The 2024-2025 television season has been chock full of medical procedurals and some are better than the others. As The Pitt receives high praise as Max’s first foray into the medical drama space, all eyes have turned to Pulse, Netflix’s own original series. After watching the new medical drama, I can safely say Pulse is more Grey’s Anatomy than The Pitt, but it charts its own course in a crowded field of competition and the heavy drama is sure to raise viewers’ heart rates.
Pulse is the story of Dr. Danielle “Danny” Simms (Willa Fitzgerald), an ER doctor at Maguire. Not only is a hurricane bearing down on the area, forcing the staff to shelter in place with the patients as it sustains a direct hit, but mere hours beforehand the ER staff is rocked by news that their Chief Resident, Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell) is facing sexual harassment allegations. Not only is Danny named as Xander’s replacement, she’s also the one who filed the claim against him.
With tension at an all-time high, the hospital staff is forced to contend with a busload of soccer players who went over a bridge, injuries from the storm, pregnant women and just about everything else you can imagine. They’re low on power and facing a race against time to help as many people as possible as the conditions worsen.
Pulse’s strength lies in its character development and the relationships between the characters, which it establishes early on in the pilot by allowing the characters to essentially introduce themselves throughout the story. Viewers are not left wondering who these people are for long; the stories connecting them, and the pivotal plot points weaving the past and present together are slowly revealed throughout the season and they make for a richer viewing experience.
My biggest critique is that we find out the claims have been filed against Dr. Phillips early in the pilot episode, but it takes a while to establish what happened. Since we don’t know what happened, it’s hard to tell who to root for. The series cleverly uses the supporting cast to ask the questions as they talk amongst themselves because in their view, the charges don’t make sense; Dr. Phillips is hugely popular and no one wants to believe he did anything wrong. But Danny is very likeable, too, which only makes it harder to understand.
I really appreciated that the characters blended Spanish and English at times, lending credibility to Maguire’s location in Miami-Dade County. I liked that not all of the staff members are best friends and that little microaggressions that are a natural part of a high-pressure work environment — like one member of the team dressing better than the rest — are mentioned in a very organic and realistic way.
As medical procedurals go, Pulse is highly watchable and will be an easy choice for Grey’s Anatomy fans looking for something new. In fact, having watched Grey’s for years and after seeing The Pitt, there’s no question that Netflix was aiming for a medical show that could be accessible for younger fans — if they’re watching Grey’s, they can watch Pulse with no problem — while keeping the older demographics happy, too. Netflix’s new medical show delivers plenty of heart-pounding drama to get pulses racing.
Pulse is available to stream now on Netflix.