What Happened to Flaco on Chicago Fire?
Chicago Fire Season 13 has centered around the firefighters facing their ghosts. And for Cruz, that's Flaco.
While the heroes of Chicago Fire have saved thousands of lives on the show, that isn't to say they've made all the right calls. In particular, Joe Cruz (Joe Miñoso) has a few regrets from his past.
In Season 1 of Chicago Fire, Cruz was devastated when he learned his little brother got entangled in a nefarious street gang named the Insane Kings. Desperate to get his brother out of the group, Cruz visited the gang leader, an insidious criminal named Flaco Rodriquez (José Antonio García), and pled with him to let his brother off the hook. However, after Flaco demanded a ludicrous payment for relieving Cruz's brother, the 51 fan favorite found himself helpless. But fate had bigger plans for Flaco, and it would forever change Cruz's life.
RELATED: Why Joe Miñoso Says Cruz Is "Freaking Out" Over Flaco on Chicago Fire [EXCLUSIVE]
What happened to Flaco on Chicago Fire?
Not too long after Cruz visited Flaco to unsuccessfully rescue his brother, Flaco's stash house caught ablaze, leading Firehouse 51 to get called to the scene. Cruz found Flaco trapped within the inferno, but when the gang leader called out for help, Cruz was less than eager to help.
Sensing a grim opportunity to rescue his brother, Cruz reported over the radio that the house was clear of civilians and shut the door behind Flaco to leave him to die. Flaco perished in the fire, Cruz's brother was released from the clutches of the gang lifestyle, and Cruz got to work atoning for his actions. It was a shocking moment for Chi-Hards and a choice that Cruz took to heart.
Flaco "returned" in Chicago Fire Season 13
For years, Cruz believed all of that was behind him, literally burnt to ash. But in Season 13 of Chicago Fire, it was shockingly revealed that there was a witness to that stash house fire: Flaco's cousin and fellow gang member, Junior. Flaco's cousin saw what Cruz did, and as soon as he got out of jail, he made it his mission to get revenge on Cruz by making him do his dirty work.
Junior forced Cruz to go to another stash house to grab contraband with him, forcing Cruz to be his bodyguard. Predictably, everything went south, culminating in a blood-pumping shootout wherein Junior died and Cruz was injured. The fallout means that Flaco and any witnesses to the original Season 1 stash house fire have officially been eliminated. But does that mean Cruz is out of hot water? Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) seems suspicious.
"I think it was such an incredible move on behalf of the writers and such a brave choice to revisit something from 13 years ago... This has been probably Cruz's most controversial storyline..." Minoso told NBC Insider. "Street justice has a weird way of coming back at you, you know?"
"[Cruz is] freaking out," Miñoso explained. "He's going to be put in a position that he's gonna end up doing a lot of things that he's going to regret. And I think if you know anything about Cruz, he takes regret very hard. It's very hard for him to kind of deal with emotional demons, and so you'll get to see a lot of that unfold."
Watch Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
