Netflix’s medical drama Pulse sucked viewers in with an unconventional love triangle — but could Nia and Tom end up together?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Ash Santos shared her thoughts, saying, “It felt so fresh to me. I am kind of like that in my personal life where as you get older, you realize most men are literally just [meh]. So you’re like, ‘If you like me, great. If you don’t like me, even better.’”
Santos, 31, called it “refreshing” that her character, Nia, didn’t fight with Cass (Jessica Rothe) over Tom (Jack Bannon). Instead, each woman created boundaries as Tom found himself conflicted — and later in trouble over his relationship with Nia.
“[Now] there’s even more of a pull between Nia and Cass. So I like that,” Santos continued. “Toward the end of the first season, you realize because things are so natural between [Jack and I] that it makes you root for Nia and Tom.”
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Pulse, which is streaming now, follows the personal and professional lives of doctors and staff at a busy Miami trauma center as they navigate medical crises and personal drama. The show initially hinted that season 1 would track Tom’s romance with Nia, but it turned out he was also hooking up with Cass.
“If we get a second season — if we keep this going — you can see them going the distance,” Santos told Us. “Because there isn’t that forced tension that might be there with him and other characters or in the other love triangles or love schemes. It just felt really natural.”
The situation got complicated though when Nia, a paramedic, became a patient at the hospital. At that point, Tom supervising Nia’s care created a lot of issues, as doctors aren’t allowed to be involved with their patients.
“It will obviously be difficult. It won’t be without its trials,” Santos continued. “They naturally bring out a side of each other that they’ve never had. I think Nia really grounds Tom and she brings him to a place that he’s never been before. She’s also a type of woman that he’s never been with before.”
She continued: “He’s the same for her. It’s just nice that he’s this refreshing, bold and really ambitious person. Also, they just bring out this humorous side of each other and they just can’t help but be drawn to each other. Couples like that, despite how hard things get, usually end up making it.”
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While season 1 mostly kept Nia confined to her hospital bed, Santos is hoping to see that change with a potential renewal, adding, “It made it kind of difficult. I realized acting-wise I didn’t have my usual tools of using my body and the space. So that was a fun challenge, and I feel like I grew in that way.”
Santos noted that Nia has already been through so much onscreen growth, and this is just the beginning.
“She started off scrappy, ambitious, hungry and unafraid,” she shared. “I am so excited to keep hopefully stepping into her shoes and bringing more out of her, because that was what drew me to her.”
Pulse is currently streaming on Netflix.
