It’s hard to write out a character, and yet Chicago Fire Season 15, Episode 5 ‘Three Hundred‘ manages to do a great job of not just bidding farewell to Joe Cruz, but also celebrating a milestone like 300 episodes. It’s a very emotional hour, one that remembers everything the Cruz family has gone through and everything the character has meant to Firehouse 51.
But it’s also an hour that starts to establish what’s next for the show. It’s the first time we’ve ever been invested in the probies, and certainly the first time we’ve felt Stella has clicked with one of them. It’s also a very good episode for the Violet and Lizzie dynamics, Mouch in general, and even Stella and Severide as a couple, and as people who have to be leaders at 51.
The hour is not about those things, though. The hour is about family. The one you build out of the people you work with, and the one that Cruz trusts he will never leave, even if he has to step back to take care of his other family. And that part is hard to understand, and even to process. But in the end, family will have your back, no matter what.
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IT’S NOT ABOUT WHO FINISHES FIRST
The storyline of Stella as a teacher hits a really high point in ‘Three Hundred’, an episode that allows her to use other tools in her arsenal than what she’s been forced to deploy with the probies so far. McCaffrey aside, the probies have been getting better, and the problems Hollis is facing this episode aren’t about him being a bad firefighter. That’s why it’s so good to see Burke try to help, and then Stella step in to do the same.
But the message she has for all of them is important, and it reinforces the message of this hour. “It’s not about who finishes first, just making sure everybody does.” And that’s not just about physical safety, but about what comes after. That looks like this family taking care of Cruz when he was hurt, and even letting him go because that’s what he needs right now.
And that looks like Stella recognizing what Hollis needs, and later, even what Burke needs. And sure, Burke is a tougher nut to crack. It’s one thing for Stella to tell him he doesn’t have to do things alone anymore; it’s another thing for him to understand. To feel like he’s part of the family. But if the last scene showed us something, it’s that this is actually something Burke wants. And that, well, that made us warm up to him much more than anything else we’ve learned.
But that tiny moment of him making sure the kids didn’t have to see his father hurt, that helped too.
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I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ALONE
This is far from the first time Joe Cruz has had a storyline where his wife, Chloe, has worried about Joe’s future in firefighting. If anything, this has always felt like a conversation the two would one day revisit. And revisit it they do, after Chloe gives birth to two baby girls.
If anything, this family life vs. firefighting conversation is something that feels like we will have to pick back up again at some point with Stella and Severide, but right now it feels understandable for Cruz to step back for a while—both to get better and to focus on his family. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Cruz is one of my favorite characters, and I didn’t want Joe Miñoso to go. But sometimes in procedural land, you take the bad and hope the show doesn’t turn it into worse. And this episode doesn’t.
Not only do we get a really poignant goodbye from Cruz, and the conversation with Severide and even Otis (did you cry at Cruz repeating Otis’ last words, or are you made of stone?), but we also get hope that this isn’t goodbye forever. As long as a character is alive in the universe, there’s always a chance we’ll see them again. Considering the alternative, I’ll call that a win.
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I NEED YOU BESIDE ME
The conversation between Cruz and Severide was hard to watch because it felt real. Of course Severide would try to change his mind; of course he wouldn’t want Cruz to leave. And ultimately, Severide accepts it because this is what Cruz wants, but that doesn’t make any of this easier. Severide was willing to make some concessions to get Cruz back, after all.
But with the show having introduced the OFI shadow into the storyline once again, it occurs to me that the perfect way to make that storyline work long term is to tie it to Stella and Severide growing their family and the demands that would put on them as parents if they’re both in very dangerous jobs.
Kelly could be at OFI—and the show, if it wanted, could keep him very involved, through cases and with scenes outside the firehouse—and Stella could be leading the firehouse and not as directly in the line of fire. Sure, it would be a big change, and it’s not one I think the show is ready to do anytime soon. But they have to be building towards something if the personal storylines with Stella and Kelly are going somewhere. And this is a possibility that makes sense for what they’ve established and would allow us to explore the Stellaride family we’ve wanted for so long.
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Things I think I think:
- Anyone surprised Kelly is looking at case files?
- Yeah, what does it mean he tried? Inquiring minds want to know!
- “We are not close. She lives in Boston.”
- Well, Violet family drama incoming.
- The way Kelly and Stella ran towards that guy when he lit himself on fire.
- Every time I see this Chief Tomlin dude, I wonder if anyone here remembers they know Boden and can reach out to him.
- Fine, Vasquez, that looked kinda cool.
- Cruz looks so much better.
- Who will replace Cruz now?
- I respect Mouch’s game.
- Otis spoke! And broke our hearts!
- Stella is so perceptive.
- This dude is obsessed with McCaffrey, I swear.
- Hermann, you looked like the Joker in those photos.
- “I run until I’m too tired to think.” Been there.
- Hard not to feel for Lizzie, truly. Sometimes you just wish your parent were still around, even if you’d end up annoyed at them.
- We don’t know Violet’s story, though.
- “I’m not coming back.”
- But…they still took the deal?
- “This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
- Stop. You’re making me emotional.
- “This family, it lives in me.”
- That and “they need me more” killed me.
- “You taught me everything I know. You’ll teach the new guy too.”
- STOP.
- Stella’s “you just gotta learn you don’t have to do it all alone” to Burke also got me.
- The cane!
- So rude to repeat Otis’ last words.
- The cigars!!!
- To end with a family picture is fitting.
- Burke in the corner, wanting to be part of the family.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago Fire Season 15, Episode 5 ‘Three Hundred’? Share with us in the comments below!
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
