If you’re a fan of American dramas about first responders you’ll love Netflix’s latest show Pulse. Granted, the formula is not as strong as anything by Dick Wolf (Law & Orders, FBIs, the Chicago Med/Fire/PD franchise) - but it gets the job done.
The 10-episode series follows a group of residents in the trauma center of Miami’s busiest hospital as a hurricane hits the city. Adding to the stress and intensity of impending medical emergencies, the unit’s leadership undergoes a massive change. Dr. Danny Simms (Willa Fitzgerald), a self-doubting third-year junior doctor, is made Chief Resident when staff favourite Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell) is suspended on the grounds of sexual harassment.
To add more to her plate, the entire unit finds out that Danny filed the complaint against Dr. Phillips. The complicated romantic relationship between the two unfolds through the episodes when he’s brought back to assist with an onslaught of patients.
Living up to its reputation as Netflix’s Grey’s Anatomy, the personal lives of all the young medical professionals are interwoven between patient cases. There’s Tom Cole (Jack Bannon) who plays a British ladies man who might just learn to love, Sam Elijah (Jessie T. Usher) who holds some unrequited feelings for Danny, chipper newbie Camila Perez (Daniela Nieves) and Harper Simms (Jessy Yates), who doesn't let being in a wheelchair define her.
As in any actual working hospital, and thus good hospital shows, there is a range of ages and experience among the staff. With exception the young, and albeit good looking doctors on Pulse, Dr. Natalie Cruz (Justina Machado, Six Feet Under) and Dr. Ruben Soriano (Néstor Carbonell, The Morning Show) are the only leading characters over the age of (ballpark) 35. At times, because of this, it feels the teachers have left the students to run the classroom.
Furthermore, the introduction of Danny and Phillips’ relationship in the first episode at times feels like it was written in the pre-MeToo era. Soon after we learn that she filed the harrassment complaint, the staff begins to gossip. The main takeaway? It couldn't possibly be true; Dr. Phillips is too good a man. Of course this may be true, I wont spoil anything. But as a society we have - rightly - moved passed the point of discrediting women’s claims. The narrative that a woman would make up a claim so serious is dangerous to society.
With that said, their arc leaves viewers mildly intrigued as to what really happened between them – and why Phillips was let go from his previous hospital (small tease).
Ultimately, Pulse is a show that you’ll start and finish in one weekend, but have forgotten by the next.
