks its most eligible bachelor

Why are we only ever presented with these two options in Hollywood?

I had many questions after finishing Netflix’s new legal drama, Partner Track. For example, why does Rachel (Alexandra Turshen) start writing in the middle of her new journal and not at the start? Do private jets usually have printers on board? How come the tax guy just decides to take part in the skit after making Rachel and Justin (Roby Attal) traipse around the lake after him? And where did Ingrid (Arden Cho) get all her gorgeous gowns?

But the most important question on my lips was: why is our protagonist chasing after two wet blankets when the extremely handsome, intelligent and decent Z (Desmond Chiam) is in view? Sure, he’s the son of a big-time client, but seeing as she had sex with her co-worker in a boardroom, it doesn’t seem like she cares too much for workplace propriety and ettiquette.

Instead of even considering the – let’s face it – only viable option in her life at that moment, Ingrid wastes her time debating whether she should be with Nick (Rob Heaps) – aka, “the ick”, personified – or whether she should get down and dirty with her former British flame, Jeff Murphy (Dominic Sherwood), who very much looks like he’s in need of some vitamin D and spends most of his time riding the coat-tails of her success.

To hand it to Murphy, he at least a little something about him. But Nick? Well, not only does he draw up a list of infantalising pet names before settling on “sugar plum” (please wait while I throw up my breakfast), he also moves crazy fast – and when Ingrid explains she is going to her own apartment for some space, abandons her on the street and takes his fancy, chauffeur-driven town car back to his swanky digs. It is then Z who does the right thing and gives up his Uber to ensure Ingrid gets home safe.

Perhaps I, like many viewers it would appear, was blindsided by Z’s incredibly sculpted torso. Perhaps the fact he’s intent on saving the planet with green energy solutions makes him even more desirable. But I think it’s more than that. He’s quietly in the background, offering support, assistance and manners. He doesn’t objectify Ingrid or see her just as a means to an end. He does not view her simply as “wife material” like Nick, overlooking what makes her unique and special in her own right. No, he’s just a genuinely good guy without any expectations, who sees Ingrid for who she is.

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Now, I’m sure (well, I hope) that Netflix will right this wrong in season two. It would be very silly if they didn’t develop the pair’s story. But based on the assumption that she stays with Murphy, whom she was with by the close of the first instalment, the series very much feeds into some disappointing – and potentially damaging – tropes.

Why should women settle for these two bad options: smotherers who hide under the “nice guy” guise, or player types who “get under women’s skin” and only really want a few quickies before they’re done and move on? Why are we only ever presented with these two options in Hollywood?

Z is clearly a healthy, developed and ambitious person. He actually cares about Ingrid and wants her to succeed. Likewise, Ingrid clearly feels drawn to her client (even if not in a romantic way), and positively shines when she is near him. That’s what love should be based on – not cringey names, not pure lust and certainly not control. Ingrid (and viewers) deserve better.