- "I thought I had it. I hate losing to that guy!"
"That's because you're a Toretto. You're born to win." - ―Tony Toretto and Dominic Toretto
Born a Toretto is the first episode of Fast & Furious: Spy Racers. It was released on Netflix on December 26, 2019.
Synopsis[]
Tony is pumped when his legendary cousin Dom recruits him and his friends for an exciting mission: to infiltrate a secret street racing circuit.
Plot[]
In Mexico, on the gulf of California, guards on a ship in the ocean are patrolling and securing the parameter. One of the guards notices lights headed their way, but notifies the other guards that the lights merely belong to motorcycles on the nearby mountain, who are having a race. One of the bikers, who is in last place, decides not to follow the track but to drive off the mountain, letting his bike fall into the ocean while he glides onto the ship, knocking out the initial guard. Sneaking into the ship, he steals $2,700,000,000 by transferring the currency through a USB drive. The other guards discover the disabled guards and sound the alarm; the thief, however, finds a car and gets in. The guards inform the thief that there is nowhere to escape with using the car as they are on the ocean, but the thief presses a button, detonating explosives. Amidst the chaos, he drives off the boat, landing on a smaller boat driven by a female companion. As he gets out of the car and sits up front, he tells her that they now have two keys and have three left to collect.
In Los Angeles, Tony Toretto drives up to his friends on a street, informing them that the car is a ten-second car and that he is about to beat the record his cousin Dominic Toretto set on that very street, and by doing so becoming the next greatest street racer. His friends, comprising of Echo, Cisco Renaldo and Frostee Benson, remind Tony that he has said the same thing in the past, only to not succeed. A car then pulls up, driven by a street racer named Mitch, who is interested in Echo, although she does not reciprocate. Mitch has added rockets to the back of his car, but despite this, Tony believes he can beat him, clarifying that according to Dom, the type of driver mattered more than the type of car. Tony proposes they have a street race, with the loser washing the other's car. The race ends with Mitch winning, although he finds himself unable to stop once he activates the rockets and ends up crashing as a result.
Tony is upset that he lost to Mitch once again, but at that moment, Dominic Toretto himself shows up. Dom tells Tony that as a Toretto, he is born to win, but that being a Toretto wasn't about what he did in a car but with what was in his heart. Dom inquires whether Tony's car could make it back home, to which Cisco, a mechanic, replies that while it would not win any races (its fuel pump is loose and is being held by a piece of chewing gum), it would be able to make the trip back home. As Dom walks away, telling Tony that there's something he wants to tell him about at home, a van pulls up with masked men who subsequently kidnap Dom. Tony gets in his car and decides to give pursuit, with Echo and Cisco doing so as well; since Frostee is only thirteen, he rides with Cisco, although he uses his technical expertise to have a drone follow the van at all times so that they can track Dom's whereabouts.
Their attempts to follow the van are hindered when they are chased by a group of bikers, prompting them to all split up. Cisco's vehicle is much too large and slow to outrun or outmaneuver the bikers, although Frostee recommends that they use that to their advantage and head somewhere the bikers cannot follow, prompting him to drive through a construction site. Echo zips through traffic and drifts underneath a truck while the bikers behind her collide and crash, and she gleefully notifies her friends that she is no longer being followed. Tony's attempts to shake off his followers begin to go awry when his fuel pump becomes loose again. Knowing that he cannot drive at this speed much longer, he sees a group of low-riding cars going up and down and decides to speed through them as they go up; as the cars lower, it hits the bikers, leaving Tony free to follow the drone's tracking signal.
The gang find themselves outside a warehouse, where the signal has led them. Cisco cautions Tony against rushing in, citing that they do not know what is in there, only for Tony to reply that Dom is in there and to kick in the door. The group find themselves facing none other than Dom and a woman who has been timing them, whom Dom refers to as "Ms. Nowhere". Dom explains that he wasn't actually kidnapped, citing that a group of guys would not be able to do so and that it would take an army, and that the whole endeavor was a test; Ms. Nowhere, whose organization Dom has worked with in the past, needs a group of street racers to infiltrate SH1FT3R, a criminal organization who hosts street races to serve as cover for its massive heists, with its leader Shashi Dhar already haven stolen over three billion dollars from Silicon Valley's richest men. Tony wonders why they need them when Dom is there, to which Dom laughingly responds that he cannot go undercover as he would recognized instantly, and that a group of new street racers are needed, hence why he recommended Tony and his friends. As Tony agrees, Dom tells him not to just follow orders but to follow his gut. As he leaves, he warns Ms. Nowhere that SH1FT3R would be the least of her worries if she does not keep Tony safe.
