‘Chicago Fire’: Joe Miñoso on Cruz’s Big Decision & What He Added to His Last Episode

“I’m just happy that the whole thing felt right. It’s rare that you get that kind of an exit, and I feel so, so lucky,” Joe Miñoso says of his final episode of Chicago Fire, also the show’s 300th and overall a fantastic installment. It has all the hallmarks of a classic Fire: heartwarming, character-driven scenes, big action sequences, and 51 as a family. Most importantly, it celebrated both Joe Miñoso and his character, firefighter Joe Cruz, in the way they deserved after being there since the beginning. After the season began with Cruz severely injured in a massive structure fire, he was in a wheelchair. But while he’s been making progress over these first episodes, he still has a lot to consider. TV Insider spoke with Miñoso about his exit, Cruz’s major decision, and the final scenes of the episode. Warning: Spoilers for Chicago Fire Episode 300 ahead!

Cruz has been making strides in PT, now able to walk using a cane, and Archer (Chicago Med‘s Steven Weber) told him about a specialized recovery center with a good reputation for getting first responders back on the job. He’s ready to put in the work. Then Chloe (Kristen Gutoskie) goes into labor. After the twins are born, and as Archer checks in on the family and talks to Cruz about that recovery center, Otis asks, “Why can’t somebody else’s dad do it?” (Yes, Otis, Cruz’s son named after his late best friend, played by Yuri Sardarov, is old enough to talk.) That’s when he makes the decision that he’s not going to be returning to firefighting, Miñoso says.

“He’s finally old enough to talk and this is the line that they decide to give this kid. And then the actor himself has that kind of quintessential four-year-old voice, that kind of squeaky little [voice] that just breaks your heart,” he tells TV Insider. “I think on top of the fact that he’s looking at two brand new baby girls and that you can see the worry on his family’s face, I think absolutely that was the moment he made the decision.”

But telling Severide (Taylor Kinney) was harder than the decision itself, the star confirms.

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'Chicago Fire's Joe Miñoso Opens up About Exit & Saying Goodbye to Cruz: 'I Owe Him Everything'

“He immediately recognized, ‘This is what I have to do for my family,’ but he doesn’t want to let anybody down ever,” he explains. “And so to have to tell the guy that’s relied on him for over a decade, I can’t be there, especially after everything that Severide goes through to keep the position available was by far harder than actually making the decision.”

Severide certainly does whatever he needs to to keep Chief Tomlin from forcing him to fill the vacancy in squad before Cruz is ready. Tomlin wants his choice in a week, but Severide and Mouch put their heads together and convince the chief to give Cruz 90 more days before his occupational health evaluation. Tomlin wants Severide to reinstate McCaffrey (Matthew Daddario), but they talk him into agreeing to start McCaffrey in equipment and supply until he earns his way back into the field.

Soon after that is when Cruz tells Severide of his plans. “Trust me, brother, this is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” he says. He’ll never forget how much he fought for him. “This house, the job, this family, it lives in me. You know when I got my head back in it, and I finally started to hit the PT hard, I had one goal: Get back on that squad. And then the twins came, and they changed everything.”

The rehab center is close to Chloe’s parents, and she can work remotely. “We’ve been riding beside each other for 12 years. I need you beside me,” Severide admits. But Cruz isn’t swayed: “They need me more. Besides, you taught me everything I know. You’ll teach the new guy, too.”

Miñoso and Kinney are absolutely fantastic in this scene, and it starts a series of heartwarming, emotional scenes that are exactly what both Miñoso and Cruz, with Fire since the beginning, deserve in a sendoff. That was the final scene that Miñoso shot for Cruz. He calls it “probably the most intensely emotional scene the two of us have ever done together.”

Peter Gordon/NBC

“I don’t think we’ve ever really explored talking to each other like that on this show. I think there was always a hierarchy. I think that Cruz always understood his place and bucked against it a couple of times when he thought it was for the better of the firehouse or Severide himself,” he says. “But at the end of the day, to be able to see those men as equals was really special. And so much of the words were so close to home because it was like a lot of that conversation could have been Joe and Taylor as much as it was Cruz and Severide. So it was super emotional and really difficult to get through, but they wrote a hell of a scene. They wrote a hell of a scene, and I’m so lucky that we got that moment. It will forever be my favorite scene with Taylor, forever.”

Cruz then takes a moment at Otis’ memorial to reminisce about when he first joined squad. “I hope you don’t mind,” he says, holding up the cane that once belonged to his late best friend. “It was Herrmann’s idea, and for once, I actually agree with the guy. I promise when we’re done, I’ll put it back where it belongs. So, Capp said he promises they’re going to keep you looking sharp, so Tony’s on it. I’ll be with you always, brother.” With that, Cruz joins the rest of 51, all in their dress uniforms, for a photo.

Using that cane was Miñoso’s idea, he tells TV Insider.

“I mentioned the cane to [the writers] when they told me that I was going to be paralyzed and I said, ‘There’s a cane just sitting there that his best friend used to get out of a very similar situation, and I think that there might be something worthwhile there,'” he says. “And they crafted a beautiful way to weave that into the episodes in actually a far more powerful way than I thought they would, or anything that I would come up with.”

He adds, “I am proud of the fact that I recommended that last scene at the memorial with Otis. As we were going through it, I realized that we really didn’t touch on that relationship at all and just felt like we would be doing a disservice to the character and the fans if we didn’t have something between those two because they’re so linked to one another. And they were gracious enough to hear it, and Matt Whitney wrote it beautifully, and it all felt very full circle.”

Watch the full video interview above for more from Joe Miñoso about his last episode and exit, if he’ll return (and how he’d want to), and directing an upcoming episode. Then let us know what you thought of the episode and his exit in the comments section below.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC