Joe Minoso ended up exercising a bit of creative control when it came to the exit of his character, Joe Cruz. He, in part, decided when it would be best for his character to leave the storyline and even ended up coming to an agreement with the show’s producers over whether or not his character would die. And this one specific detail about Joe’s paralysis storyline came right from Minoso’s mind.
“I mentioned the cane to [the writers] when they told me that I was going to be paralyzed, and I said, ‘There’s a cane just sitting there that his best friend used to get out of a very similar situation, and I think that there might be something worthwhile there. And they crafted a beautiful way to weave that into the episodes in actually a far more powerful way than I thought they would, or anything that I would come up with," he told TV Insider.
Minoso was proud to note that he and the show’s writers and producers carefully scripted his character’s exit storyline, taking the time to acknowledge all of Cruz’ important relationships. His push-pull connection to Chris Herrmann and his deep connection to the late Otis-Cruz, his close friend on the squad, who died in a fire and whose son is named after him—which involved a flashback to the character’s earliest days on the squad—were all paid tribute to and mentioned during Minoso’s last episode. The heartbreaking and amazingly touching episodes were all crafted to be tributes to Cruz’ storied past, and every single piece was highly approved of by Minoso.
"I am proud of the fact that I recommended that last scene at the memorial with Otis. As we were going through it, I realized that we really didn’t touch on that relationship at all and just felt like we would be doing a disservice to the character and the fans if we didn’t have something between those two because they’re so linked to one another. And they were gracious enough to hear it, and Matt Whitney wrote it beautifully, and it all felt very full circle," the actor said.
In Joe’s last outing, Cruz came to realize that he was physically healing from his injuries thanks to physical therapy, his sons worried that their dad would get hurt again on the job. Joe came to realize that his family needed him more than he needed to be back in the field. They decide to move closer to Chloe’s family, taking the kids with them. While Joe will presumably get a new job that fits in with his notion of safety and his kids’ comfort level, it’s clear that he’s going to miss being a Chicago fireman. Cruz’ conflict reflects the bittersweet feelings present in Miñoso’s own behavior regarding Cruz’ departure.
“I’m just happy that the whole thing felt right. It’s rare that you get that kind of an exit, and I feel so, so lucky,” he said.
Fans of Cruz need not entirely give up hope of ever seeing the actor again; Minoso will be directing episodes of the program, and the actor plans on keeping his digs in Chicago, which means he’ll be within driving distance of the set most of the time. It looks like he’ll be given plenty of time to conjure up inventive endings for characters beyond his own. Cruz's legacy will live on through the actor’s direction and the way all of the rest of the characters remember him—which leaves the door wide open for a comeback someday.
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