Tony gleefully asks Ms. Nowhere if this means that the government would be paying for his car's new fuel pump, and she tells him that he would need much more than, revealing that SH1FT3R races allow the racers to use rockets, grappling hooks and smoke cannons, adding that "anything goes." She discloses that notable street racer Layla Gray is SH1FT3R's recruiter and that she hosts their races in Los Angeles, but that they don't know where or when these races take place. She hands them a list of clients of local suppliers and car customizers, believing that one of the clients should be an eligible racer, although Tony replies that they don't need the list as they already know of one person who would definitely attend – Mitch. Tony and Frostee locate Mitch outside a taco cart, with Tony ruining his tacos by knocking them on the ground along with his soda and by attempting to clean him with a soap bucket and a rag, claiming he was living up to his promise of washing Mitch's car for losing their race. As Mitch attempts to rebuff Tony's actions, he is unaware that his phone has been stolen, hacked and cloned by Frostee. Frostee places Mitch's phone back in his pocket without Mitch knowing and leaves with Tony to return back to the government warehouse, allowing Ms. Nowhere's employee Gary to sift through the data.
Much to the crew's surprise, Ms. Nowhere calls off the operation after discovering that the race is being held that very night and that eligible drivers need a retinal scan to confirm their ID as well as a special implanted chip in their cars. She explains that she assumed it would take weeks to locate the time and place of a race and that the kids would be given training in those weeks, only for them to discover the time and place of the race in a mere two hours. Tony protests that he could still win if they let him attend, although she reveals that building a car with the implanted codes would take 48 hours. She then elects to use surveillance drones to merely observe the racing event in secret. With the operation being called off, the crew leave the building, only for Tony to inform them that as a Toretto, he follows his gut over orders and that he was going to try to find a way to participate and win in the race. Echo then discloses that she stole Ms. Nowhere's purse, which contains several gadgets that Nowhere had shown off to her while Tony and Frostee had left to clone Mitch's phone. She claims that she was just "borrowing" it, and Tony replies that they would also have to "borrow" a car.
The crew splits into groups of two: Tony and Frostee are assigned with zip-lining off of a building and into SH1FT3R's offices, where they would use a sandalwood spray to knock out the computer work and hack into the retinal scan database. Cisco and Echo are tasked with tracking down Mitch and using an EMP to disable his car, after which they'd tow it away and steal it. However, a nervous Cisco activates the EMP inside their own vehicle, shutting it down in traffic. As the light ahead had turned red and Mitch was idling there, Echo improvises by leaving Cisco's vehicle and approaching Mitch's, telling him to get out of his car, only to get in and drive it away. Mitch protests, but as she drives away, he asks if she would call him. Cisco's EMP wears off and he gets back in his vehicle and heads to where the race is being held. At the computer room, Tony prepares to use the spray to knock out the worker, only to render himself unconscious. However, Frostee is able to spray it the correct way, and is free to use the computer. Tony, who regains conscious, leaves Frostee to hack the retinal scan and heads outside, where Echo pulls up, giving him Mitch's car. She gets into the passenger seat as Cisco gets in the back as they drive up to the gate, where security begins verifying them.
The agency's surveillance drone reveals the crew in Mitch's car, much to Ms. Nowhere's surprise, and she realizes that her tactical purse is missing. She then calls Frostee and tells him to get out, reminding him of the danger that they face and that she cannot protect him from it, while also adding that it would ruin her career and she would get demoted if they are jeopardized. Frostee nonchalantly dismisses her concerns so that he could focus on his work, and a worried Nowhere claims that Dom would kill them, prompting her to ask Gary whether he has clean identities prepared and ready for them. At the gates, the security guard scans Mitch's car, which houses an eligible chip, and he approaches Tony to perform a retinal scan. At that moment, Frostee successfully changes Mitch's photo ID to that of Tony's, and Tony is granted access. Gary, witnessing this through a drone, notifies Ms. Nowhere that Tony and his crew have made it in, and she immediately replies that she knew they would, dropping her former concerns. As the others exit the car to watch the race and observe, Tony drives up to the starting line and Layla Gray speaks to them. Layla explains that only one of tonight's racers would be accepted into SH1FT3R, stating that she hopes the other racers are insured. However, she also adds that one of tonight's racers is a mystery man and that she would therefore participate in tonight's race to find out who he is. She then pulls up next to Tony and, while greeting him as Mitch, indicates that she knows he is not really Mitch, as the race nears commencement.
Cast[]
- Tyler Posey as Tony Toretto
- Charlet Chung as Margaret "Echo" Pearl
- Jorge Diaz as Cisco Renaldo
- Camille Ramsey as Layla Gray
- Luke Youngblood as Frostee Benson
- Manish Dayal as Shashi Dhar
- Renée Elise Goldsberry as Ms. Nowhere
- Olivia Olson as Guard
- Jimmy Tatro as Mitch
- Tru Valentino as Gary
- Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto (credited as Dom Toretto)
Gallery[]
References[]
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