Pulse Season 1 Review: A Meandering but Intriguing Medical Drama
Pulse Season 1 meanders for a few episodes before hitting its stride in the last half. It delves deep into the thorny relationships of its main characters while delivering some classic medical drama stakes.
Protagonist Danny Simms is particularly intriguing, as her flashbacks unfold the layers of the story. These are liberally used throughout the 10 episodes, and while they do occasionally stall the action of the ER, they provide some useful context.
The driving plot is the relationship between Simms and her superior, Dr. Xander Philips (played by Colin Woodell), against whom she has lodged an HR complaint about sexual harassment.
This leads to several thorny situations, as their relationship fractures completely, and also impacts the ER’s operations.
As a standard medical drama, the show hits all the right notes: exigent circumstances, such as a hurricane trapping everyone inside like a pressure cooker, bad accidents, and bad parents, mixed with banter and way too personal arguments.
Pulse distinguishes itself by its location in Miami and its occasionally uncomfortable focus on the complications that arise when the personal and professional meet in Danny and Xander’s relationship.
Miami is very present in the show, whether through the soundtrack (which is sometimes just a little too cheesy) or the frequent switching between Spanish and English.
This distinguishes the show from the sea of medical dramas that exist today and makes for some particularly amusing moments in both languages.
Even though the relationships rarely get quite as messy as, say, Grey’s Anatomy, this particular ER is quite the tension-filled workplace.
It is entertaining, but sometimes the drama feels forced, especially when it comes to Dr. Elijah’s potential unrequited love for Dr. Simms. Elijah’s feelings become apparent a couple of episodes in, but they result in strangely timed pining looks and nothing more.
A primary concern with Pulse is its delegitimization of Danny’s HR complaint.
At first, we are made to think that she could have ulterior career-driven motives, but the show slowly explains the relationship from her point of view. However, Danny and Xander’s positioning in their relationship veers too close to saying they were equally at fault.
Xander very clearly abuses his position to push their relationship further, and Danny relents because she did have feelings for him, but it made her obviously uncomfortable.
To perceptive viewers, this dynamic can be quite obvious.
However, in an attempt to be “objective,” the show doesn’t do well enough to make it clear exactly what the issue is: Xander implies several times that disclosing their relationship to HR would negatively impact both of their careers.
He has more power over her career than she does over his. While it is clear the writers want to explore the potentially murky boundaries of consent in a relationship like this, they are not quite successful in explaining the wrongs, which is reflected in Danny taking back the complaint.
Another issue is pacing. The show hits just the right speed when the hurricane hits Miami, but it is unable to keep that momentum throughout the rest of the episodes.
While an occasional change of pace is appreciated, like the move to Danny’s father’s home, the tension fizzles out.
Willa Fitzgerald portrays Danny’s fraught nature quite well. The supporting cast, especially Justina Machado as the no-nonsense Dr. Natalie Cruz and Arturo Del Puerto as the hilarious Luis Dominguez, are valuable players in the team.
A favorite friendship is the one between the optimistic Camila (Daniela Nieves) and the sardonic Sophie (Chelsea Muirhead). Both Nieves and Muirhead play off each other very well, making for some much-appreciated light-hearted moments.
Pulse covers all the usual bases of a medical drama, both personal and professional. However, it falters in sufficiently exploring the primary plot of the sexual harassment case and the relationship between protagonists Danny and Xander.
What did you think of this season of Pulse? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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Pulse is available to stream on Netflix.
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Maryam Ahmad
Maryam Ahmad is a writer on pop culture and politics, specifically focusing on South Asian and Muslim representation in media. She is a graduate from Wellesley College with a degree in Political Science and Cinema and Media Studies, and her work has been published in outlets including Nerdist, JoySauce, and The American Muslim Project. She is also the world's biggest Ms. Marvel fan, and can usually be found chipping away at 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles, reading a new fantasy series, or listening to her meticulously curated playlists.