‘Chicago Fire’ 300: First Look at Joe Miñoso’s Final Episode & Cruz’s Farewell

Chicago Fire is marking its 300th episode in a major way: by saying goodbye to an original cast member. The milestone, which airs on Wednesday, November 4, is Joe Miñoso‘s final episode. After the latest episode, which was centered on Severide (Taylor Kinney) tackling an OFI case that’s not as over as it seems and rather has a serial arsonist now seeing the captain as a worthy adversary, NBC aired a preview offering a look at what’s next.

The promo, which you can watch above, doesn’t hint at Cruz’s exit, though we do see him standing with the rest of the house, using a cane, for a photo at the beginning during his voiceover, “This house, it’s more than that. It’s family.” Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) continues the sentiment with, “it’s who we are, we live or die,” and Severide finishes, “Together.”

The season began with the immediate pickup, then fallout of the massive structure fire that ended last spring’s finale. As a result of his successful rescue of civilians (and attempted of others), large pieces of debris fell on Cruz, resulting in a fractured back and him in a wheelchair, unable to do his job.

George Burns Jr/NBC

“Sometimes it’s like the luck of the draw in life and it wasn’t like we don’t love him. In a way, I think that the fact that he’s such a beloved character is what felt like it would make it the most heartbreaking exit,” showrunner Victor Teran told TV Insider after the premiere. “It’s going to be an emotional rollercoaster. I mean, that’s the only thing I can really promise you is that we really tried to go for it and really tried to honor the reality of this and the complexity of it. And it’s not just about one thing. It’s about who he is as a person. It’s about what the rest of his life looks like. It’s about his family and these twins that he’s about to have. And so we really tried not to shy away from any of that but really lean into it.”

He promised Episode 300 is “a big deal, and we really are making it more about Cruz than anyone. We thought about having the usual thing — not the usual thing, but the thing we like to do — which is to bring legacy characters back for milestones. But because of what was happening with Cruz, we really wanted to make it his moment and not take away from that. So that’s what it’s really going to be about ultimately.”

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He continued, “What I can say overall is that I think the way we’re starting is part of a conscious approach to not shy away from the conflict within the family, and we’re going to see a lot of that play out. And there’s always the love, and there’s always the friendship and the laughter, but what makes it interesting is the way that sometimes you hurt the people you love the most, and those are the people you can be the most yourself with. And so that can be pretty fraught sometimes. So we’re leaning into that.”

How do you think Chicago Fire is going to write out Cruz? What are you hoping to see from Joe Miñoso’s last episode? Let us know in the comments section below.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC