The Netflix medical drama “Pulse” appeared poised for fulfillment when it was first introduced. Who would not wish to watch Willa Fitzgerald (of “Reacher” and “The Fall of the Home of Usher” fame) attempt to survive her job at a Florida trauma heart? Sure, the format of the present appeared a little bit just like earlier hit collection like “Gray’s Anatomy” and “ER,” however by early 2025, each of these exhibits have been firmly out of the limelight. As such, “Pulse” seemed to be filling a brand new gap within the TV panorama; the obvious logic over at Netflix was that it had a surefire hit on its fingers, simply as long as no different streaming service launched its personal hard-hitting medical drama across the identical time.
Sadly, that is precisely what occurred. In January 2025, three months earlier than “Pulse” dropped, HBO Max launched the primary episode of “The Pitt.” The present shortly took off, garnering mass crucial reward and nonstop media protection. Everybody was speaking about “The Pitt,” and, due to its conventional weekly launch schedule, they continued speaking about “The Pitt” for 15 weeks straight.
Releasing “The Pitt” the way in which HBO Max did was fairly presumably the meanest factor anybody has ever achieved to Willa Fitzgerald. By the point adverts for “The Pulse” have been hitting folks’s TV screens, the HBO Max collection had already received everybody over because the non secular successor to “ER” and “Gray’s Anatomy.” Earlier than anybody obtained to see a single episode of “The Pulse,” it was already seen as a reduction “The Pitt.” It did not assist that the writing on “Pulse” by no means fairly reached the identical heights as its foremost competitor. Now, a number of shops have confirmed that “Pulse” has been quietly canceled by Netflix, and it is unlikely one other community or streaming service will choose the collection up.
It wasn’t simply The Pitt that screwed Pulse over
As Deadline famous in its protection of the present’s cancellation, “Pulse” was unfortunate sufficient to return on the tail finish of a brand new resurgence in medical dramas. Because the outlet noticed, it was “the final of 5 new medical dramas to launch within the span of six months,” with the opposite 4 collection in query — “Doc” on Fox, “Good Minds” on NBC, “Watson” on CBS, and, in fact, “The Pitt” on HBO Max — having all caught on and been renewed for a second season.
Deadline did not even point out “Physician Odyssey,” the boat-themed medical present that premiered in Fall 2024. That collection was additionally tragically canceled after a single season regardless of garnering its fair proportion of followers (one in every of which was John Oliver), but it surely’s nonetheless one other instance of how medical exhibits are in proper now and the way “Pulse” wasn’t capable of money in on the pattern.
However whereas “Pulse” is now ceaselessly doomed to stay within the shadow of “The Pitt” and its different opponents, there’s nonetheless loads to like in regards to the present by itself. The factor that distinguishes the collection probably the most is its #MeToo-esque plot thread; within the first episode, Danielle (Fitzgerald) has reported her boss Xander (Colin Woodell) for sexual harassment. The remainder of season 1 then explores the occasions main as much as her reporting him, in addition to the various ripple results of her choice. It is a messy, uncomfortable storyline that not each viewer was pleased with, but it surely’s undeniably a daring aspect to place entrance and heart in a medical drama. “Pulse” might not have been for everybody, and it might by no means have crushed out “The Pitt” within the scores, but it surely’s nonetheless price trying out.
