Back in Season 1 on Chicago Fire, Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) made a tough decision, and the NBC drama has done something we love so much and brought that back to haunt him in a major way in Season 13.
It was back in Season 1 that Cruz left gang leader Flaco (José Antonio García) to die in a fire, to protect his brother Leon (Jeff Lima). In the midseason finale, Cruz found a pendant urn (shaped like a bullet! with cremated remains inside!), and his brother returned to warn him that Flaco’s cousin, Junior (Richard Cabral), is out of prison. Junior then found Cruz to let him know he saw what he did. Now, in the midseason premiere, airing January 8, “A Favor,” Cruz faces the aftermath of that.
Below, Minoso celebrates Fire bringing back this storyline, teases the trouble ahead of Cruz, and more.
I have to say I love that Fire brought back something from Season 1!
Joe Minoso: Right? I’m so with you on that!
Such a deep cut. So what was your reaction to learning that the Flaco storyline would be revisited?
I mean, I think exactly your reaction right now. It was exactly that. I was like, “Are you joking? I can’t believe it.” Because it’s such a deep skeleton. It’s such a huge skeleton in the closet and for them to have, I think, the bravery — and also it does feel somewhat unresolved. I mean, it’s like even though this huge thing has happened, and we’ve been able to sort of hide it away in a corner for 13 years, it is definitely a kind of open plot line. And so for them to be able to find a really interesting way to bring it back was awesome. Awesome. I was so incredibly excited when they told me it was going to happen.
But now there’s a real concern for Cruz with Junior showing up and knowing what he did. So what can you preview about what Junior wants?
Well, I think Junior wants what all criminals want. They want you to do some criming with them. Cruz needs to get involved in something to help Junior — well, he needs to make the decision as to whether or not he’s going to do that, but that means nothing, you know what I mean? These guys, it was just like Flaco. They say do this one thing and then there’s another thing and it never ends. And so I think that’s the world that Cruz is going to find himself in, sort of spiraling down back into this world of this underbelly of crime and these guys who just have a hold on him.
How’s he handling that?
Awful. No, I think as best he can. I feel like in a lot of ways, he can be proactive, but I think he’s just so concerned, especially now being a father and having a family; it’s such a different world perspective for him than it was in Season 1 when it was just about him and his brother. And so how to navigate not only protecting your family from something so dangerous, but also keeping them completely unaware of it is — also especially the firehouse family, which I think you’re going to see that kind of becomes impossible in Episode 10, to keep it a secret anymore really. And a lot will unfold in the next two episodes that will sort of really open up this storyline in ways that I really never thought we would explore. And it’s been a tremendous pleasure.
