Every time someone says family in the new ‘Fast and the Furious’ movie broken down by character

• Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Fast 9," the ninth "Fast & Furious" movie.
• The word "family" is said seven times by six different characters in "F9."
• Dom only says the word family once in the film. He's the last to say it.
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I take the "Fast & Furious" franchise very seriously.

Yes, I'm aware the "Fast Saga" has become an over-the-top telenovela, bringing characters back from the dead and introducing long-lost siblings, but if you think the franchise is solely about fast cars and over-the-top stunts, than you're missing the point of what made this a $6 billion franchise.

"'Fast' reflects all different kinds of families, right?" Brewster told me back in April, speaking on the franchise's 20-year legacy, its diverse cast, and the message it sends. "It's not the conventional families that constitute a family. It's the love that binds them together and the sense of code and the sense of showing up for one another. That's a really, really important message and that's what's at the heart and core of every film."

The concept of family has become so integral to the "Fast" franchise that the word itself has become increasingly more prevalent in the sequels.

During a binge of the series a few years back, I realized the word was used so much that I had to start counting how many times it was actually said in the films out of sheer curiosity.

Before 2017's "The Fate of the Furious" came out, I took it upon myself to track every time the word was uttered not only in that movie, but throughout the franchise.

The eighth film in the series contains the most uses of the word family out of any installment so far. It's said onscreen 14 times by a total of seven characters.

Obviously, when "F9" came out, I had to continue my work.

I was surprised to learn three things. The word "family" isn't said in "F9" until about an hour into the film, Dom only utters the word once (he's the last to say it), and the word is only said a total of seven times throughout the over two-hour movie. That brings the total number of times it's said in the franchise to 51 (by my count).

Here's every time I heard someone say "family" in "F9" in the order it occurs:

1. Buddy (Michael Rooker) to Dom: "The worst thing you can do to a Toretto is take away their family. That's what you did to Jakob."
2. Queenie (Helen Mirren) to Dom: "You're not the only one with a family full of eccentrics."
3. Queenie giving advice to Dom: "You know nothing's more powerful than the love of family, but you turn that into anger and resentment? Nothing's more dangerous."
4. Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen) to Jakob (John Cena): "Your family is a train wreck."
5. Elle (Anna Sawai) discussing Han (Sung Kang): "We became a family."
6. Jack Toretto (J.D. Pardo), while telling his sons Dom and Jakob that '70s Chargers are immortal and can live for 100 years if you take care of them right: "Like a family, Dom. You build it right, they'll live beyond you."
7. Dom to Jakob in a flashback: "We've got some rough times ahead, but it's going to be OK, because we're family."

Some takeaways:

• Queenie says family the most in "F9" and gives motherly advice to, who she calls, her favorite American when she notices he has a fractured relationship with his brother. Queenie was the perfect person to point this out to Dom because she recently helped smooth out a complicated relationship between two of her own children, Deckard and Hattie, who were also estranged for years, in 2019's "Hobbs & Shaw."
• It felt really significant that none of the main cast members, other than Dom, used the word family in this movie, even though you know they're all very much one collective family who would do anything for one another. The majority of people who said family in "F9" were all new characters who we've never been introduced to before, like Jack and Elle. Their uses of the word specifically allowed us to learn how family was integral to their lives.
• Cipher, who said family the most times in 2017's "The Fate of the Furious," doesn't say the word at all in "Fast 9."

Is Jack Toretto's use of the word family foreshadowing Dominic Toretto's death in the franchise?

The third time I saw "F9," I honed in on the flashback sequence that plays as Dom's life flashes before his eyes. There, we see Jack speaking to his two sons about the legacy of a man's family. He tells Dom if you take care of and build your family right then your family will live well beyond you. It will become immortal.

With the main "Fast" saga heading into its final two films, I couldn't help but wonder if this scene was foreshadowing something to come. Is Dom going to sacrifice his life in the last movies a la Tony Stark in "Avengers: Endgame" to save the world and his family? Will Dom give some emotional speech about how he's never gone because he's in everyone's hearts and the Toretto family is immortal and will continue on with Jakob and his son, little Brian?

It certainly feels like that's where the "Fast" franchise could be heading now that we know the next film will be split into "Fast 10: Part I" and "Part 2." Even if Dom doesn't really bite the dust, we're prepared for a cliffhanger at the end of part one.

You can follow along with all our "F9" coverage here.