Chicago Fire season 8 midseason report: Joe Cruz
How has Chicago Fire season 8 gone for Joe Cruz? Before Chicago Fire returns, we’re reviewing the season for Joe Minoso’s character.
Before Chicago Fire comes back in the new year, we’re taking a moment to pause and look at the current season for each character. What are the important events that fans need to remember?
What plot developments have been good for each character, and which story points need to be improved? And of course, where could they go next when new episodes start in January?
Click through the below slideshow as we look at Chicago Fire season 8 as it relates to Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso), starting with:
What’s happened so far
Joe Cruz is typically more of a supporting character, but Chicago Fire season 8 thrust him into the forefront immediately when it killed off his best friend Brian “Otis” Zvonecek (Yuri Sardarov). With the decision to make Otis the character who didn’t survive the Arnow Mattress factory fire, it was a given that Cruz would be the biggest part of that storyline.
Much of what he’s been handed has to do with the loss of his friend. Not only has Cruz struggled as he mourns Otis’s death, but more recently we saw a plotline where he discovered a drone that Otis had bought in one of Firehouse 51’s storage cabinets. Cruz went on a mission to restore the toy, because he had originally broken it awhile ago—so it was his way of making amends with his departed wingman. (We even got to see Otis again in an old video Cruz uncovered.)
But it hasn’t all been bad news for Joe. The Slamigan has taken off again, after a bit of a speed bump at a convention. And Cruz is now engaged to his girlfriend Chloe (recurring guest star Kristen Gutoskie).
Cruz and Chloe hit a speed bump of their own, when she suddenly broke up with him on the same day he was planning to propose, claiming they rushed into the relationship. In reality, after Otis’s death, she was afraid of losing him. But a talking-to from Cruz’s ex Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) got Chloe to rethink her decision, and she told Cruz to ask her again—which he did and now they have a wedding to plan!