NetflixNetflix’s new hospital drama Pulse is now streaming, and it destroys more lives than any injury ever could. The drama leads up to the appointment of the next Chief Resident – but who gets it?
Take the workplace of Grey’s Anatomy and the soap opera-style scandal of Virgin River, and you get Pulse. Spanning over course of a few months, the Miami-based Maguire Center introduces us to a eclectic bunch of medics each entrenched in their own chaos.
At the center is an allegation made by Danny against existing Chief Xander, resulting in her taking over on a temporary basis. As we find out more about what actually happened, the binge-worthy TV show follows the fallout between their colleagues and superiors.
It all results in one huge twist in Episode 10, perfectly setting up even more questions for a second season (unconfirmed as of writing, but fingers crossed). Here’s everything that went down in the Pulse ending, including who our new permanent Chief actually is. Warning: spoilers ahead!
Cruz takes a hit in Pulse ending explained
NetflixFor most of Pulse’s first season, Cruz has been set up as a villain on the sly. She seems to hate Danny while having Xander’s back, and has a standoffish attachment to everyone else. Subjectively, there’s good reason for her to be irritated. Her daughter Vero was one of the original patients to be injured in the school coach that was thrown off a bridge in Hurricane Abby. She almost didn’t make it, but pulled through thanks to Danny.
It’s been up to Cruz to decide who gets Chief, and it’s been a two-horse race between Danny and Elijah. She’s had issues with both of them – Danny for the HR claim and later pushing a patient’s father in full view of the ER, and Elijah for being too cautious in his decision making, over-analyzing things to the point that it could affect the lives of his patients.
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In the middle of Episode 10, we find out she’s decided on Danny. Not only did Danny save Vero’s life, but Cruz believes she’s shown herself to be an impeccable doctor over the course of the series. Monitoring her from a distance, Cruz has been impressed with what she’s seen, meaning Danny has made her mark.
There’s one issue, though. Higher-ups are looking to take the ER entirely out of Cruz’s hands, putting fellow Senior Resident Patrick in her place. Why? Said higher-ups are Xander’s parents, and they’re not happy with the way she’s handled the HR complaint. With pressure coming from multiple sides to fire Danny from the course, Cruz chooses not to – and that means she’s lost the role she’s held for so long.
Sophie hits a stumbling block with Camila
NetflixBubbly intern Camila and second-year Sophie are the complete opposites of each other, but there’s been a romantic tension brewing between the two since Episode 1 began. It seemed as though Episode 10 was finally the moment fans saw progress, with Sophie finally standing up for herself against Cole. Not only that, Sophie vocalizes how important it is to keep Camila at the hospital, with Camila looking to transfer out for her surgical year.
Camila overhears Sophie telling Cole this, with Sophie later finding an earring that was an important heirloom for Camila. Sophie claims she’s keeping it hostage until Camila decides to stay at the hospital, with Camila revealing she reversed her appeal earlier that afternoon. The two share a charged moment and some heartfelt speeches, but things change in an instant.
As she leaves, Camila is greeted by Rodrigo, holding flowers. He’s Camila’s fiancé, though she hasn’t mentioned him at all this season. While Camila explains the engagement is recent and is currently having her ring resized, Sophie feels awkward, now not knowing what to do with her feelings.
The world falls down around Cole
NetflixHooray! Cole is finally getting taken down off his high horse. Obnoxious and self-centered, Cole’s ego has ruled (and ruined) the roost for the entirety of the season. Now, everybody is letting him have it. After developing feelings for patient Nia, he later operated on her, causing her family to raise concerns with his superior, Dr. Soriano. Cole refuses to tell him the truth, which just makes things worse.
Not only does this have fallout for Cole, but it also hugely affects Cass, a nurse Cole has had an on-off relationship with. She was the one who noticed Nia was taking a turn for the worse and had inadvertently gotten wrapped up in his drama. Soriano is down on Cole for his fleeting loyalty and lying, and Sophie doesn’t understand how Cole can’t think about anyone but himself in the process.
But that’s not all. Sophie also pipes up about how badly Cole has treated her over the course of the last year, previously scrubbing her out of a career-defining surgery for threatening to share what had been happening with Nia. Cole seems to agree with everything Sophie has to say, revealing he’s changed their schedules so they don’t work together “for her benefit.”
Now, one of two things is likely to happen. Nia pulls through surgery, her family sues, and Cole gets fired, or Nia dies, and the same thing happens anyway. All Cole can do for now is drown his sorrows at the clinic’s end-of-year party.
We know why Xander got transferred from Kennedy
NetflixThe lynchpin of Pulse Season 1 has been the alleged sexual assault of Danny by Xander. It’s never specifically confirmed if anything did happen, but we do know the pair was in an undisclosed relationship for a year and came to blows after Xander told Danny he loved her at the residents’ retreat.
The pair has already started to make up by the time Episode 10 starts, with Danny withdrawing her claim in the hopes that no more attention will be brought to her. It doesn’t sit well with Xander that she’s choosing to do this for ulterior reasons, but even more so because his parents have threatened to have her fired.
His response? To tell Danny the real reason he was transferred from Kennedy so she can use it against his parents. A year beforehand, Xander was responsible for the care of a young boy, and believes he accidentally nicked a vessel during surgery. The boy came back to hospital later on the brink of death, with none of the medical staff – including Xander – able to resuscitate him. The boy died, Xander was made to sign an NDA to not reveal negligence, and was sent on his merry way.
The lack of reasoning sparked the assault rumors Danny had heard about other women, but the decision to cover up his surgery was made by his parents. Danny doesn’t end up using any of this information when Cruz confirms she’s safe to stay, with the former couple instead admitting they still love each other. While the pair miss what they had, they ultimately agree nothing more can happen… though there’s still enough romantic tension for Season 2.
Elijah gets made Chief at the last minute
NetflixThe day of the end-of-year party comes, with Cruz already telling Danny on the sly that she’s being made Chief the day before. However, when Patrick is announced as taking over from Cruz’s role, he announces they’ve agreed Elijah will be the next Chief instead. Danny puts on a brave face to congratulate him, while Xander realizes that’s not what should have happened.
Cruz finds Danny in a private moment, claiming she had no idea that was going to happen. Danny works out Patrick taking over is the price Cruz paid for keeping her on staff, with Cruz claiming she’s going to be okay regardless. She tells Danny things are going to work out for her too, confirming she’s impressed a lot of people in her short tenure as Chief.
Meanwhile, Elijah heads back to the clinic to tell the on-call nurses the good news. Getting started early, he takes his stuff up to his new office, smiling at a picture of him and Danny. Harper previously hinted Elijah has feelings for her, so could this be the start of something new?
Pulse is available to stream on Netflix now. For more, check out new TV shows streaming this month, the best TV shows of the year so far, and anticipated 2025 releases you cannot miss.
