After sidelining him last week, Cruz returned in Chicago Fire season 15, episode 3, with the episode opening at the Cruz household, with Chloe attempting to get Cruz out of the house to join her for breakfast. Unfortunately, her efforts prove fruitless as Cruz seems to be sinking into a state of depression and is withdrawing from his everyday life. This is further supported by a conversation Severide and Herrmann have at the firehouse as the shift begins.
Herrmann comes to see Severide to see if he’s heard from Cruz, as he hasn’t been getting back to him. Severide suggests that he’s just busy from physical therapy, but Herrmann worries something else might be going on.
Elsewhere, Kidd calls the candidates together as Burke shows up late for the shift. He gives no excuse for his tardiness as Kidd begins to prepare them for a drill, but a call comes through and they have to head out. Firehouse 51 reaches a factory where there is an ammonia leak. Hazmat is still minutes away as Severide takes command and they prepare to head in to search the area. Kidd instructs the candidates to check the perimeter and to notify her right away if they spot the shut-off valve, but not to touch it, as she prepares them to head in.
Inside the fire, Severide finds a victim who has sadly already died as a result of the leak. He sends Capp and Tony off to find the source of the leak as he heads towards cold storage to look for other workers trapped. Capp and Tony find the leak via a hole in a pipe, and they begin working to plug it as Severide reaches the workers trapped inside the storage room. As Tony works on patching the leak, he's struck by a blast of gas and falls back as Capp calls out for help.
Thankfully, Capp helps Tony get out of the building, and he seems to be okay as Violet and Novak pull him aside to be examined. Back in the building, Severide walks one worker through an exit plan as they notice the gas leaking into the room as Kidd works with her team to breach the storage unit and provide an exit for the trapped workers. The plan is successful, and they’re able to get everyone out of the building safely.
As things calm, Severide asks Violet about Tony, who suffered some blistering and burns, which will send him to Med, but he’s going to be okay. Severide then asks Capp about what happened as Capp recalls hearing a growling sound and then the pipe bursting into Tony’s face. That’s when Kidd calls Severide to the site of a distribution valve. She notes that if someone turned it, it would have doubled or even tripled the pressure. There is evidence that shows someone just turned the valve, and it was what almost got Tony killed.
Back at the firehouse, we learn that Med is going to keep Tony overnight as a precaution, but he’s expected to make a full recovery. After getting the update on Tony, Herrmann asks Violet for some help, as Chloe has informed him that Cruz hasn’t left the house and he’s been skipping PT the last week, which will make it harder for him to make a full recovery. Herrmann wonders if they should stage a full intervention, but she worries that others telling him what to do could backfire.
Elsewhere, Kidd and Severide gather the four candidates, and she questions them for answers over who turned the valve and disobeyed her direct order. Severide informs them that their actions led to Tony being put in the hospital, and Kidd notes that the sooner the responsible party confesses, the better it’ll be for everyone, but they all remain silent. Severide makes it clear that whoever was responsible better come clean before the end of the shift, as they break.
In the locker room, the candidates bicker about stepping up to come clean and notice that Burke is quiet. He’s adamant that he didn’t do it as they all go off in their own direction, but we’re definitely a little suspicious in the moment. Meanwhile, Vasquez brings Violet and Novak up to speed on one of the candidates being responsible for Tony being sent to the hospital as Ballard brings Novak up to speed on the mystery man who gave Vasquez his number after the call; unfortunately, Vasquez forgot to take it out of his pocket before tossing his clothes into the washer, and now the number has washed away. He apologizes, but she jokingly hints that perhaps it wasn’t.
Unfortunately, as the shift comes to an end, none of the candidates have come clean. Kidd questions whether there could be any other explanation, but Severide notes that someone physically turned that valve, and it had to have been one of the candidates. He gets the idea to search their gear, and the hunch proved helpful as he and Kidd find rust on one of the candidate’s gloves.
