Pulse ending explained: What happens to Danny in the Netflix drama?

With so many futures still in the balance, from Nia’s critical condition to Camila’s (Daniela Nieves) departure and Danny’s (Willa Fitzgerald) potential firing, the stakes were higher than ever going into the finale.

But how did it wrap up?

Let's break down the ending of Pulse.

Pulse ending explained

In an unsurprising twist of fate, the condescending patient who Danny pushed in the foyer when he was hostile towards her and her sister, Harper (Jessy Yates), arrives via chopper after being in a devastating car accident with his wife, Catherine, and baby, who were previously in the ER.

Hostile and agitated, Glen is reluctant to be treated by Danny after their argument and blames the hospital for not solving his young baby’s breathing issues, which was why he was speeding in the car - to get help for his child.

Danny’s empathetic bedside manner kicks in and she’s eventually able to stabilise the situation, as Dr Cruz (Justina Machado) watches on.

Harper also has the satisfaction of being spot on with her initial diagnosis for the underweight baby and starts ongoing treatment to monitor him, while the mother, Catherine, is in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, flashbacks to Xander’s time at Kennedy reveal the NDA-worthy error that could cost him his career. As a young medical student, Xander treated one of his regular patients when he arrived in the oversubscribed ER as he was in extreme pain due to his abdomen being filled with fluid.

Rushed by his superior to free up the bed, Dr Bruce taunts Xander into doing the ‘basic’ procedure to release the fluid without an ultra sound, so he goes in blind.

Initially, it seems successful, and Julio is relieved to have the pressure released, but he later returns unconscious and Xander realises he must have caught an artery. He dies soon after and there’s nothing Xander can do.

Still traumatised by the death of his patient, Xander starts to panic when he’s midway through cracking Catherine’s chest open. She starts bleeding out and Xander freezes. Thankfully, Danny suggests a solution snapping Xander back into action to save her life.

Riddled with guilt, Xander confesses the whole ordeal at Kennedy to Danny, including that his mother covered the entire thing up to protect her own reputation as well as his own.

Reflecting on his own ‘inescapable box’, he starts to understand Danny’s perspective more clearly. She’d articulated several times in the past that she didn’t want to pursue a relationship together as it put her in an impossible position, but only now Xander can appreciate how difficult that was.

He apologises for pushing Danny into a relationship and takes accountability for not listening to what she wanted or needed, before confessing that he still loves her.

Surprised by the admission, Danny is grateful to finally have her feelings acknowledged, and says she also loves him. If she is fired, Danny suggests they could start over, away from the difficult workplace dynamic, and see if their relationship could work.

Yet, this hypothetical is cut short when Cruz later tells Danny that she is her choice for chief resident next year.

In equally happy news, Vero (Sophia Torres) is released from hospital and greeted with a rousing applause as she walks through the emergency department.

Meanwhile, Cole’s (Jack Bannon) cold-hearted ways are coming back to haunt him as Dr Soriano (Néstor Carbonel) reiterates the severity of the situation when he catches Cole checking on Nia (Ash Santos).

As Nia’s parents have legal grounds to question her care at Maguire, Cole is instructed to stay away from her, which is difficult as he realises how much he truly care about her.

After cowering to his snide comments all series, Sophie (Chelsea Muirhead) stands up to Cole when he reveals that he’s changed her surgery schedule. She questions why he’s been determined to put her down at very occasion, especially when she does something right. Cole admits that he’s been unfair to her and that he changed her rota so she no longer had to deal with that and work with him.

Camila overhears their conversation and smiles, proudly, as Sophie followed her advice to start believing in herself.

Yet, it isn’t Sophie’s courage but Cruz’s direct praise to Camila that convinces her to stay at Maguire, as Cruz reveals she’d be disappointed to lose such a hard-working student who has had glowing reviews from all the staff in the ER.

There's naturally plenty left to unravel at the end of the episode. Harper encourages Sam (Jessie T Usher) to tell Danny how he feels, though he shrugs off any suggestion that they’re more than friends.

While Sophie and Camila’s slow-burn friendship seems to have blossomed into something more, but before we can find out what's going on, Camila’s fiancée appears and so ensues an awkwardly-smiley conversation from Sophie. She then leaves feeling embarrassed about misreading (or so she thinks) her relationship with Camila.

The series culminates at the end-of-year party, where the disagreeable Dr Patrick Sanchez is announced as the new head of the ER, as the board relieved Cruz of that role keeping her in charge of surgery alone.

Tensions are high as Xander joked Patrick was his ‘least favourite’ member of staff, while it’s teased that Cruz has a strained relationship with him but agrees to a ‘business-only’ lunch.

The final shock of the series comes as Patrick announces his choice for chief resident: Sam. For a split moment, Danny and Xander are shocked, before Danny hugs Sam and sneaks off to take a moment to herself when the buzz has died down.

Cruz apologises to Danny and reassures her that she didn’t know Patrick would oppose her decision, but they acknowledge that they both have had to compromise in their careers. Cruz lost the ER to him as she wouldn’t fire Danny, as Xander’s parents and the board had wanted her to, but as a result Danny lost chief resident, but can stay at the medical centre.

The series ends with Danny looking out to the sea on the beach, joined by Xander, who confesses he’s gone to the hospital review board and told them everything about what happened at Kennedy. He could lose his licence, but Xander is certain it’s the right thing to do, as it’s what Danny would do and he wants to follow her example.

While Sam heads back to the hospital for a hero’s welcome and sets up his new office, Danny strips off and dives into the sea - at peace and carefree, away from the approaching new emergency heading to Maguire for Sam to deal with.

Pulse is available to stream now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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