Who is Tony Anthony Cecarrelli III from Impulse and what is their importance?

Tony Cecarrelli III (Impulse) is a patient at a psyche ward in Colorado. He is there because he attempted to kill himself by taking an overdose of Valium. This has come as a result of the rough life that he's led up until this point. His childhood was spent being raped by his mother's boyfriend. Later, he exacts his revenge on the boyfriend by killing him, which lands him in prison. While in prison he trades sexual favors to get by.

Upon his release he meets up with a professor who is also gay. This professor becomes a type of mentor and father figure for Tony. Tony is able to see the beauty in life and begins to appreciate religion and God. However, the downside is that Phillip has AIDS and dies a few years later, leaving Tony alone again.

It is during this time that he has begurn to reconnect with his father. After Phillip's death the two reunite and become what they should have been for one another all along. Tony falls for Vanessa and realizes that he wasn't gay at all. His friend Connor dies when they are all involved in a wilderness challenge.