‘Pulse’ Creator Says Netflix Drama’s Complicated Romance Was Based on ‘Personal Experiences’

“Pulse” centers around the complicated relationship between an emergency medicine resident and her chief, a power dynamic imbalance series creator Zoe Robyn said was inspired by instances in her real life.

The Netflix medical drama, which stars Willa Fitzgerald and Colin Woodell as doctors Danny Simms and Xander Phillips, kicks off as the medical team at Miami’s fictional Maguire Medical Center prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Abby. A metaphorical storm has also hit the hospital though, as it’s revealed that Danny filed a sexual harassment suit against Xander — as flashbacks show that the pair has been seeing each other in secret for a while now.

“When I was writing the pilot, I didn’t really set out to write a medical show or a hurricane show. I was wanting to write the story of this Danny and Phillips relationship,” Robyn told TheWrap. “I was kind of drawing on some personal experiences of my own. Creating this character of Danny was a little bit of therapy in exploring my own anxieties and fears and anger about the situation that I had found myself in.”

The show eventually evolved into the ensemble medical drama that debuted Thursday on Netflix. Robyn said that kicking off the series in the middle of a hurricane served as a way to “put more pressure” on Danny as she grappled with her decision to report her boyfriend and superior to the hospital, which also ended up leading to her being named interim chief resident. The beginning of the season is meant to serve as a “very pressurized” manifestation of the chaos inside Danny’s head.

The series expands from there, introducing the other medical professionals and trainees at the Miami-based hospital, led by “One Day At a Time” star Justina Machado as Dr. Natalie Cruz. For co-showrunner Carlton Cuse, a longtime television producer behind hits like “Lost” and the Apple TV+ limited series “Five Days at Memorial,” the mystery surrounding Xander and Danny was the core of the show’s story.

“That’s the thing that differentiates our medical show from other medical shows. It has this really robust and complicated and hopefully interesting and intriguing romance at the center of it,” the producer said. “Through flashbacks, we learn what happened between Danny and Phillips.”

Fitzgerald said that the nuance of the relationship was a key element that drove her to pursue the role of Danny in “Pulse.” Robyn added that the challenge for the creative team was setting up the couple’s history and delving into the power dynamic enough so that viewers could still root for them by the end of the season.

“It’s a real exercise in empathy for people watching the show,” Fitzgerald told TheWrap. “As an actor that’s always a really exciting thing to get to take on.”

“Pulse” is now streaming on Netflix.

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