The dramatic Chicago Fire winter premiere left fans shocked with a cliffhanger.
Much good news began the new episode, including Herrmann and Mouch getting promoted.
Herrmann got to run the team as a captain for the first time, while Mouch covered for Kidd as the lieutenant for Truck 81.
Sitting lieutenant Stella Kidd was out for the episode, giving Mouch a chance to shine on a call.
We will find out later how things will shake out at the firehouse with an additional lieutenant on staff, but it was good to see Mouch take to the roll like a duck on water.
Outside of the good news was the past of Joe Cruz returning to haunt him. This storyline traces back to the first season when Cruz left gang leader Flaco to die in a fire. Cruz was trying to protect his brother at the time.
Now, a cousin of Flaco has come back and wanted Joe to help him retrieve money stolen from him. The cousin was also calling in OFI tips about that previous fire.
Toward the end of the episode, the cousin (Junior) forces Cruz (at gunpoint) to pose as a firefighter with him to check out a building where a rival gang was housed.
Junior got recognized, a gunfight broke out, Junior was killed, and Cruz was shot. The episode faded to black as Cruz was breathing heavily in his vehicle and trying to stop the bleeding.
Does Cruz die on Chicago Fire this season?
Actor Joe Minoso (Joe Cruz) told TV Insider he was excited when the writers and producers revealed this new storyline would reference Chicago Fire Season 1.
“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,” Minoso stated.
But that’s not what fans want to know about right now. Chicago Fire fans need to know if Cruz survives the Chicago Fire shooting and whether or not Minoso is leaving the Chicago Fire cast. There are some spoilers ahead.
“What I can say is [Episode] 10 is a direct cut from nine where you see Cruz sort of after this ridiculous shootout in this paint shop that almost cost him his life and definitely cost Junior his life…,” Minoso elaborated to TV Insider.
It sounds like Cruz will try to cover up what happened with the shooting, return to work at Firehouse 51, and try to keep Kelly Severide from suspecting the truth. Will Cruz be able to keep Fire Cop from discovering the Season 1 truth or figuring out what happened in Season 13? Stay tuned.
Minoso made it seem like Cruz will be around for a while, and that he survives the shooting. But what happens if Severide ever learns the truth? Things could get very dicey.
More to come from Chicago Fire Season 13
Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 10 arrives on Wednesday, January 15. That’s when we find out what happens next with Cruz.
A huge One Chicago crossover arrives soon. Here are details about the January 29 NBC event.
Previous episodes of Chicago Fire are streaming on Peacock.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.