PULSE

Pulse attempts to find a hit medical series for Netflix with a talented young cast with all the right elements on paper for an addictive new binge, but even with the scene stealing work of Jack Bannon and Jessica Rothe, it at best feels like a hollow imitation of greater medical dramas as it never provides deep enough storytelling to make the audience care about its characters.

Medical dramas typically do incredibly well on television, dating back to the long running daytime soap opera General Hospital, recent hits like Chicago Med and The Good Doctor, this year’s The Pitt which is one of the most talked about series online, to the fan favourite Grey’s Anatomy which is now officially ABC’s longest running scripted primetime series on ABC. Needless to say, it was only a matter of time before Netflix found their own medical drama. Hailing from executive producer Carlton Cuse, who has been showrunner for hit series like Lost, Bates Motel, and the first two seasons of Jack Ryan, as well as the critically acclaimed medical drama Five Days at Memorial, and with a talented young cast featuring Willa Fitzgerald, Colin Woodell, Jessie T. Usher, Jessica Rothe and Jack Bannon, it looked promising that Pulse had the potential to become a good entry to the medical drama genre. Though sadly, poor writing, a baffling handling of a sexual harassment storyline and rather dull characters makes this medical series feel more like an uncomfortable medical exam rather than entertainment.

One thing that is hard for a medical drama to be is boring, especially one set within the surgical and emergency departments of a level one trauma centre. With injured patients being rushed in, complex surgeries, and all the resulting drama, medical dramas don’t have to work hard to create interesting stories from week to week. Pulse, taking cues from other medical dramas and mixing the medicine and personal lives of the hospital staff, tries very hard to be the next Grey’s Anatomy as it follows a group of medical residents at a Miami hospital but comes across as a shallow mimic of the beloved show. The medical cases explored are not all that exciting, which is hard to imagine given that the first three episodes are set during a tropical storm which should be prime playground for serious medical cases and injuries, nor does it dig deep into the medicine. It remains rather surface level, instead focusing on the interpersonal drama between the hospital staff. This would be fine, if that drama was remotely interesting. The majority of the characters are hard to like or care for, the petty drama that unfolds is as surface level as the medicine, and it all gets resolved so quickly and cleanly that the viewers never feel any stakes. The central relationship between Fitzgerald’s Danielle and Woodell’s Xander feels icky, tainted by a terribly mishandled sexual harassment arc that not only dragged on, but has no real substance and reflects poorly on all those involved despite trying to talk about authority positions in the workplace. The only light in the writing is anything revolving around Bannon’s Tom whose character is nuanced, incredibly vulnerable at times and wonderfully developed over the season.

It’s a shame that the writing is so blatantly shallow and uneventful, because Pulse does boast a strong cast. Fitzgerald and Woodell do the best with their character arcs over the season, even if it is hard to care for either of their characters, while Usher always feels like an afterthought and never has the writing to become a strong character within the season. Jessy Yates is enjoyable as Danielle’s sister Harper, even if she is never given her own arc over the season and is merely there to support Danielle, while Justina Machado and Nestor Carbonell deserved far better writing as the two attending doctors. Benefiting from the best writing is Bannon and Rothe, and the two of them are excellent when the series decides to focus on them. Bannon comes across as a misogynist, arrogant surgical resident, but he instills Tom with a true compassion that beautifully evolves in the second half of the season. His chemistry with Rothe is palpable, creating the one relationship within the series you actually want to root for, while Rothe is the perfect no nonsense voice of reason for this show as Cass, even if she is vastly underutilized. Honestly, had this been a show about Tom and Cass instead of Danielle and Xander, Pulse could have had something going for itself.

Personal drama, saving lives and some workplace scandal should be a recipe for enticing television, especially when set within the high stakes world of medicine, but Pulse squanders away any such potential. Instead, the strong cast is wasted on lackluster and unintelligent writing that tests viewers' patience, which should ensure that this medical drama does not see a second season. Despite the wonderful pairing and performances of Jack Bannon and Jessica Rothe who deserve their own series, Pulse quickly codes on the table and becomes a lifeless and tiresome experiment in melodrama that chases but never comes close to the standard set by far superior medical dramas.