NBC’s Chicago Fire has aired an emotional farewell to original cast member Joe Miñoso after 15 seasons on the show.
It was first reported that Miñoso, who first appeared as Joe Cruz on the series in the 2012 pilot and have been a beloved fixture on the show ever since, would be leaving the programme this summer.
And now season 15 has aired his departure storyline as part of the show’s 300th episode, titled Three Hundred, which aired on Wednesday (4 November).
The episode opened with Cruz revealing how far he has advanced in re-learning to walk after suffering a spinal injury in the season 15 premiere, and telling his colleagues he hopes to be able to return to work in a few months time.
Later in the instalment, however, he realised how overwhelmed his wife, Chloe, appeared to be at the prospect of losing his help at home, a situation that was soon exacerbated by Chloe going into labour and giving birth to two little girls!
Cruz then visited Severide (Taylor Kinney) and told him that he's not coming back to Firehouse 51 after all, revealing that the family is planning to relocate to the Minneapolis area, where Chloe’s parents can help out more. "You taught me everything I know," Cruz told Severide. "You'll teach the new guy, too."
The character also had a sentimental moment at Otis' memorial site ahead of his departure, where he told his late friend: "I'll be with you always, brother”.
"While it was a traumatic experience, and it was a difficult journey for Cruz to go through at the end of the day, it really felt like an appropriate, lovely goodbye," Miñoso told NBC of the episode.
He continued: "It really was a love letter to the character, and so it just all felt really good. But at the same time, there wasn't a day that I filmed the scene in Episode 5 where I wasn't bawling my eyes out; I could barely get through them."
Miñoso first appeared on the series in the 2012 pilot as a guest star, before going on to feature in nearly every episode of the first season as a recurring star, and becoming a series regular at the start of season 2.
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The actor might be departing from our screens, but fans will be pleased to hear that the actor has said he plans to remain involved with the series as a director going forward.
Following his departure, only three original cast members remain: Kinney, David Eigenberg (Herrmann), and Christian Stolte (Mouch).
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