Impulse follows 16-year-old Henrietta "Henry" Coles who 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 tries to rape 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 then explores Henry's feelings of fear regarding the assault, and the discovery that those feelings can trigger her ability to teleport and psionically move objects from a distance.
Cast and characters
Main
Maddie Hasson as Henrietta "Henry" Coles, a teenage girl who possesses the ability to teleport, though has no control over her destination. She first realizes she has this capability while in the middle of being sexually assaulted. Her powers activate through emotional distress. She eventually is taught to control her powers.
*Carina Battrick portrays a younger Henry Coles in a supporting role.
Sarah Desjardins as Jenna Faith Hope, Henry's soon-to-be stepsister and confidante. Initially cold and distant towards Henry, she becomes closer to her upon discovering that she was sexually assaulted. She soon begins questioning her sexuality.
Enuka Okuma as Anna Hulce, a deputy sheriff in Reston, investigating the incident which left Clay Boone physically disabled for life via his legs. She eventually witnesses a man teleporting away right before her eyes and confronts Henry about it.
Craig Arnold as Lucas Boone, a local mechanic, drug trafficker, and the eldest son of car and drug dealer Bill Boone. After spending time with the Millers and learning their religious ways, he returns to Reston and declares his unwavering devotion and allegiance to Henry as penance for what his father and brother put her through.
Tanner Stine as Clay Boone, a star of the local basketball team and Bill Boone's youngest son. A classmate of Henry's, Clay develops an interest in her when she begins attending school. While making out in his truck, he attempts to rape her. The assault causes her latent ability to teleport to activate, resulting in her having a seizure and teleporting away out of self-preservation. The resulting spatial distortion of Henry's escape crushes much of Clay's truck and leaves him without the use of his legs.
Missi Pyle as Cleo Coles, Henry's mother. She is living with and dating Thomas Hope.
Daniel Maslany as Townes Linderman, an autistic student at Reston High School who becomes close friends with Henry
Callum Keith Rennie as Nikolai, a master teleporter who was responsible for abducting Henrietta's father, Simon, ten years ago. He eventually mentors Henry on how to further develop and master her increasingly powerful abilities.
Recurring
Matt Gordon as Thomas Hope, Jenna's father. He and Cleo Coles live together with their daughters.
David James Elliott as Bill Boone, a local car dealer who also traffics in drugs. He is Lucas and Clay's father and Cleo Cole's boss.
Genevieve Kang as Patty Yang, a cheerleader at Reston High School and Clay's ex-girlfriend. She breaks up with him after discovering that he had been cheating on her.
Angel Giuffria as Zoe, Townes' online girlfriend who he games with
Keon Alexander as Dominick, a Frenchman who also possesses the ability to teleport long distances at will, and has greater control over his "jumps" than Henry
Raphael Bergeron-Lapointe as Tristan, Dominick's six-year-old son who has inherited his father's ability to teleport
On December 15, 2016, YouTube commissioned a television pilot titled Impulse from a script by Jeffrey Lieber, with revisions by Gary Spinelli, loosely based on the novel by Steven Gould. It was to be produced by the production companies Hypnotic and Universal Cable Productions with Doug Liman, David Bartis, and Gene Klein of Hypnotic reported to be executive producers. Liman was also expected to direct the pilot as well. On June 27, 2017, YouTube gave the production a series order with a premiere tentatively set for 2018. On January 13, 2018, producer/writer Lauren LeFranc joined the series in the position of showrunner and executive producer. On May 10, 2018, YouTube Red released the first official trailer and set the series premiere for June 6, 2018. On July 19, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season consisting of ten episodes, which premiered on October 16, 2019. On March 10, 2020, it was announced that the series had been canceled.
Casting
Simultaneously with the announcement of the pilot order, it was confirmed that Maddie Hasson, Sarah Desjardins, Missi Pyle, Enuka Okuma, and Craig Arnold had been cast as series regulars. In addition, it was reported that David James Elliott would appear in the series in a main role.
On March 22, 2018, YouTube released the first teaser trailer for the series. On March 24, 2018, the show hosted a panel at the annual WonderCon fan convention in Anaheim, California. It was moderated by IGNs Laura Prudom and featured executive producers Liman and Gene Klein, showrunner Lauren LeFranc and actors Maddie Hasson, Missi Pyle and Daniel Maslany. On May 10, 2018, the first official trailer was released. On May 30, 2018, YouTube made the first episode available to those owning a Google Assistant. From June 5–7, 2018, YouTube employed the use of viral marketing with the assistance of popular YouTube creators Kendall Rae, Karina Garcia, Cam's Creations, Nichole Jacklyne, Ayydubs, and Jacksfilms. During the span of those days, the content creators embedded footage of Keon Alexander's character Dominick from the series teleporting into and out of their videos.
Premiere
On June 7, 2018, the series held its official premiere at the Roxy Cinema in New York City. The premiere included a screening followed by a question and answer session featuring executive producer Doug Liman and lead actress Maddie Hasson.
Reception
The first season was met with a positive response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 6.67 out of 10 based on 9 reviews.
