While Dom may be the face of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, Brian O’Conner was its heart and soul. From the very first movie, Brian was our way into the world of racing: He was the protagonist we followed, the baby-faced hero who defied orders and chose family over duty, letting Dom escape in the movie’s final moments. When Vin Diesel refused to do a sequel, Brian was in the spotlight in “2 Fast 2 Furious,” which still holds up remarkably well without Diesel, especially compared to how these films hold up when Brian is absent.

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Even when the whole family reunited in “Fast Five” and we got more characters than ever, Brian continued to be an essential part of the team, serving as a counterpart to Dom. He was the former cop who knew how to catch criminals, and who kept the franchise grounded while Dom slowly became a borderline superhuman comic book character.

Tragedy struck when Paul Walker died halfway through filming “Furious 7.” That film handled his departure beautifully and resonated so much with audiences that it is still the highest-grossing movie in the franchise, but since then, we’ve got diminishing returns.

It is undeniable that the movies lost something significant and essential with Walker’s death, but “Fast X” is the straw that broke the camel’s back for the franchise being able to keep Brian alive and on the sidelines within the world of the story. At this point, that decision is actively hurting the character’s legacy.

Something’s missing

In “Fate of the Furious,” it became clear the franchise was not going to simply kill off the Brian character. Instead, the characters explain that, since Brian is a father, the rest of the team didn’t want to disturb him, keeping him on the sidelines. That was all well and good in that movie, the first film since Paul Walker’s death — after all, killing him off so close to Walker’s real-life accident wouldn’t have gone over well. But now it is clear that Brian’s absence from the narrative is an issue. It’s become a bug rather than a feature.

During “F9,” when Dom’s brother — who no one except Mia and Letty knew about — suddenly returned, where was Brian? He decided to just stay at home with the kids while Mia went on an adventure and left his brother and best friend alone. Roman would do that, sure. Tej, maybe. Not Brian. Within the world of the narrative, the two characters shared a kinship that would have easily led to Brian showing up for a moment like that.

Without Brian, Dom has lost his best friend, and now he’s like Bill without Ted. Worse yet, it is not just about what is lost, but about how that which remains is being tainted and getting worse. 

An incomplete family

It makes no narrative sense for Brian to stay away from the action in “Fast X,” because compared to the previous movies, the plot is completely and unequivocally about the family as a whole being in danger. Sure, Brian missing the barbecue with Abuelita because he is watching the kids while his wife attends is weird but understandable. But once Dante starts targeting the family, marking them all as international criminals who are on the run, it is impossible Brian doesn’t find out. Worse yet, Dom asks not Brian, but Mia to take care of his son while he goes to Rio to face Dante. Why would they not just take little Brian to where Big Brian and his and Mia’s two kids are and protect them all together? Why would Mia go it alone?

When the family faced antagonists like Cipher in “The Fate of the Furious” or that weird Russian billionaire and Jakob in “F9,” it was more plausible for Brian not to find out what the others were doing. But in “Fast X,” he would have to be actively ignoring his family being in need of help if he doesn’t show up. If Brian is alive and just hiding out while his family dies around him, he just became the franchise’s biggest coward.

An impossible situation

The problem is that just killing Brian wouldn’t solve much, especially now. After all, the character wasn’t killed on-screen when Walker was alive, and the more time passes, the harder it is to justify Brian’s death. Having him die in “Fast X” during Dante’s attacks would certainly motivate Dom, but it would also betray the character and treat him as a plot device rather than a key member of the family. Besides, just having Brian die off-screen would be in poor taste given the real-life tragedy. 

The other solution, killing him on-screen by first bringing Brian back using visual effects (even if they use his brother, who stood in as Brian in “Furious 7”), would be too ghoulish. The truth is there is no easy solution to the problem of Brian O’Conner, and the studio is damned if they do something and damned if they don’t. Yet, the more they wait to even address the problem, the bigger it becomes. The Fast Saga is entering its endgame, and there is no going back. Bringing Brian back without Paul Walker is unthinkable, for sure, but the longer the franchise just ignores Brian but still keeps him just slightly out of the picture, it tarnishes the memory of the character who helped build this team, this family, and this franchise. 

In “Fast X,” Dante targets the family to torture and destroy Dom, but keeping Brian alive but unable to do anything to help his family means the franchise is destroying what made it special and beloved in the first place.

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