Pulse season 1 episode 2 recap: Did Danny just lose the ER to Phillips?

Pulse season 1, episode 2, cranks up the heat both within and beyond the hospital. While a hurricane batters the city, the mayhem inside Maguire ER is much more explosive — and much more intimate. At the eye of the storm is Dr. Danny Simms, whose emotional breakdown puts not only patient care at risk but also her position as a leader.

Yes, for now, the ER doesn’t just descend into chaos because of the hurricane outside; it falls into the hands of Dr. Xander Phillips as Dr. Danny Simms emotionally unravels under pressure. While Danny still holds the title, the authority, the trust, and the control? That’s already slipped through her fingers.

With Phillips calmly taking the reins during the blackout — organizing staff and making critical calls — while Danny hides out in bathrooms and flounders through medical emergencies, the shift in leadership is unmistakable — and possibly irreversible.

With every decision she stumbles on, Dr. Xander Phillips takes another step into the power vacuum. By the end of Pulse season 1, episode 2, it remains to be seen: has Danny permanently relinquished control of the ER to her toughest competitor?

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Pulse season 1: The rescue that costs Nia everything

The series begins with a high-pressure field rescue. While the ambulance team fights the intensifying storm, they come upon a frantic woman whose kids are pinned in a home by a fallen tree. Nia springs into action, rescuing the children, but she's impaled in the process, initiating a secondary medical crisis that will plague the ER throughout the rest of the episode.

Within Maguire, leadership is careening out of control. Danny and Phillips' tension rises from snarky comments to full-blown brawls — especially when a young patient requires a life-or-death cricothyrotomy. Danny starts the procedure, but Phillips challenges her technique during the operation. She eventually capitulates to his version — a humiliating setback before the team.

As Danny withdraws to reel from the emotional aftershock, Phillips takes charge, issuing orders in a steady tone and mobilizing a response as the hospital plunges into darkness. He even reports to the staff on the status of the generator — something Danny didn't see coming. It's a moment of harsh contrast: where Danny is immobile, Phillips acts.

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Pulse season 1: Cole takes a risk

Meanwhile, Cole keeps crossing the line between being professional and getting emotionally involved. Desperate to save Nia, he rushes into Soriano's operating room and then makes a life-or-death decision: cutting out the metal fragment that's skewering her, threatening catastrophic blood loss.

It's a risk that pays off — barely — and even wins Soriano's admiration. But it's a testament to how hot this hospital has gotten: instincts are guiding decisions, not procedures.

As the power outage drags on, Danny is again spinning out of control. She encounters a woman in labor in the same bathroom where she's been taking refuge from the mayhem. She freezes, not knowing what to do. It takes her a beat to spring into action and deliver the baby, assisted by nurses. It's a redemptive moment, but the hesitation reveals her increasing instability.

Back in the ER, it's Phillips — not Danny — who is leading on logistics, morale among staff, and what's next. And Cruz, who had been backing Danny, starts relying on Phillips instead. That decision is either courageous or foolhardy, given the charges against him, but it’s certainly an indication of where trust is at now.

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Pulse season 1: A final blow

In the last few seconds of the episode, Danny flees out into the creepy quiet of the hurricane's eye, to be confronted by Phillips again. There, he makes a bombshell announcement: Elijah is in love with her.

It's a strategic maneuver — one that strikes Danny where she's already emotionally vulnerable. Whether intended to assist or destabilize her further, the result is the same: she's shaken, and power dynamics continue to slide away from her.

Pulse season 1, episode 2 lays down a stark line in the sand. Even though Danny still technically occupies her role, it’s Phillips who’s in charge — rallying staff, implementing crisis procedures, and taking every opportunity to demonstrate his authority. Danny, by contrast, is going into retreat, questioning herself, and seeing trust she once had erode.

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Catch the latest episode of Pulse season 1 streaming on Netflix.