Netflix's new medical drama series Pulse might still have a heartbeat after all following an initially lackluster debut in its opening weekend. Thankfully, the series rose in its viewership in its second week of availability, and a new development behind the scenes seems to suggest that season 2 could be in the works. Let's get into the latest updates about Pulse!
As reported by What's on Netflix, a new listing on the Pulse page of the Writers Guild of America West website features a section for Pulse season 2. While that doesn't mean that Netflix has officially renewed the series for a second season, that could mean that the streaming service has quietly opened a writer's room for season 2 to explore storylines for a potential followup season.
Netflix has been known to open writer's rooms ahead of renewals to get a jump on the writing process and to see what the creative team could have in store in the event of a renewal. The same thing happened with Nobody Wants This season 2, and Sweet Magnolias season 5 has been said to have a writer's room in progress, though a formal renewal still hasn't happened.
After the initial numbers for Pulse came out following its April 3 premiere on Netflix, a renewal wasn't exactly a given. The series debuted to 6.5 million views in its first four days of availability, which comes to about 52 million hours viewed. In its second week, Pulse rose to 8.5 million views (68.1 million hours) and took the #3 spot in the streamer's Global Top 10 most popular shows ranking.
Week to week, Pulse rose its viewership by 2 million views, and while 2 million doesn't seem like a significant jump, it's promising that the show increased rather than decreased its viewership. Currently, the show remains in the daily top 10 ranking in the United States, though newer and more popular shows have pushed it to the second half of the ranking.
Admittedly, Pulse isn't nearly as popular as Max's hit original medical drama series The Pitt and unfortunately had to premiere in its shadow. It's still possible for word of mouth to increase for Netflix's newbie to further lend to Pulse season 2 coming to fruition, though whether the series remains stable or significantly decreases in week 3 will be the real test.
Still, it's super promising that a listing for the second season has popped up on the WGA website. It's a slight sign of faith that Danny, Xander, and the whole dysfunctional Maguire team could be back for season 2. Even though the ending didn't feature a major cliffhanger, the season 1 finale revealed a real shake-up for the hospital that begs for a season 2 to continue the story.