Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 10 “Chaos Theory,” closes out Joe Cruz’s (Joe Minoso) storyline that saw him make bad decision after bad decision to the point that he jeopardized not just his place at Firehouse 51, but also his life. For anyone who’s been a fan of Chicago Fire for a long time, the storyline was a deep cut. It, after all, tied back to Cruz’s brother, Leon, and his former affiliation with the gang, the Insane Kings. In order to protect his brother, Cruz left the gang leader of the Insane Kings, Flaco, to burn alive in Season 1. At least, that’s the story we know. “Chaos Theory” reframes that moment and gives Cruz a chance to prove he is the character fans thought he was. But could that come at the cost of his place on Chicago Fire?
Is Joe Cruz Leaving Chicago Fire For Good?
The answer is, thankfully, no. But he was put on a two-week suspension. At the end of the hour, we see Pascal hand Cruz a two-week unpaid suspension. This is honestly a much better deal than Cruz deserves after getting involved in gang business, being shot and hiding all of these facts from the police, Severide, and Pascal. Not to mention the matter of the fire all those years ago, which might have been cleared up had Cruz confided in Severide before.
After all, the thing Severide concludes after examining the evidence in this hour is that there was no way to save Flaco. Sure, Cruz didn’t go out of his way to try, but even if he had, there was nothing that could be done. The evidence is conclusive. Flaco was never going to survive the fire. That means that Cruz was never in danger, and all of the problems he got himself into were basically a result of him not coming clean.
At the beginning of the episode, Cruz is still making bad decisions. He doesn’t go to the hospital to treat his bullet wound and he doesn’t call the police. Instead, he goes home out of some misguided attempt to protect his family. But the truth always comes out, especially when you have a boss like Pascal that’s like a dog with a bone. It’s a little ironic considering Pascal has already proven he would bend the rules, to say the least, to protect his own family. But that’s neither here nor there. Cruz has never wanted to be like Pascal, and at the end of the episode, he proves he isn’t. And it’s all because of his son, Javi.
Cruz overhears his son bragging about him to a friend as he plays video games, and that spurs him to come clean to Severide and later to Chicago P.D.‘s Kevin Atwater, who makes an appearance on Chicago Fire one week before the franchise’s big crossover event. “I want to be the man my son thinks I am,” he tells Pascal at the end of the hour when Pascal asks him why he even came clean if Severide had already told him that he wasn’t responsible for the fire and no one would know about his involvement if he didn’t say anything. It’s a nice sentiment, but also proof of the kind of man Joe Cruz is and always has been. And since this is TV, all is well that ends well. Or, all is more or less OK, at least. He still has that two-week suspension. But considering what could have been, that feels like nothing.
