Impulse is a Science Fiction drama web television series, loosely based on the novel Impulse by Steven Gould, that premiered in 2018 on YouTube Premium.
The series follows withdrawn 16-year-old Henrietta "Henry" Coles (played by Maddie Hasson) as she moves with her mother into a new town, Reston, in upstate New York. Here she discovers she has the ability to teleport but has no control over her destination. The first time she realizes this, she is in a truck with her high school's basketball captain and star, Clay Boone, who digitally rapes her. She has a seizure and teleports, in the course of which she inadvertently crushes much of his truck when her ability to teleport first manifests, leaving him a paraplegic. The show goes on to explore Henry's struggle with the trauma and how she starts to control her newfound superpower.
It was canceled after the second season.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Nikolai's adopted father, though not to him nor his other son, Wesley, but to his daughter, Elaine. His wife/her mother, died during childbirth and the girl had asthma, so he's got a cold, sometimes cruel demeanor with her. He spent her entire life crushing any confidence or identity she had outside of him, which seemingly only stopped when he became sickly and bedridden. Nikolai is conflicted between the love he has for the man who took him in and treated him like his own son, and his horror at seeing what he did to his own daughter.
- Affectionate Nickname: Henry (on top of this being a nickname for "Henrietta") often was called "Hank" by her dad as a girl.
- An Aesop: Forcing yourself onto someone is a serious crime with terrible consequences for the victim. You should make extra sure there is no Questionable Consent.
- The Atoner:
- Lucas is a good man who did very bad things, like killing an innocent Mennonite on his father's orders. His character arc following this is an attempt to atone for this.
- Nikolai to a lesser extent; he never wanted his powers or the life he's gotten but is somewhat trapped in villainy due to needing the medication to deal with his teleportation-induced health issues.
- Boom, Headshot!: Nikolai executes Henry's father this way.
- Break Her Heart to Save Her: In the finale of season two, Henry makes a scene with her mother so she could leave home without much resentment from her mother.
- Bully Hunter: Henry clearly didn't appreciate witnessing how their science teacher bullied Townes because of his autism, so she called him out and humiliated him in front of class. When his violent reaction induces a seizure, he tries to downplay what he did and essentially weasel out of apologizing, which despite the trauma she's currently going through is enough to motivate Henry into putting it aside to make sure he does not get away with it.
- Burger Fool: In season two, Henry starts working at a pizza place where she has to greet customers with "Welcome to Surf N' Pizza where we 'surf up' the best pizza in upstate New York. Hang loose, and how can I help you today?". Naturally, she is not amused.
- Cave Behind the Falls: Henry teleports Hulce to such a place.
- Cleanup Crew: The company "researching" teleportation has a crew to clean up after Nicholai. They serve as Those Two Guys until one of them gets promoted.
- Closet Key: Kate, a girl Jenna meets, is the final confirmation she's attracted to girls, with the pair sharing a kiss. After this, Jenna admits her attraction. It had been hinted before through different things.
- Coming-Out Story: Jenna at first is hinted at having attraction toward other girls, before it's confirmed when she kisses a girl, Kate, whom she meets at a party. She finally admits this to Henry, who is accepting and says it makes her cooler than before.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Played with. For a long time, it looked like Henry's father left the family to protect them. In reality, he was killed by Nikolai.
- Daddy's Girl: It's implied that Henry was always closest to her dad, as they're shown playing together happily when she was little in her flashbacks, while in stark contrast her relationship with her mom is very difficult. His vanishing was probably even more devastating as a result.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Hulce worked for the NYPD, but then her (white) partner shot an unarmed black teenager, and Hulce (a black woman) defended him. Because of this, she's felt immense guilt for choosing the badge over her community, which also caused almost her entire family, save her sister, to cut ties with her.
- Nikolai survived occupied Romania during the late 80s, first jumping during a terrorist attack that killed the rest of his family. His criminal uncle and him lived together, stealing to survive until he befriended an injured Canadian national who promised to help get them out. They were betrayed by his uncle (who killed his friend, Wesley), resulting in Nikolai beating him to death. After the revolution Nikolai found Wesley's family, who adopted him and helped him develop his powers... and founded the morally questionable teleport-experimenting company he now works for.
- Dark Lord on Life Support: Nikolai's adopted dad, in the present day. His daughter, Elaine, is keeping him alive in order to prove her worth to him. Played With though as he's not really a "Dark Lord", and is overall a loving father to Nikolai, but his influence turned Elaine into a Corrupt Corporate Executive Playing with Syringes to impress him.
- Date Rape: Henry consensually makes out with Clay, but then he starts going farther than she wants to and won't stop, sticking his hand down her pants before digitally raping her. It sparks her Traumatic Superpower Awakening when she teleports via a subconscious desire to flee, and it partly crushes Clay's truck, leaving him paralyzed.
