Warning! Spoilers for Season 15, Episode 5 of Chicago Fire, “Three Hundred,” lie ahead.
Chicago Fire has had a revolving door of cast members over the 14 years it has been on the air. And unfortunately, that door is still spinning amid Season 15 on the 2026 TV schedule. Fans have already had to say goodbye to Dermot Mulroney’s Dom Pascal, but and that's not all. This week marked the NBC hit's 300th episode as well as the departure of Joe Cruz, played by OG cast member Joe Miñoso. While I was a mess watching Cruz’s farewell to 51, there were apparently “a lot of tears” on set, too, as Miñoso told me.
Following Season 14's cliffhanger, the Season 15 premiere revealed that no one at 51 died. However, Cruz broke his spine as a result of a collapse at the warehouse, and despite him doing extensive rehab, it would basically take a miracle for him to be a firefighter again. Wednesday’s episode, “Three Hundred,” saw Cruz getting the news that if he continued to do rehab and work hard, he could go back to work in a matter of months.
That being said, following the birth of his and Chloe’s twin girls, Cruz decided to take a step back and go to a great rehab facility in Minnesota close to Chloe’s parents. He had a very vulnerable chat with Severide about his decision, and his goodbyes with Hermann, Mouch, Tony, and Capp were equally emotional and funny. I definitely couldn’t stop crying while watching it, especially when Cruz stopped by Otis’ memorial and talked with his late friend. Unsurprisingly, Miñoso got emotional while filming his character's sendoff, and he spoke to CinemaBlend about the final scene he shot:
A lot of tears. The last scene that we did was with me and Taylor [Kinney], and it was where I'm explaining why I'm leaving. And so much of it felt really, kind of like true-to-life. It felt like a lot of things that Joe and Taylor would have said to each other, and it was such a, I think, you know, probably the most human and intimate scene that Taylor and I have ever had the opportunity to do.
Given Miñoso had been part of the cast since the very beginning, it's honestly got be hard to imagine Chicago Fire without him, and 51 without Cruz. It’s great, however, that he was able to have that opportunity with Taylor Kinney not only for their characters, who are basically brothers, but for themselves, too. That’s not the only reason it was emotional, though, as Miñoso will also have a core memory that lasts a lifetime:
It was, first and foremost, such a gift to be able to have that scene with him just because we've never really sat face-to-face as equals like that in a scene. It felt really special. The fact that it was the very last scene on the stage with my wife there, who I met on the show as a makeup artist 10 years ago, and we just celebrated our 10th anniversary. It'll be an implanted memory forever. It's like one of those core memories. It's definitely going to be one of the shining bright ones in my mind for a long time.
It was announced over the past summer that Miñoso would be leaving Chicago Fire, and many fans were not happy about it. That being said, the fact that Miñoso was able to be ushered out with five episodes to wrap up Cruz’s story makes it just a little bit more bearable.
Following the Season 14 cliffhanger, though, there was no telling what the result would be, and how it could figure into Cruz’s departure. Chicago Fire has killed off a handful of characters following season-ending cliffhangers. Luckily, when it came to how Cruz would bow out, there was only one way to handle it, per Miñoso:
There were a lot of discussions between the writers and producers and myself in terms of how we wanted to say goodbye to the character. But [showrunner] Victor [Teran] was pretty adamant from the very beginning that he wanted to be able to explore a different type of trauma on this show. We haven't really been able to play this storyline in terms of our firefighters getting so hurt that they can no longer be the person they think they are.
Cruz has been such a staple at 51, and his passion for the firehouse and his job trumped just about everything, aside from his family. With Miñoso leaving, it really only made sense for him to decide to leave 51 because of his family. And Miñoso loved the way it all came together:
But at some point, they overcome it and then ultimately make the decision to walk away on their own terms. So, it was really an honor, a joy, a privilege. I feel very lucky that they gave me the material and thought and believed in me to be able to bring it to life.
Character exits are always tough in the One Chicago franchise, especially when it’s someone who has been around since the start of a show. But since Cruz, Chloe, the boys, and now their baby twin girls are only a couple of states away, it’s possible that this won’t be the last we see of them. Nevertheless, I'll probably continue to be an absolute mess whenever I revisit this episode of the show.
If anything, all episodes of Chicago Fire are streaming with a Peacock subscription, so there is plenty of Cruz to still enjoy. As for new episodes, those air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
