Pulse’s Biggest Pitfall? Fixating on The Worst It Had to Offer Instead of the Best

By now, it’s no secret that Pulse isn’t exactly appointment-viewing.

It’s something to pass the time if you need a mindless binge to tune into where you don’t have to engage with much critical thought and can distract yourself with pretty people in Miami pretending to be doctors.

But as we previously discussed in our Pulse Review, the series suffers greatly when it enters the picture during The Pitt craze, when a competent medical drama has bewitched us all, or even when it follows a critical, heartfelt darling like broadcast’s Doc.

Pulse can’t hold a candle to a series like that and barely registers as a worthwhile contender for the medical drama it’s most similar to, Grey’s Anatomy.

The thing is, Pulse didn’t have to be great. Hell, it didn’t even have to be good. I can even put aside the horrendous execution of a topic like sexual harassment, where the series waffles back and forth on what constitutes it so much that it ends that it never gives the seriousness of this the gravitas it deserves.

The bar can be cleared if it’s just entertaining or engaging enough to keep viewers tuned in for its pulpy, sudsy ten episodes for any myriad of reasons, from ridiculously absurd drama to high-stakes cases, juicy storylines, a compelling cast, dynamics, or, hell, a romance that has us locked in.

People don’t mind a guilty pleasure or laughing along to soapy television, even if it means having genuine fun taking the piss out of the show for any number of reasons.

When it comes to that, Pulse could’ve had some potential. The problem is that Pulse neither leans into its soapiness and ability to be a guilty pleasure nor focuses on the correct characters or storylines to succeed.

Because, let’s be honest, Danny and Xander? They suck.

It’s nothing against Willa Fitzgerald or Colin Woodell, but despite their best efforts, they cannot make Danny or Xander likable or interesting. The toxic relationship between the two is more confusing than intriguing, especially when the series and the characters can’t even conclude that it’s toxic. And the two of them have ZERO chemistry.

Yet, the entire series hinges on their characters remaining at the forefront and this “romance,” which no one gives a solitary damn about in the least.

Pulse shoves veteran actors like Justina Machado and Nestor Carbonell so far into the background that it low-key feels like a hate crime.

No, that wasn’t an intentional commentary on how the series impressively bolsters a predominately diverse, mostly Latinx cast only to sideline most of them, but do with that tidbit what you must.

Ironically, there is more built-in, natural chemistry and interest in Natalia and Ruben’s platonic friendship and partnership than anything Danny and Xander can muster up in the past or present.

The series makes the critical mistake of shoving its most interesting characters to the background, reducing them to supportive roles at best and underdeveloped caricatures at worst—a particularly glaring fate for Elijah and Harper.

Anytime the series had to focus on either Danny or Xander, one’s mind longed to follow literally anyone else because even those with more minor roles were far more interesting.

Do you know who I would’ve watched an entire season about? Luis.

Arturo Del Puerto breathes so much life into his role as an endearing charge nurse that I pouted anytime we had to break away. The nurses’ dynamic was intriguing, as Luis mother-henned, Cass served up competence and sass, and Gabriel had the best reactions to all the most ridiculous drama.

Can you imagine if the series highlighted those characters more than devoting an impossibly ridiculous amount of time to stupid flashbacks?

Better yet, if they opted to balance out at least a quarter of the time they spent on this drab situationship between two milquetoast main characters where the series can’t even commit to the depths of how problematic it is on the real beating hearts of the series, Luis, Soriano, and Natalia?

And if we’re being brutally honest about it, can you imagine how much more fulfilling and satisfying the series would have been if they had prioritized the compelling romances with legitimate chemistry over those without it?

If we’re playing a game of “name a better love story” on the Pulse, the answer resoundingly goes to Cole and Nia.

It’s almost comical how Pulse reduces Jack Bannon to a supporting role in this series when his natural leading man charm oozes out in every scene. Why? Because he essentially steals the show as the “asshole with a heart of gold deep down” trope that’s tailor-made for the romance genre.

Remarkably, Tom Cole is the only character in Pulse who escapes it with a full-fledged character growth arc, scintillating forbidden romance, and screentime. Remind me, who was supposed to be the lead again?

Pulse makes its only characters with main character aura side plots and fumbles its own star power in one fell swoop, and it’s astonishing.

Tom Cole and Nia Santos are the forbidden, layered, but sexy, and intriguing “love story” that Danny and Xander were probably supposed to be.

Hell, those two? They carried Pulse’s romance and chemistry on their backs, delivering one of the only storylines worth investment in the entire series.

Of course, Camila and Sophie put forth a solid effort with a dynamic that lures us into a genuinely nice build-up to a love story involving a grumpy/sunshine dynamic that’s too fun to pass up.

Their sapphic-coded love story was one of only two compelling arcs in the entire season, and the cliffhanger at least piqued interest.

One can at least say that the actresses were committed to the bit, and the build-up was so delicious as it danced on the lines between friendship and something more.

They had chemistry and managed to do so much with their allotted screen time that they, too, were worth returning to as they became far more interesting to watch than the primary story.

It’s a genuinely fun pairing that would work far better as a secondary B-romance in a Pulse world where Tom/Nia was at the center.

Why? Because when you really sit and think about Pulse, the most compelling characters who did the best with their screen time are in a cluster with Tom Cole at its center.

Harper and Elijah never feel like more than extensions of Danny with whom she can interact when she isn’t crossing paths with Xander, but they never manage to be their own entities.

Meanwhile, Tom Cole gets the arc and development of a lead character.

Professionally, his conflict with Sophie and, by extension, Camila is well-drawn and balanced. His mentor/mentee relationship with Soriano is illuminating for Cole professionally.

Cole displays his own personal arc of figuring out his career and future, and Soriano’s as a man who may not be keeping the hours he’d like at this point in his career. Through this mentorship, we get insight into both characters.

Even Cole’s love triangle and conflict are better written with another remarkably compelling but underrated character like Nurse Cass and his endearing EMT patient, Nia. Both women have a strong presence and enough drama to make it interesting.

If Pulse purports to have what its name implies — and it scores a sophomore season, it may need to take a scalpel to the series and reconsider where the actual interest and its strongest points are.

As it stands, Danny and Xander don’t work as the series’ central focal point. However, if they still feel the need to focus on the younger generation of characters rather than veterans like Natalia and Ruben, then Pulse is clearly set up to be Tom Cole’s story.

We’ll be more than willing to roll with that.

Over to you, Pulse Fanatics. Do you think the series should get a second season? What changes would make it better? Let’s hear all of your thoughts below!

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