Fans Are Legitimately Worried About Joe Cruz on ‘Chicago Fire’ and With Good Reason

Spoiler Alert: This article may contain spoilers for Season 10 of Chicago Fire.

Fans are fully invested, and we know that with each new season of Chicago Fire, there are going to be changes to Firehouse 51. Some of those changes are good — and obvious for some time. Others catch us off guard and have us worried.

Which is why fans are on edge over Joe Cruz (Joe Miñoso) and his intense storyline, especially at the end of Season 9. And with Season 10 underway, signs keep pointing to something around the corner. What happened to Cruz on Chicago Fire? Here’s what we know.

Back in Season 8, everything looked like it was turning roses for Joe. He had married Chloe Allen (Kristen Gutoskie) and the two found out they were expecting their first child together. Joe had seen his fair share of risky missions working as a first responder.

But there was something about the Season 9 finale that had fans even more fearful that something was going to happen to Joe. We know that if the show is going to make huge character changes, they’re more likely to happen at the start or end of a season.

When Cruz and his fellow Squad 3 members were on a rescue mission, they found themselves trapped underwater without oxygen. Fans were fearful. It looked nearly impossible to survive, and they had to wait until Season 10 premiered to find out what happened.

When the new season aired its premiere episode, fans were comforted by the fact that they all survived the rescue — including Cruz. He was saved by Lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney). He was alive, but it was clear pretty quickly that he wasn’t necessarily OK.

In fact, with what happened to Cruz and the very near drowning, he’s finding himself struggling. And it’s impacting his job. “Over the course of the first few episodes, we’re going to be watching Cruz deal with really kind of a psychological trauma after the events of that capsized boat,” Joe Miñoso told TVInsider.

And what's happening "is making it difficult for him to perform everyday functions as a firefighter, especially as a member of Squad.”

Joe continued, “It’s going to take the help of the entire team to see if we can pull Cruz out of that mindset and back into a place where he can really attack the job the way he usually does.”

It’s natural for fans to worry when big changes like this happen to their favorite characters. It seems like the perfect setup for one of the favorites to exit the show. But, thankfully at least for now, it doesn’t seem to be what’s going to happen to Cruz.

And, instead, it sounds like he’s gearing up for a pretty eventful season. He’s going to become a dad and he has to work through the trauma and his near-death. Plus, complicated emotions are sure to follow when he really thinks about how his friend risked his life to save his own.

It sounds like it’s going to be an interesting season. And while Cruz isn’t likely going anywhere, it’s not going to be an easy season for him.

Watch Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.