- Die or Fly: Bill Boone attempts to shoot Henry in order to invoke her power. He pays dearly for seeing it happen.
- Dig Your Own Grave: Lucas, The Atoner, digs his own grave but gets pardoned.
- Dirty Cop: Hulce's entire department besides her seems to be in the pocket of Boones' drug ring.
- Disappeared Dad: Henry's dad left when she was very young, and she's not happy with her mom having many boyfriends after him. It later turns out her dad didn't go voluntarily but for far more sinister reasons, with Henry trying to find out what happened. Nikolai finally reveals he'd killed him.
- Disposing of a Body: Nikolai dissolves Bill Boones in an Acid Pool.
- Downer Ending: Due to being cancelled after two seasons; in desperation, Henry left Hulce in a random cave, but when she returned she was gone and may be dead. Henry's friends have turned on her, Cleo and Tom broke up, and Henry had to ruin her relationship with her mother in order to break their tether. She also discovered that her father was long dead and Nikolai killed him, and out of anger Henry beat Nikolai to death. She's got enough cash to survive for now and has gained enough control of her powers to live anywhere, but this little bit of positivity does nothing to contrast the rest of what happened.
- Early-Bird Cameo: The pizza delivery guy is casually shown during a Wild Teen Party where he asked Henry for the house owner. He gets properly introduced in a later episode when Henry starts working with him.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- For all his vices, Bill Boones cares deeply about his two sons. It gets deconstructed as he's willing to cover up Clay sexually assaulting Henry, which is something Cleo is enraged by when she finds out.
- Nikolai is an Anti-Villain at worst, who genuinely cares for both his adopted family and dearly loved his younger brother, and Wesley.
- Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Young Nikolai pummels his uncle with a piece of metal for shooting Wesley.
- False Confession: Lucas takes the heat for Henry by falsely confessing to killing his father. Hulce is onto him because the timeline doesn't check out. But her police department is happy to close the case.
- Fantasy Sequence: Henry frequently fantasizes about things being better than what is actually going on, as a coping mechanism, such as Clay having treated her nicely instead of raping her or her mom not getting shot.
- Forced Out of the Closet: Henry spills the beans on Jenna being gay, but only to protect herself from being outed as a teleporter by Jenna. She regrets it immediately, saying she's betrayed Jenna's trust.
- Gayngst: Jenna "knows" that she should want to go to the dance with Zack. He's a perfect boyfriend. But she isn't interested in him and this has her confused and unhappy. Cleo (of all people) helps her work through it.
- Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!: Dominic, one of the teleporters, would rather shoot himself and take his 8-year-old son with him than let him be taken by the people who experimented on him.
- Happier Home Movie: At one point, Jenna watches an old video of her mother dressing up for her wedding.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Henry would often put on her headphones for this purpose.
- He-Man Woman Hater:
- Clay Boone, who is a sports star, treats women like objects, cheated on his last girlfriend and date rapes Henry, kicking off much of the plot. He continues to deny any wrongdoing and later comes to see her as a freak who attacked him, despite admitting to his dad that he likely did do this to her. He's also shown laughing about a "prank" he pulled where he dated a girl solely to get her to send nudes, all so he could then leak them to humiliate her brother (and still laughs about it, even while his friends are disturbed by it).
- The men in the Mennonite church, who oppose Esther leading the congregation and generally treat their women like crap. Lucas, while living with them, finds the religious principles admirable but he's disturbed by the rampant misogyny.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: Henry saves Clay by teleporting them both from the burning Boones home.
- Hitman with a Heart: Nikolai is an experienced teleporter-hunter who has killed people in the past, but he would rather bring teleporters in peacefully and train them without causing any harm, and seems to genuinely care for Henry's well-being.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Again, Nikolai hunts teleporters, like himself. He doesn't like it though, and he'd prefer to help teleporters learn to control their powers without the torturous methods his company seems to prefer.
- I Have a Family: According to Nikolai, Simon Coles dropped this line when threatened to be killed.
- The Informant: Townes meets with Sam who leaves him a box with evidence of the teleporter torturing.
- In Name Only: The only element the series shares with the novel of the same name is the existence of humans who have the ability to teleport. None of the characters or situations in the show are taken from the novelnote , though they could conceivably be set in the same universe.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Henry towards the end of season two. Townes even wonders if he served a hero or a villain.
- Kryptonite Factor: Teleporters can be disabled by subjecting them to a harsh sound.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Henry's teleporting abilities manifest when Clay digitally rapes her, leading to him becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Henry later lampshades how karmic it is that Clay can no longer do to anyone else what he did to her.
- Minority Police Officer: Hulce seems to be the only black member of the law enforcement in Reston, as well as the only woman. It's explicit that she's from NYC and moved to Reston after issues back in the city.
- Missing Mom: Jenna's mom died of cancer years before, and the date she heard of the diagnosis is quite poignant for Jenna.