Severide and Kidd aren’t the only ones who take a detour after shift, as Herrmann drops in to see Chloe and Cruz with some food and treats for the kids. Cruz immediately presses Chloe on what she told Herrmann, as Herrmann assures him he was worried and wanted to drop in to do a wellness check. Cruz struggles to explain it, and he’s frustrated in not getting better. Herrmann notes that the Cruz he knows never gives up, as Cruz notes that he feels like he’s buried up to his waist in sand and it’s exhausting fighting every single day, and he doesn’t know why to keep going. Herrmann reminds him that his family needs him as Cruz lashes out in frustration as he sends him away.
McCaffrey's time in the CFD comes to an end (at least for now)
The following day, as the shift begins, Vasquez reveals to Novak that he tracked down the man’s number and hands it to her before excusing himself to check on the probies. Down on the floor, Cruz comes to confront Herrmann at the firehouse for leaving him Otis’s cane as he throws it back in his face. Before he can leave, Capp and Tony pull him in to get breakfast.
Kidd and Severide confront the candidate behind the mistake, and it was not Burke, but rather McCaffrey. He apologizes for his actions as they make it clear they’re going to have to decide what to do with him and excuse him from the office. Kidd asks Severide for his advice, and he admits if it was one of his guys, he’d dismiss him, but the circumstances are unique, as he’s a probie and she’s a first-time training officer.
In the locker room, Burke confronts McCaffrey as he frantically fires off a series of messages and assures Burke he’s going to make it right. Speaking of Burke, Severide bumps into Cruz and pulls him aside to get his advice on McCaffrey. Cruz suggests they keep an eye on him, noting that this could have been an honest mistake and not a pattern. As he prepares to head out, Cruz lends a hand and helps Tony repair a broken saw and then takes it for a whirl.
Remember those texts McCaffrey was firing off? Well, it turns out they were to Chief Tomlin, who drops in to pay Severide a visit, and their conversation quickly makes it apparent that he’s come to try to tip the scales in McCaffrey’s favor. He remarks about how the world is different now and that while they shouldn’t give anyone a pass, these candidates just require a little more guidance and patience. Severide quickly realizes he came on McCaffrey’s behalf as McCaffrey makes it clear that McCaffrey’s dad is a good friend to have in a job like this, as he has powerful connections that can come in handy.
Unfortunately for McCaffrey, the play did not go over well with Severide and Kidd.
Kidd and Severide call McCaffrey into Severide’s office, and Kidd calls him out for going over their heads by calling in his family connections to bail him out. The move showed her exactly who he is as rather than coming clean, he tried to use his connections to clear his name and she cannot in good conscience put people’s lives in her hands. They’re going to cut him from the CFD; they’ve already made their recommendation as he takes his leave, but not before making it clear they have no idea who they’re dealing with, and this isn’t over.
On his way out, Burke presses McCaffrey on why he didn’t just come clean as McCaffrey lays into how Burke didn’t have a single person at graduation for him and he doesn’t know anything about him. It’s a heat-of-the-moment blow-up, but it definitely raises some questions about what Burke’s past and where he comes from. We get a clue about this in the closing moments of the episode as he visits a young man in the hospital, who seems to be his younger brother, and talks about not knowing what to do and wishing he could tell him what to do.
Herrmann is surprised to find Cruz still at the firehouse doing busy work, as Cruz admits that at the warehouse after the collapse, all he could feel was his heart pounding and his mind starting to race about all these different things. The last thing he remembers thinking was how he never fixed the compartment door and how Severide would have been so pissed. The pair laugh it out as they shake hands and work on the door together, showing that Herrmann’s nudge definitely was what Cruz needed.
Later at Molly's we learn that the brass took Kidd and Severide’s recommendation to kick McCaffrey out of the CFD, as Herrmann assures them they made the right call. He then steps away to see a text from Chloe thanking him; attached is a photo of Cruz at therapy.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.
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