Over the 10 movies in its core series, the Fast and the Furious franchise has introduced a mᴀssive number of characters into Dominic Toretto’s family. However, the franchise is all about family, including people not born into it. In addition to Dominic’s blood family, there are members who Dom basically adopted into his inner circle, all of whom he considers family. This includes names like Han, Roman, Tej, Ramsey, and others who have come and gone. However, there is also one problem. When someone joins, they seem to be there for life because no one ever stays ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.
This means that the Fast and Furious “family” has grown to an almost ridiculous level. With Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs, Brie Larson’s Tess, and the somehow still-alive Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), it seems that Dom’s family has almost become overly abundant and, in some cases, redundant. One of the biggest complaints is that no one ever stays ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in the Fast and the Furious movies, but there are a few members who seem redundant that could change that complaint, one of which is Nathalie Emmanuel’s Ramsey.
Ramsey Doesn’t Add Anything New To The Fast Team
Ramsey & Tej Have The Same Role On The Team
Nathalie Emmanuel has been great in her role as Ramsey, but there is a problem with her character as it was written. She is basically just another version of Tej. Ludacris has played Tej since the second movie in the franchise, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and he is one of the most popular characters thanks to his quick wit and one-liners. He is the main tech whiz and helps develop the gadgets that they use in their missions. Ramsey is a computer hacker and helps Tej create his gadgets.
This creates a nice dynamic between Tej and Ramsey, but they play the same role and exist only to help each other in the franchise. This seems redundant, and Ramsey’s primary role appears to be just playing off Tej and giving him a hard time throughout the movies. While this helps with the franchise’s playful banner, she seems to be the least integral part of the family, which means she could end up being used to help fix an ongoing franchise issue.
Ramsey Is Someone The Fast & Furious Movies Could’ve Used To Fix An Ongoing Issue
Death Has Lost Its Meaning In The Franchise
With death no longer having any meaning in the Fast and Furious movies, the franchise needs to kill someone and leave them ᴅᴇᴀᴅ to make it really mean anything anymore. With Ramsey as a second version of Tej, but one that is not as connected to the audience as her male counterpart, her death could finally help fix that problem. However, this likely won’t happen, and honestly, it should never happen – especially if that is the reason.
The term “women in refrigerators” is used in comics to represent killing a female character to help push a male hero’s story forward. To kill one of the few leading female characters in the Fast and Furious franchise to make a point that death matters is an even worse use of fridging women. One of the main stars already complained that the franchise devalued women early in the series. Michelle Rodriguez threatened to quit if women weren’t treated better in the franchise (via L.A. Times).
“All those fights with the studio about having a female voice and having a character that really represents the true grit of a street kid, a woman — all those fights really paid off. Because I honestly feel like if I would have just agreed to do what I was told to do, I don’t think Letty would be here today. And I think that all those arguments I had about integrity really mattered in the end.”
This also might have helped Gisele return in the last movie. However, that doesn’t mean the franchise can’t make deaths matter. Jakob Toretto (John Cena) appeared to sacrifice himself in Fast X, and he should stay ᴅᴇᴀᴅ to prove that death can still mean something. Jesse died in the first movie and stayed ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Vince died in Fast Five, which was the highest-profile death that stuck. While Ramsey is redundant to Tej, if the next Fast and Furious movie wanted to deliver an emotional punch, Tej could die. That would prove that death finally means something again.
Source: L.A. Times
Fast & Furious
- Movie(s)
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The Fast And The Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, Hobbs and Shaw, F9: The Fast Saga, Fast X, Hobbs and Shaw 2, Fast X: Part 2
- First Film
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The Fast And The Furious
- Cast
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Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Bow Wow, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, John Cena
- Video Game(s)
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The Fast and the Furious (2004), The Fast and the Furious (2006), Fast & Furious: SuperCars, Fast & Furious: Showdown, Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious, Fast & Furious Crossroads
