Spoilers forward for the Season 13 winter premiere of Chicago Hearth, known as “A Favor” and out there streaming now with a Peacock subscription.
Chicago Hearth ended 2024 by revisiting the choice that Joe Cruz made again in 2012 that has come again to hang-out him: letting Flaco burn to dying to attempt to defend his brother Leon. Properly, Flaco’s cousin Junior entered the Squad firefighter’s life to blackmail him into serving to steal a bunch of cash again from another criminals. Unsurprisingly, the tried heist went sideways, and Cruz ended the episode bleeding from a gunshot wound to the arm.
All in all, not a fantastic begin to the 2025 TV schedule for Cruz! Watching the winter premiere jogged my memory of what Joe Mińoso informed CinemaBlend about what scares his character in spite of everything these years… and the way his feedback made me marvel if the state of affairs can be higher or worse for Cruz if Jesse Spencer got here again round as Matt Casey.
First issues first!
What Bother Cruz Is In After “A Favor”
Regardless of Cruz’s greatest efforts to eliminate Junior with out blowing his personal life up, Flaco’s cousin wasn’t so simply deterred from his plan to make use of Cruz’s standing with the CFD to get them entry to a stash home and try and steal cash for Junior’s household now that he is out of jail. It was a plot worthy of Chicago P.D., however Cruz did not precisely have one of many Intelligence Unit’s helpful bulletproof vests.
Junior proved to Cruz that he wasn’t messing round by getting OFI to have a look again at Flaco’s dying (with Severide recruited to work with OFI for some time), after which received extra direct when he pulled a gun on the firefighter. Junior wasn’t the one to shoot Cruz, however he did take a bullet within the firefight, and the flesh wound may not be his solely drawback.
Cruz walked into the state of affairs by figuring out himself as a CFD firefighter, not protecting his face. He wasn’t even carrying gloves to keep away from leaving his fingerprints in every single place. That was unhealthy sufficient, after which the poor man was shot and will properly have left a blood path filled with crime scene DNA behind! Plus, that gunshot wound to the arm is not precisely one thing he can simply slap a band-aid on, and asking the Firehouse 51 paramedics and/or Chicago Med docs for assist would result in questions that he presumably will not need to reply.
All in all, after all the bother that Cruz discovered himself in, the least stunning twist of the episode was that Cruz did not decide up Chloe‘s name on the finish of the hour, as a result of he was by no means able to have that dialog along with his spouse. As one final emotional blow, the decision to his cellular phone revealed that Chloe, Javi, and child Otis had been his lock display.
Joe Mińoso delivered a superb efficiency, notably in that final scene within the automobile, and Junior’s dying within the winter premiere in concept signifies that Cruz is no less than out of hazard of being blackmailed. Primarily based on what the actor informed CinemaBlend, although, the story is not over after Episode 9.
What Joe Mińoso Says Terrifies Cruz And Might Be Completely different With Casey
I used to be lucky sufficient to talk with Joe Mińoso throughout NBC’s One Chicago winter premiere junket about how “totally ridiculous” it’s for Chicago Hearth to revisit this Cruz arc from the very first season. Noting that Cruz has much more to lose now in Season 13 than he did twelve years in the past, I requested the actor if that motivated Cruz’s actions on this storyline, and he shared:
That is what’s on the entrance of his thoughts. Firefighters have this bizarre sort of bone of their physique that most individuals do not the place they’re probably not afraid to place themselves in hurt’s means. They form of feed off of that adrenaline. I feel what does terrify Cruz is the potential of one thing taking place to his household, whether or not that be his firehouse household, however extra importantly, his present precise nuclear household. As a result of, such as you stated, the stakes are a lot greater for him now that we’re revisiting the storyline than they had been 12 years in the past, when it was nearly him and his brother.
Cruz’s household has confronted its share of challenges over time, starting from Chloe’s uncertainty about whether or not she might deal with being the spouse of someone who dangers his life each day to the method of adopting Javi to having child Otis within the wake of his greatest good friend’s dying. The Flaco state of affairs resurfacing places them in actual bodily hazard, and it does not look like the storyline is over simply because Junior is useless, as Mińoso went on:
So I feel he’ll go to any lengths. I feel Cruz would do actually something to save lots of his household, and so that you’re gonna see simply how far he is prepared to go in Episode 9 and 10.
Episode 10 will air on Wednesday, January 15, so apparently followers haven’t but seen simply how far he’ll go earlier than the storyline wraps up. Whether or not it wraps earlier than the three-part crossover occasion with Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med is one other query to ponder, however NBC’s description for the following episode – known as “Chaos Idea” – reveals that Severide should examine one among his personal Squad members, and one thing tells me that the Squad member is not Capp or Tony.
So, what does Casey must do with any of this, when Jesse Spencer hasn’t appeared on Chicago Hearth since his visitor look for the Brettsey wedding ceremony final season? Properly, Casey’s second wedding ceremony received a shout out within the winter premiere as operating up the tab at Molly’s after their fancier plans fell aside. Extra importantly, Joe Mińoso talked about the previous Truck Captain after I requested if Cruz had anyone he might speak in confidence to in regards to the Flaco/Junior mess:
No. [laughs] To begin with, nobody within the firehouse at this level, aside from perhaps Mouch, has an concept of this ever taking place. Jesse Spencer [as] Casey was the one who he actually tried to admit to and actually is aware of, however he is lengthy gone. The brand new folks within the firehouse haven’t any clue, and I feel he needs to maintain it that means. It will be particularly tough for him and Severide, as a result of Severide is extremely nosy and intuitive, and so he will discover one thing’s up there, and it’ll be actually laborious on Cruz to attempt to work out the way to keep away from that utterly and never get himself in much more sizzling water.
Would it not be higher for Cruz if he had Casey readily available as a possible confidant? Maybe, and it is a enjoyable query to think about in mild of how Chicago Hearth has by no means closed the door on Jesse Spencer dropping out and in every so often. On the entire, I am guessing that Cruz having to maintain so many secrets and techniques will probably be a part of what clues Severide into the truth that one thing may be very unsuitable along with his right-hand man on Squad, and that no less than might need been completely different if Casey hadn’t left the Windy Metropolis. I simply cannot assist however marvel!
Sadly – and unusually – Chicago Hearth did not air a promo for the following episode on the finish of the winter premiere, so we will solely speculate uninformed about Cruz’s state of affairs after being shot. For now, you may simply hold tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET for brand spanking new episodes of Hearth, between Chicago Med (which received “down and soiled” to begin the brand new 12 months) at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You too can discover all three reveals streaming now on Peacock.