Joe Minoso Talks Cruz About Dealing With Flaco’s Cousin Junior (Exclusive)

In again Season 1 on Chicago fireJoe Cruz (Joe Minoso) made a tough decision, and the NBC drama has taken something we love so much and brought it back to haunt him in a big way in Season 13.

It was back in Season 1 that Cruz left gang leader Flaco (José Antonio García) to die in a fire to protect his brother Leon (Jeff Lima). In the midseason finale, Cruz found a pendant urn (shaped like a sphere! with cremated remains inside!), and his brother returned to warn him that Flaco’s cousin, Junior (Richard Cabral), is out of prison. Junior then found Cruz to tell him that he saw what he did. Now, in the midseason premiere airing Jan. 8, “A Favor,” Cruz faces the consequences of that.

Below, Minoso celebrates Fire bringing this story back, teasing the issues ahead of Cruz and more.

I have to say I love it Fire brought something back from season 1!

Joe Minoso: Right? I’m so with you on that!

Such a deep cut. So what was your reaction to hearing that the Flaco story would be repeated?

I mean, I believe exactly your reaction right now. It was exactly that. I was like, “Are you kidding me? I can’t believe it.” Because it’s such a deep skeleton. It’s such a big skeleton in the closet, and for them to have, I think, the mod – and it also feels somewhat unresolved. I mean, it’s like, even though this huge thing has happened and we’ve been able to kind of tuck it away in a corner for 13 years, it’s definitely kind of an open plot line. And it was great for them to be able to find a really interesting way to bring it back. Fantastic. I was so incredibly excited when they told me it was going to happen.

But now there is real concern for Cruz when Junior shows up and knows what he did. So what can you preview about what Junior wants?

I think Junior wants what all criminals want. They want you to do something criminal with them. Cruz has to get involved in something to help Junior – yes, he has to make the decision to do it or not, but that doesn’t mean anything, you know what I mean? These guys, it was like Flaco. They say do this one thing and then there’s another thing and it never ends. And so I think that’s the world that Cruz is going to find himself in, kind of spiraling down into this world of this underbelly of crime and these guys that are just after him.

How does he handle it?

Terrible. No, I think as well as he can. I feel like in many ways he can be proactive, but I think he’s just so worried, especially now being a father and having a family; it’s such a different world perspective for him than it was in Season 1 when it was just him and his brother. And then how to navigate not only protecting your family from something so dangerous, but also keeping them completely unaware of it’s — also especially the firehouse family, which I think you’re going to see that sort of become impossible in episode 10 , to keep it really secret any longer. And a lot will unfold in the next two episodes, which will kind of really open up this story in ways that I really never thought we’d explore. And it has been an enormous pleasure.

Chicago fireMidseason Return, Wednesday, January 8, 9/8c, NBC