Hard to say it was the filter and not a nasty coincidence. May have failed even if the filter was not there. Yes on a severe overload the fuse would have blown, but the fuse and the breaker for the outlet have similar traits. In theory even if the filter was not there the beaker may have not tripped and the sparking may have happened. I hope that it does not happen again with the filter removed.
I have two friends with refrigerators and electronic controls that had problems.
One had a component that would open up on a brown out condition and in theory save the unit. Problem was they also sometime as they failed overheated and burned a hole in the floor. That one got a recall from the manufacturer. In their case the repair technician installed a different and safer replacement part.
My other friend had a PC Board in it, with a relay, to control the defrost and compressor cycles. In that case the runs on the board where engineered to just safe and after a length of time deteriorated. One day the relay pads burned a hole in the board. Had to have a new board installed and the technician said he always stocked one in the truck.
I have been doing electronic stuff long enough to not say "that is impossible can't happen if that part is bad". Murphy and his law keep proving me incorrect.
So did the filter whack out the electronics. I don't think so but maybe.