How is Letty alive in Fast and Furious 6?

Image rights below to owner - click to visit

Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) appears in a cameo at the end of Fast Five. This Letty sighting is important for a number of reasons beyond her death scene in Fast & Furious. We watched nearly two Fast and Furious movies without Letty. Dom is sure Letty is dead.

Dom has already moved on with a hot Brazilian chick who is the Brazilian agent from Fast Five. Letty is dead, which is what we are supposed to believe. Fenix killed Letty in Fast & Furious. Fast Five has a twist ending that shows us that Letty is alive. Fast & Furious 6 explains how Letty survived the crash in Fast & Furious and why she turned into a criminal working under Shaw.

Beware that Fast and Furious 6 spoilers are below. If you haven't watched the racing movie yet, then avoid the spoilers.

***Fast 6 Spoilers***

***Spoiler Alert***

Fast & Furious 6 opens with Brian and Dom racing along the mountains to see Mia after she gives birth. Next, we see Dom in bed with a partially nude Elena (Elsa Pataky), the beautiful Brazilian agent who is actually married to Chris Hemsworth in real life. Dom hears a noise on the balcony. He investigates the sound, where Hobbs appears. Hobbs asks Dom how life is going for a retired international criminal. He tells Dom that he needs his help. 

Hobbs hands Dom a yellow envelop that changes his life. Letty is revealed to be alive in the surveillance photo. The questions that ask where is Letty and how she died are answered in this one scene.  The inciting incident (catalyst) explains to us that Letty is alive and that she is involved in a criminal network. The Fast and Furious 6 movie plot now propels forward. 

Letty is alive. She has no recollection of previous events. Brian goes undercover as a prisoner to question Braga, where he learns how Letty survives the car crash. Braga tells Brian that Letty crashes out on a road. In Fast & Furious, we remember Fenix shooting at an injured Letty while she is trapped in a wrecked car. The car explodes, killing Letty and setting off a chain reaction of events to follow. 

Braga reveals that Fenix allows Letty to escape the wrecked car. Fenix points his gun away from Letty, shooting the wrecked car that creates an explosion. The explosive blast projects Letty down a hill. Letty is admitted into a hospital in which is diagnosed with amnesia. She loses all previous memories. 

Dom wants to help Letty find out her true identity. He never wavers from family. Letty survives Fast & Furious. She runs with the Shaw crew, a decision she makes after the antagonist claims her at the hospital. Her fragile state made her vulnerable. 

Letty is alive in Fast & Furious 6. Two external plots motivate Dom and company to rescue Letty and take down the Shaw crew. Have a fast ride watching Fast & Furious 6! 

Han Lue: The Han Effect in Fast and the Furious movies

Han Lue is a major Fast and the Furious character introduced in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2003.  Han's dies in the third Fast and the Furious movie after a fatal car explosion. In the latter Fast and the Furious movies, Han reappears again in the case. The Han effect in the Fast and the Furious movies confused many moviegoers.

The Han character is featured in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious and Fast Five. How does Han die Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and show up again in Fast and Furious? The plot design in the Fast and the Furious movies is consistent with Star Wars movies. The first three Stars Wars movies postdate the last three Star Wars movies. The Fast and the Furious movies are arranged in the following sequential order:

1.  Fast and the Furious
2.  2 Fast 2 Furious
3.  Fast and Furious
4.  Fast Five
5.  Fast and the Furious 6
6.  Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

It is possible Fast and the Furious 7 can precede Tokyo Drift in the plot design. Nevertheless, the seventh Fast and the Furious movie might postdate the Tokyo Drift. The Han effect in the Fast and the Furious movie plot design:

1. Fast and Furious
2. Fast Five
3. Fast and the Furious 6 (rumored)
4. Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Han dies in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. In the next Fast and the Furious movie, Fast and Furious, Han makes an appearance in the setup scene to establish his character backstory. Han mentions to Dom that wants to go to Japan, sharing the racers are doing wild things out there (drifting). Han returns in Fast Five to help Dom and company plan the multimillion dollar heist.

The Han effect in the Fast and the Furious movie plot design is that Han dies in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and then reappears in future FF movies in a movie plot design which precedes the previous movies. Thus, the last three FF movies predate the first three movies. The last three movies convey the backstory. 

However, there is reason to suspect that there are story continuity errors in the plot design. In 2 Fast and 2 Furious, Brian's friend Roman Pierce asks the reason Brian lets Dom go in Los Angeles. In Fast Five, Roman meets Dom in Brazil for the first time. We can look at Roman's comment as a response to the events which doesn't state the facts about the Dom character he meets in Fast Five. 

The Fast and the Furious movie plot design is confusing. We question how Han is still alive in the future FF movies after his death. Fast and the Furious creator probably changed the direction of the movie franchise due to the popularity of Han and Letty. In retrospect, the Han effect creates an interesting Fast and the Furious movie plot design.