‘Chicago Fire’ boss finally reveals when Joe Minoso will exit the show and it's sooner than you think
Joe Minoso’s tenure as Joe Cruz on ‘Chicago Fire’ will come to an end with the show’s 300th episode, which is set to be the fifth episode of Season 15. New showrunner Victor Teran confirmed the same while speaking to Soaps.com, saying, “We decided it just felt like a kind of poetic element to making the 300th his final episode for now.” He also revealed that Miñoso will direct an episode later in the season and called him a "valued and beloved member" of the team. The 300th episode of ‘Chicago Fire’ will air on Wednesday, November 4 on NBC.
Teran also explained the thinking behind Cruz’s exit. ‘Chicago Fire’ has previously bid farewell to characters through death, while Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) had a softer exit and Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) left through a family-centered storyline. The team wanted something that posed a real risk to a squad member, which rules out a miraculous recovery. The arc will serve as an emotional rollercoaster as Cruz comes to terms with what matters most to him. The episode will be framed around his exit and will feature a large-scale rescue operation. No former characters will return as the team wanted the focus to remain on Cruz. “And so, in the end, to reconcile with all of that, you can say is always a happy ending, to come to a new understanding of yourself and what’s important in life is a positive thing,” he added.
The groundwork was laid in ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 14’s finale, which aired May 13, 2026. The episode saw Cruz and most of Firehouse 51 trapped in a burning warehouse, with the same installment revealing that Cruz’s wife, Chloe, is pregnant with twins. Fast forward to Season 15’s premiere on October 7, and he is three months into rehab following a broken spine during the rescue mission, with an MRI revealing only a sliver of healthy tissue. This means he will not be able to work as a firefighter again should he leave the wheelchair.
Interestingly, Miñoso first appeared in the 2012 pilot as a guest star, played Cruz in nearly every episode of Season 1, and became a series regular at the start of Season 2. Since then, his storylines have explored Chicago gangs, his brother Leon, and his marriage to Chloe. His exit leaves Taylor Kinney (Kelly Severide), David Eigenberg (Christopher Herrmann), and Christian Stolte (Mouch) as the only original cast members remaining on the show. New episodes of ‘Chicago Fire’ air every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock.
