Whether you’re a longtime Grey’s Anatomy fan, or you’re looking for a new action-packed watch after binging the The Pitt, the new Netflix series Pulse might scratch your medical drama itch.
The 10-episode series is the streamer’s first English-language medical procedural—and with no shortage of steamy hospital romances, it is already drawing comparisons to Grey’s Anatomy. In Pulse, Toronto actress Chelsea Muirhead plays a doctor at a Miami hospital where the staff’s personal lives bring just as much chaos as an overflowing ER.
“It’s just a little bit darker, it’s just a little bit more hectic and chaotic than Grey’s Anatomy,” says Muirhead. “It is the vulnerability and the heart and the relationships that I think are going to keep people coming back.”
Right from the start, Pulse immerses viewers in the heart-pounding intensity you can expect from the rest of the series. A hurricane is barreling towards Miami, and Maguire Medical Centre is directly in its path. But as that danger looms, another curveball is thrown: Dr. Danny Simms (Willa Fitzgerald), a third-year resident, is unexpectedly promoted while Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell), the beloved chief resident, is suspended.
As the hurricane touches down and the hospital is flooded with trauma cases, details of their complex relationship start to spread among the staff. The colourful cast of characters in this Miami hospital are left to weather the storm, while also navigating their own romantic entanglements.
Muirhead’s character, Dr. Sophie Chan, is a determined intern willing to do anything to become a great surgeon. She has a tough exterior, but as Muirhead tells us, plenty of fear and anxiety lies beneath.
“In preparing for Sophie, I just wanted to make sure that she was a three-dimensional human being beyond just a doctor, because doctors are humans too, and they have fears and hopes and dreams,” Muirhead says.
Sophie is set on proving herself to Dr. Cole, her begrudging mentor, and often finds herself frustrated by Camila, a cheerful medical student who provides a stark contrast to Sophie’s intense nature. Muirhead says that Sophie’s arc throughout the season is about learning to trust those around her and finding ways to enjoy life outside of work—despite her high-pressure job.
“How do you not just be a surgeon, but be a friend? Walking that line, she doesn’t really know how to do both yet,” Muirhead says. “She’s learning how to live, not just be alive.”
Pulse is interspersed with flashbacks from Danny and Xander’s past, as viewers piece together all the complicated twists and turns of their relationship along with the rest of the ER. The series isn’t afraid to delve into the romantic drama—but it also delivers plenty of gritty medical scenes and depictions of the brutal weather conditions. In Episode 3, Muirhead’s character braves the storm to search for a missing patient. For Muirhead, shooting those hurricane scenes was “a core memory.”
“The hurricane was a physical feat to shoot,” she says. “I’m never going to forget shooting in the rain under the rain machines in the middle of the desert. It’s just freezing for 13 hours when you’re soaking wet, it’s like three degrees outside…it’s stressful, and the stakes of the scene are high. It’s such an adrenaline rush for those scenes.”
Muirhead graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance, and can also be seen in the HBO series Warrior, as well as the queer softball comedy series Slo Pitch. As a big fan of Lost, working with Carlton Cuse—executive producer and showrunner of Pulse, alongside creator Zoe Robyn—was huge. “I saw that it was a Carlton Cuse show, who made Lost…I was very excited about that,” Muirhead says. “It’s so lovely to get to work on juicy, complicated material.”
With all episodes of Pulse available to stream now, Muirhead says viewers have a lot to look forward to. “When you start adding some personal drama with the ER…now let’s sprinkle a hurricane on top…it’s just pure chaos, pure drama.”
Stream all episodes of Pulse on Netflix.
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