The Most Bizarre Fast & Furious Scene Had Nothing To Do With Cars And Still Doesn’t Make Sense 7 Years Later

Seven years after the release of The Fate of the Furious, there is still one scene that makes no sense and is removed from the unbelievable car stunts the franchise has become known for. While the wait for Fast 11‘s story goes on, many are turning their attention back to the earlier films in the franchise. The discourse surrounding the franchise and how it is viewed in retrospect is certainly interesting, with some viewing the pre-Fast Five stories as the best-ranked Fast & Furious movies, while others prefer the high-octane, exaggerated action films that have spawned since then.

When watching the Fast & Furious movies in release date order, it was Fast Five that ushered in this change. The more immediate sequels to the 2011 movie, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, and The Fate of the Furious can be seen as the films that capitalized the most on this change. F9 and Fast X have since been received more negatively, as the over-the-top stunts reach new heights. Regardless of how Fast & Furious’ sensationalist villains and excessive stunts have defied belief, there is one scene removed from all this that still baffles the mind, and it came in The Fate of the Furious.

Deckard Shaw Showing Up At Toretto’s Barbecue In Fast 8 Still Doesn’t Make Sense

Shaw Was Miraculously Forgiven For His Past Sins

The scene in question regards Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw. Shaw was introduced as the primary villain of Furious 7, a hitman shown going after each member of Dominic Toretto’s crew one by one in retribution for his brother’s defeat in Fast & Furious 6. The first reveal of Shaw’s vendetta came in the post-credits scene of Fast & Furious 6, which retconned Han Lue’s death from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift to show that the former was responsible. This caused many to despise Deckard, as Han has long been a fan-favorite character in the franchise.

However, The Fate of the Furious saw Deckard return to the franchise in an anti-heroic role, leading to the aforementioned nonsensical scene. At the end of The Fate of the Furious, Dominic Torettto hosts one of his fabled family barbecues. Deckard Shaw arrives to reunite Dom with his son, whom the former saved in the film’s climax. However, Deckard stays for the barbecue celebrations, seemingly being welcomed as a member of Dom’s family despite killing Han and trying to murder everyone else present in the movie prior.

Dominic Toretto Forgiving Shaw Made The “Justice For Han” Campaign Justifiable

Fast & Furious’ Fanbase Was Not Pleased With Shaw’s Forgiveness

This moment in The Fate of the Furious single-handedly made the “Justice for Han” campaign warranted. “Justice for Han” spawned out of the character’s death in Fast & Furious 6, but gained more credence in The Fate of the Furious. The reveal that Deckard Shaw was somewhat of a hero in the franchise’s eighth installment caused fans of Han’s character to feel aggrieved that the former faced little consequence for his actions. Although Deckard was imprisoned after Furious 7, it was not for very long given The Fate and the Furious‘ prison break involving him and The Rock’s Luke Hobbs.

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Deckard’s heroics even continued beyond The Fate of the Furious thanks to his spin-off. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw saw the character return once more as a hero. Despite the dynamic between Hobbs and Shaw being fantastic and still antagonistic, the character should have been resigned to this role rather than being involved in Dom Torreto’s family. In making the latter a reality, the seeming death of Han was made more insulting, as Dom’s commitment to family should never have seen him forgive Deckard to this extent.

Han Returning In F9 Didn’t Really Fix The Fate Of The Furious’ Deckard Problem

“Justice For Han” Saw F9 Try To Fix The Deckard Issue

In light of the “Justice for Han” campaign, F9: The Fast Saga tried to rectify the problems raised by resurrecting Han. The film retconned The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift to reveal that Han was working for Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody, also explaining how he survived Deckard’s assassination attempt. The body of Han present in the exploding car was revealed as a hologram, with Han returning to aid Dom and his old crew, thus officially rejoining the family by the time of F9‘s climactic ending.

In the eyes of the franchise’s creators, Han’s return in F9 was enough to fix The Fate of the Furious’ Deckard problem, as was the confrontation between the two characters in Fast X. However, in-universe, Dom’s forgiveness of Deckard in the eighth movie still does not make sense. At the time, Dom and his team were unaware that Han was alive. Similarly, Deckard’s attempts to kill Dom, Brian, Mia, and the various other characters in Furious 7 still happened and were never addressed in The Fate of the Furious.

The explanation for Dom’s forgiveness of Deckard comes from the latter saving the former’s son from Cipher. Usually, this would have been a valid explanation for Dom and Deckard being considered even, at most. That said, The Fate of the Furious took it many steps further with Deckard joining Dom’s barbecue and being all-but-officially welcomed into the family. If Deckard facing the consequences of his actions on top of saving young Brian had been included, perhaps the film would have done enough to justify this. However, seven years later, these consequences are absent, and the scene still makes little sense.

The eighth entry in the Fast & Furious franchise, The Fate Of The Furious follows the continued adventures of Dom Toretto. Entangled with loan sharks and cyberterrorists, Dom is forced to get back on the race track to protect his family and loved ones.

Director

F. Gary Gray

Release Date

April 14, 2017

Writers

Chris Morgan

Runtime

136 minutes