- Modesty Bedsheet: After being seen briefly topless from the back while getting on top of Josh, Henry covers herself with the bed covers while they're having sex and when they lie together afterward.
- Never My Fault: Clay is angered when he discovers that Henry is responsible for (unintentionally) crippling him. He refuses to acknowledge the fact that Henry only did so because of Clay forcing himself on her. Even when his mother tries to tell him about what he did, he refuses to admit to any wrongdoing.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: One of the women in the Mennonite church, Susannah, pretends to be ignorant of things like baking soda and toothpaste to mess with Lucas.
- Offstage Villainy: We never see Nikolai kill Sam probably to keep the audience's sympathy he earned via his Origins Episode.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Henrietta is almost always called Henry.
- Pensieve Flashback: Several of Henry's flashbacks have her in her current age visiting her younger self.
- Please Wake Up: Nikolai's sister has this reaction when finding her father dead on his hospital bed.
- Poor Communication Kills: In the last two episodes of Season 2, Nikolai tries to give Henry a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech after she asks for his help, thinking what she needs is to believe in herself to be able to solve whatever problem she has. He also decides now is finally time to come clean about what happened between him and her father. He's unaware of the fact Henry's "problem" is that she kind of stranded Hulce in a cave somewhere in a moment of blind panic and is now struggling to find a way to fix it, which has her completely on-edge. Because of that, he completely misreads her mental state at the time and doesn't know that it would be a very bad idea to tell her how he killed her father, which ends up resulting in Henry killing Nicholai in her grief-stricken rage, and this ends up making her forget about Hulce until it's too late to save her. All of this could have been avoided had he been willing to let her explain what her problem was.
- Power at a Price: Teleportation gives Nikolai health issues. He cannot survive "jumps" without a serum called "Factor".
- Power Incontinence: Until Nikolai teaches her how to control her abilities, Henry would trigger the teleport powers whenever she is in distress.
- Powers in the First Episode: Henry discovers her teleport powers in the first episode.
- Punk in the Trunk: Lucas kidnaps Henry by putting her into the trunk of his car. She gets out using her powers.
- Rape as Backstory: After learning that Clay date raped Henry, his mom Wendy relates to him that she was once raped herself in similar circumstances by a boy whom she knew at a party, making it clear that his offense was inexcusable, urging Clay to make amends before it's too late.
- Rape as Drama: The show explores the psychological effects of a teenager having been subjected to rape.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In the series finale, Henry gives her mom a lengthy angry one denouncing her having moved her around so often and frequently had different boyfriends, which left her little stability. Even worse, Henry blames her for being raped, saying she'd gotten close to her rapist because her mom was hardly there. Her mom's apologetic to her, but this isn't good enough to Henry. Their argument escalates to the point that her mom orders her to Get Out!, with Henry not only obliging but leaving her for good, teleporting to a foreign country, while the pair's relationship may be ended for good or at least severely damaged.
- Remembered I Could Fly: When trying to get into Hulce's car Henry totally forgets that she could teleport in. Justified, as she literally forgets; when she remembers, she actually makes an "oh, right, duh" gesture then teleports in.
- Replacement Goldfish:
- Literally, Nikolai keeps a single goldfish as a good luck charm, and as a token to his friend Wesley. When it dies, he's shown to just casually buy a new one.
- Nikolai's bond with the Kido family (his adopted family) seems to act as something of this for his own lost family; in particular his bond with Elaine (including encouraging her piano playing) mirrors the bond he had with his brother Milos, and he follows his adopted father in the same way he did his uncle. He also seems to see Henry in a similar light to Elaine/Milos.
- When Lucas joins the Mennonite church, he's taken in by Esther Miller, the mother of Amos (the man he killed), who knows full-well he killed her son. Rather than be angry at him, however, she chooses to forgive him and try to convert him to their church...while also giving him Amos' clothes, giving him his bed, and doting on him like a mother. When he leaves, she actually breaks down in the same way she did when Amos died, as it was evident she was using him as a replacement for her son (who, again, Lucas himself killed).
- Self-Serving Memory: Played straight and subverted, both in regard to Clay forcing himself on Henry.
- Subverted for Henry; the following days after show her recalling the event, and several times she re-remembers it as her being the one to make the first move, or that Clay was kind and stopped when she asked. This is more wishful thinking on her part and it's part of her processing what happened.
- Played straight with Clay himself; when describing the accident to others, he makes it sound like him and Henry went all the way and plays it off as a simple hook-up. When confronted with reality, he angrily denies it and then when remembering it, he remembers initiating and her saying no, but his memory downplays how much she fought him and makes it seem more like Questionable Consent, which in his mind is apparently okay.
