Spoilers ahead for the Season 10 premiere of Chicago Fire on NBC, called "Mayday."
Chicago Fire fans have been waiting a long few months to find out how the tenth season would resolve the Season 9 finale cliffhanger that left the lives of all four firefighters of Squad 3 in jeopardy. It was hard to imagine that Fire would kill off Severide, Cruz, Capp, and Tony, but it was also hard to rule out something awful happening to at least one of them. Well, "Mayday" revealed that something terrible did happen to Cruz, but he lived! The aftermath of the cliffhanger will continue to play out in Season 10, according to showrunner Derek Haas, as well as some "new storytelling."
Thanks to some underwater heroics from Severide and CPR from Casey on the surface, Cruz ultimately survived and returned to Firehouse 51 after a short break. Physically, Cruz was fine, but he showed some signs of emotional trauma when he went back to the job and had to face using a respirator again. Plus, when he found out that Severide quite literally intended to save him or die trying, he was shaken up all the more. And he's not going to just move past that despite the happy ending of the premiere for him and Chloe.
Chicago Fire showrunner Derek Haas weighed in on what happened in the Season 10 premiere to CinemaBlend, and he shared how Cruz's harrowing experience will continue to impact the show moving forward:
Yes, a big part of these first batch of episodes will center on how Cruz is doing after this near-death experience. Severide in particular will be keeping an eye on him.
Cruz may have some happy things to look forward to in his near future thanks to Chloe's pregnancy seemingly going well (which is a nice change of pace from how pregnancies tend to go in One Chicago), but he's going to continue feeling the impact of what he went through in the underwater cliffhanger. Severide has a bright-looking future thanks to his survival and Stella's enthusiasm about their engagement, although it's clear that his relationship with his mom is no better than it was.
So it's nice to know that Severide will remain tuned in to what's going on with Cruz. After all, Cruz suffering would be bad not only for him as a person, but dangerous for him as a Squad firefighter, particularly with more changes happening at Firehouse 51 in the form of Boden accepting the well-deserved promotion to the position of Deputy District Chief.
Everybody at 51 was happy for him by the end of the episode, but Stella's reservations about losing him from 51 had him second-guessing. Ultimately, however, she came around and Boden accepted that embracing his future means moving out of 51 for his new job. Still, it's hard to imagine Firehouse 51 without Boden after nine years of him as chief. Showrunner Derek Haas previewed how Boden's absence from 51 will impact Season 10:
Boden is going to be worried about his favorite Firehouse, 51, and how his promotion affects those relationships. We will see Boden in a new position, which opens us up for new storytelling.
Some "new storytelling" is on the way, and that could mean some exciting things for a show in its tenth season. In fact, Chicago Fire is quickly approaching its milestone 200th episode, which will deliver some life-changing decisions for characters. Plus, there's the not-so-little matter of "something major" that will be happening just when things are looking good for Brett and Casey.
Find out what happens next with Cruz, the new storytelling, Brettsey, and everything else that was set up in the Season 10 premiere with new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. There can be no doubt that One Chicago will continue going strong, with Fire joined by Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. on Wednesday nights as a strong block of primetime in Dick Wolf's expansive TV universe. In fact, Fire showrunner Derek Haas, who actually also serves as showrunner over on CBS' FBI: International, recently weighed in on Dick Wolf universe crossovers.
