They say that no matter where people end up, they always find their tribe of like-minded people, and that’s no more true than when it comes to Tej and Roman. The two of them have been attached at the hip ever since they were introduced by Brian in 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Besides turbo-charged Japanese import vehicles and Corona beers, the Fast and Furious series is all about family. And if Letty and Dom are seen as the heads of the family, then Tej and Roman are very much the brothers. The pair may be constantly down each others’ throats, but when the situation calls for it, they’ll always have each other’s backs.
10 BFFs: The First Time They Meet
Rome and Tej are two of the best characters that were introduced after the first Fast & Furious movie, first meeting in Miami, behind Tej’s garage.
There’s clearly some kind of mutual respect between them, or, at the very least, Rome is so jealous of Tej’s lifestyle. They’re high-fiving and fist bumping away while Tej commentates on an illegal jet-ski race. Tej offers to host him while he stays in Miami, and it was clearly the start of a special relationship that would last for seven more movies.
9 Frenemies: Rome Messes With Tej’s Harpoon
When preparing to take on Shaw, Tej creates an extremely powerful full harpoon that is made out of the same materials that “hold up bridges.” There’s also a Nos canister attached to it, naturally.
After being told to keep his hands off, Rome doesn’t take Tej’s logical reasoning in to account. He instead acts selfishly, wanting to play with what he clearly thinks is a toy. In the end, Tej was right to not trust Rome with the customized harpoon, as he almost killed Han and Dom with it. Ironically enough, the harpoon is a similar tool that Tej uses to save Rome in Fate of the Furious, which was one of the times they were BFFs.
8 BFFs: Tej Helps Rome With The Car Scramble
The most exciting scene in 2 Fast 2 Furious comes when Rome and Brian confuse the local police and the FBI by switching cars with Suki and Tej inside a giant garage.
Tej all but spearheaded the whole thing, and just as Suki was willing to get arrested for Brian, Tej was willing to get arrested for Rome. It’s the first time that Tej ever went out of his way and did something outstanding for the loudmouth. And though Rome has never returned the favor, he probably would if he wasn’t so inadequate.
7 Frenemies: Buying The Same Car
Throughout the whole series, Rome and Tej had always been trying to one up each other, whether it was competing for the same girl or getting to the finish line first. And when they had each earned millions of dollars after the heist in Rio, Rome thought he had won their seemingly endless competition.
Rome pulled up at Tej’s new garage in a Koenigsegg CCXR, which he claimed was the only one in the Western Hemisphere. Tej revealed that he had the same car, making it that there are two of them in Western Hemisphere. The over-the-top competitiveness continues.
6 BFFs: Their Reunion In Fast Five
It’s only in their nature to bust each other’s chops, and where normal friends would pay each other compliments, Rome and Tej show affection by insulting each other.
When they reunite in Fast Five, their first time seeing each other since 2 Fast 2 Furious. Although Fast and Furious fans agree that Roman has so many great quotes, they also know that Tej can give it back as good as he gets it, which he does. After a couple more shots are fired from each of them, the finally hug it out like long lost brothers.
5 Frenemies: Fighting Over Ramsey
Ramsey is one of the latest characters to be introduced in the series, as she was the hacker that the gang had to save in Furious 7. She has also become one of the best female characters in Fast & Furious.
Throughout Furious 7 and Fast 8, it is clear that both Tej and Rome are attracted to her and both try to compete for her affections. In the end, Ramsey refused to let them put their friendship on the line and rejects them both in Fate of the Furious.
4 BFFs: Going To Space Together
When he was first told about the scene by the Fast and Furious writers, Tyrese Gibson thought going to space was a joke. But in Fast 9, the series literally went there, in a rocket car full of Nos no less. It takes a lot of trust to get in to a rocket car and fly into space with someone, but that’s exactly what Rome did (even if it was a little against his will).
There were no two characters better to go to space together. However, though people would think that being alone together in an isolated space-car on such a grand mission would inspire more bonding, the time was instead unsurprisingly spent bickering the whole time.
3 Frenemies: Tej Calls Rome Scooby-Doo
Though their banter was mostly absent in 2 Fast 2 Furious, by this point in the series, it had become an established trope of the franchise. But in yet another scenario where Rome is genuinely (and understandably) worried about the situation and is the only one talking any sense, Tej shoots Rome down.
The engineer tells Rome he sounds like Scooby-Doo before doing an impression of him. Not only did it embarrass Rome, but he was completely humiliated in front of Gisele and Han. It’s the time that their “banter” came the closest to bullying.
2 BFFs: Tej Saves Rome From Drowning
Midway through Fate of the Furious when the family are taking on the giant submarine, Rome falls below the ice. But Tej, driving on the ice in a tank-like vehicle, talks Rome through every step in the way. He tells Rome to hold on to the door of his car under the ice, and then shoots the door with a harpoon, pulling him out.
Out of all of the fast & Furious movies, this wasn’t just the best moment between Rome and Tej, but it was one of the most heroic scenes in the whole series. And with what happened in 2 Fast 2 Furious, if it wasn’t for Tej, Rome would have ended up in jail or inadvertently got himself killed. The relationship feels more like a mother and a disobedient child than a friendship.
1 Frenemies: Tej Teasing Rome Over The Parachute Stunt
In what is almost the exact opposite of Tej saving Rome, the super-engineer forces the helpless character to reverse out of a plane thousands of meters above land in a car. Though it’s one of the the best plans Dom’s crew has ever created in all Fast and Furious movies, Rome wasn't on board with it and didn’t want to do it from the initial talk.
Rome was bullied and teased by Tej all the way up to the point when he’s sitting in the plane. But it did lead to one of the funniest gags in the entire series, as Rome hilariously tries to slam on the breaks, as if it’d do anything when he’s falling through the sky.
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July 25, 2021 at 12:00AM
