Previously on the Netflix series Pulse, Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell) and Dr. Danielle Simms (Willa Fitzgerald) continued to have high tension during their shift. It began to worsen after Xander heard murmurs about who did what and who was a better fit as Resident Chief. Intern Camila Perez (Daniela Nieves) and Dr. Sophie Chan (Chelsea Muirhead) formed a good relationship as colleagues. The fuel trucks finally made it to the hospital, with the help of Xander’s father. This episode ended with Dr. Natalie Cruz’s (Justina Machado) daughter crashing, going code blue.
Now, the fourth episode begins with Danielle sitting in a chair outside on the roof of the hospital. It’s the next day.
Cruz’s daughter survived the night, still having to breathe from a tracheostomy. Dr. Ruben Soriano (Nestor Carbonell) comes and sits with her, comforting her as she watches over her daughter.
Danielle gets her next patient, a man named Hank. They get inside the elevator and head down to the trauma floor. Their floor is flooded with patients. She has to leave Hank in the hallway, in a hospital bed.
They have an advisor coming in, Dr. Lucy Broussard (Charlayne Woodard). She enters the room where Xander, Dr. Sam Elijah (Jessie T. Usher), Danielle, and Dr. Harper Simms (Jessy Yates) are. Xander and Lucy know each other.
Dr. Tom Cole (Jack Bannon) is standing outside the hospital in the parking lot. His BMW is parked with a light pole crashed on top.
Tension is running high between everyone and Danielle. She’s struggling to find good communication with Tom, Sam, Xander, and Cassidy Himmelstein (Jessica Rothe).
Danielle asks Sam if he can do something for her, and he tells her that he’ll do it after he eats lunch. She follows him into the break room and begs him to ask her about the living situation with Xander. He doesn’t want to, but does it anyway. He asks her how long they had been living together, and she tells him a year. He gasps, making sure no one was near the room. She tells him it was complicated because he was the Chief, and she didn’t want anyone to judge her. He asks if she was in love, and she tells him yes.
Danielle tells Sam she wants his support and needs him to be her friend. He tells her that he’s “not going anywhere.”
Later, Danielle is on the phone with someone while she’s eating. As the person hangs up on her, Luis comes over to her and says that one of her patients is looking for her, so she hurries and finds him. Her patient, Hank, is frustrated with her. He yells at her, telling her that he should be able to leave, and she, too, begins to get frustrated, yelling back at him and telling him that she is focused on making sure he is safe to go home, and right now isn’t that time.
One of Tom and Danielle’s patients is in surgery led by Dr. Soriano and assisted by Tom. Dr. Soriano says that they might have to amputate the patient’s leg, which Tom is very concerned about. Tom is vocal about his concerns and oversteps with Dr. Soriano. When he realizes what he’s said, he immediately leaves the room and visits EMT, Nia Washington (Ash Santos).
He tells her about his childhood with his father, when they lost everything they had. Then he tells her about the patient and his leg, saying that the situation reminded him of his dad. The patient is a laborer, and like his father, he’s very dedicated to his work. Tom feels so strongly about the amputation because it means the patient won’t be able to work again.
Tom checks Nia’s vitals, and they all look good. As he checks her pulse, the two of them share an intimate kiss before he leaves the room.
Next, we see Hank being wheeled into a surgical room. One of the nurses tells Danielle that they found him in the parking lot; he was trying to leave. He’s wheezing and is losing consciousness. She can’t intubate, but Dr. Broussard tells her to do a digital intubation. Dr. Broussard walks her through the procedure. His stats begin to drop. He loses his pulse, and Danielle does chest compressions and the shocks, but nothing works. Danielle still tries to save Hank, but is forced to stop after trying so hard.
She leaves and sits on a bench in the hallway. Harper finds her, and Danielle says she’s okay, but Harper knows she’s struggling. Danielle begins to project her emotions onto her sister, which leads Harper to leave.
Tom goes back to the patient, who’s now out of surgery. Dr. Soriano is also there, checking on the patient. He invites Tom to play golf with him someday, and even to meet his wife. Tom excitedly accepts the offer.
Cruz gets a text message and hurries to the room where her daughter is. Dr. Soriano is smiling at her, her daughter is finally awake. They take the tubing out so that she can breathe properly on her own.
Dr. Broussard takes Danielle to the Chief Residence office. She grabs a blanket and pillow for Danielle. She tells Danielle that she has her respect. Danielle asks about the rumors of Xander transferring; the rumors are similar to the situation she has with him. Dr. Broussard doesn’t give her a real answer, only saying she should ask him.
While she’s lying down on the couch in the office, Xander comes in, packing his things. He tells her that he’s innocent of sexual harassment. She tells him that rumors are going on, which were told to her by Harper. He puts all of his things in the box and tells her goodbye, leaving the office.
He walks out and goes past Dr. Broussard. He wants to tell Danielle the truth, but Dr. Broussard brings up his NDA and that it’d ruin his career. He angrily walks out, without saying a word.
Overall, this episode was pretty good. Tom and Nia are getting closer, as are Sam and Danielle. Danielle needs to work on her emotions, keeping her personal and work lives separated. A lot of people still find it hard to accept that she’s the new Chief of Residence. Now that Xander is leaving, what will happen? And why did he have to leave Kennedy Hospital?
Rating: 8/10