In less than two weeks, Chicago Fire will be saying goodbye to one of its few remaining original cast members. After 14 years, Joe Minoso is stepping away from NBC’s firefighter drama, with the show’s 300th episode serving as a sendoff to a character that has meant so much to so many fans through the years.
The show has been hard at work in crafting an emotional exit storyline for the character, and fans aren’t quite prepared to say goodbye to Minoso, but it turns out this might be more of a “goodbye for now” situation rather than the show firming closing the door behind him on his way out.
While Minoso will be exiting the series in the 300th episode, airing November 4, the episode might not be the last time fans will see Minoso on Chicago Fire. Although there are no firm plans in place, Chicago Fire showrunner Victor Teran revealed to Us Weekly that “there’s always that possibility” that Minoso will be back as Cruz following his exit, teasing that the show is not done telling stories about Joe Cruz.
“Joe is really not just a beloved member of the 51 family; he’s a beloved member of the Chicago Fire and the [Dick] Wolf world. We’re not done telling stories about Joe Cruz for sure. So I don’t know exactly when we’ll come back, but he’ll come back eventually.”
That is certainly a promise we’re hoping Teran will fulfill, as there is nothing we would love more than to see Minoso return as Cruz sometime down the line, be it later in season 15 or in future seasons of the show. We have been burned by the Chicago Fire writers before, no pun intended, though, so we’re certainly a little wary.
Fans will recall that when it was announced that Eamonn Walker would be exiting the series after 12 seasons as a series regular, we were promised that the show was looking to keep the door open for Walker to make appearances in a recurring guest capacity. He would ultimately make one guest appearance late in season 13 and has not been featured on the show since.
Then just earlier this year, Dermot Mulroney took what was described as a temporary leave from the show, which resulted in him missing several episodes late in the season. He would eventually be brought back in the season 14 finale for a small guest spot before being written out of the series in the season 15 premiere.
Hopefully, in the case of Minoso, we’ll actually get to see him drop back into the show for a guest appearance after his exit. Even if that doesn’t end up being in the cards for season 15, though, Minoso will be back this season in a behind-the-scenes capacity, as Teran has revealed Minoso is set to direct an episode of Chicago Fire this season.
It’s definitely going to be fun seeing Minoso make his directing debut on Chicago Fire and follow in the footsteps of many One Chicago alumni who have directed episodes of the show following their exits. While we always miss seeing them on-screen, it’s great when a beloved member of the One Chicago franchise returns to direct, and, as we’ve seen, keeping those connections intact can often lead to on-screen returns, as was the case just this year when Jesse Lee Soffer returned in the One Chicago crossover event.
Knowing that Minoso will be back to direct this season and that the writers are leaving the door open for him to return as Cruz certainly helps soften the blow of losing such a beloved character.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
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