- Sequel Series: Serves as one to Jumper, being based on the same book series and produced by the director and some other producers from the film, and following a different character dealing with the same powers. Their connection isn't focused on, though, so most people watching it probably wouldn't realize it was this.
- Sexual Karma: Henry's sex with Josh stands in complete contrast to her Date Rape experience with Clay as Josh, before and after the sex, is nothing but kind and supportive, and so the sex is clearly good for her. Unfortunately deconstructed as, while he's a good man and they enjoy the sex, it also triggers the trauma she suffered from Clay and causes her panic attacks after.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran:
- After she's been raped by Clay, Henry shows clear signs of PTSD, including traumatic flashbacks and triggers from similar things (being touched by a man-even consensually-and if she's close to a truck, as the assault took place in one).
- Later, Henry's mom Cleo is shown to suffer traumatic flashbacks of when she survived being shot at close range, with reminders triggering her.
- Shout-Out: Townes is a nerd who frequently references popular videa games and spec fic TV shows during the series (he's an avid gamer).
- Sickbed Slaying: How Nikolai kills his adoptive father.
- "Spread Wings" Frame Shot: There is a shot of Nikolai before a mural of wings at the Romanian church that lines up perfectly to make it look
like he has angel wings. - Start of Darkness: "The Moroi" is fully committed to exploring Nikolai's backstory. He was a poor Romanian teen who fled in the country's brief civil war sparked by communism falling, connecting to his future adoptive family by befriending their son in Romania, committing his first murder while avenging his friend's murder before turning into the fearsome teleporter we know today, kidnapping others like him for cruel experimentation.
- Tele-Frag: Henry unintentionally kills Bill Boone this way in "New Beginning" when he's threatening her and she teleports away to safety, ripping his arm off as he's standing close by, from which he bleeds out.
- Teleporter Accident: In season two, the company Nikolai is working for loses its best teleporter through such an accident. That's why they can't wait to get their hands on Henry.
- Tell Me About My Father: Henry tries to find out about her father's fate and keeps asking her mother about him.
- Their First Time: Jenna and Zach lose their virginities together. Jenna's also attempting to be straight through having sex with him.
- They Would Cut You Up: Townes receives videotapes with footage of teleporters being tortured to invoke their power. It's pretty obvious this would also happen to Henry once she gets in the clutches of Nikolai's company.
- Thicker Than Water: Family before anyone else is a recurring theme.
- Time Stands Still: The finale of season two reveals that stopping time is another power teleporters are capable of.
- Token Minority: Zach is the only boy of color in the main cast. At school Zach appears to be the only black student, or among a very few.
- Token Minority Couple: Townes, an autistic boy, discovers that his online girlfriend Zoe is missing her left arm (with a prosthetic replacement) when they finally meet. She was scared for him to see, as people sometimes are pretty uncomfortable due to her arm. Townes likes it though, and understands what she means as a result of his autism. She is very pleased by this. Both of them are the only disabled characters in the show.
- Tomboyish Name: "Henry" isn't typically what a girl would go by. Lampshaded in episode 5, where Henry is stuck in Vermont with an old lady; when she says her name the woman comments that it's a dumb name. Her full name's actually Henrietta.
- Toplessness from the Back: When Henry and her former boyfriend have sex, for a short moment she is seen in bed topless from behind. Then they start making out under a Modesty Bedsheet.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Towards the end of season two, Jenna accuses Henry of being a toxic friend. She has a point.
- Trauma Button: Henry being touched by men or her being close to the truck will lead to this, due to her rape by Clay in his truck.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: It takes being date raped to awaken the teleporting powers in Henry.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Hulce is tormented by visions of the kid she shot by accident.
- Twofer Token Minority: Hulce, a black woman, is the only woman of color seen on the police force, or in the town overall.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: They're not married, but Tom and Cleo (which, when we see Cleo's previous track record, seems to be a pattern of hers). Lampshaded early on, where Henry is shown looking at Tom and visibly questioning what her mom could possibly find attractive about him. Justified in his case at least, as he's nothing but a kind and understanding man and she's evidently attracted to how genuinely nice he is.
- Video Wills: Townes records a goodbye video in case he gets killed like Sam.
- Villain with Good Publicity: The Boones are well-liked by the community because of how much business they bring in, and the fact Clay is a local hero with the school's basketball team. There's some rumor of their criminal dealings but most seem to see it as a necessary evil, and after his "accident", the entire town rallies behind Clay. Part of the reason Henry never goes public about his Date Rape against her is that the town would probably take his side.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Elaine Kido, Nikolai's boss and also adopted sister, pretty much sacrificed everything to try and earn her father's love and affection, as he's nothing but cruel to her. Nicholai is conflicted between the love he has for the man who took him in and treated him like his own son, and his horror at seeing what his abuse did to his own daughter.
- Wild Teen Party: Clay throws a party at his house. There is another one in season two that gets dissolved by the police checking for underage drinking.
