the film is not considered a part of or canonical within The Fast and the Furious franchise by Universal Pictures despite related names or characters. Articles referring to specific elements revisited in Better Luck Tomorrow are to be kept separate in The Fast and the Furious-related articles until canonicity status changes, if ever.
Virgil Hu[1] is a protagonist in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow.
Biography
Virgil is the cousin of Han Lue and the friend of Ben Manibag. Virgil and Ben are close friends and often get into trouble together. Their recreation is often spent in the company of Han Lue, stealing from stores using their credit cards. Virgil and Ben enter major electronics and entertainment stores and buy a single version of a particular item. Following their purchase, they wait outside for a couple of hours in Han's 1965 Ford Mustang and afterward, have Han pose as their big brother who just discovered that they bought bunch of items without permission.
In order to successfully pull off the scheme, they use price tag stickers from the store and grab duplicate items for the cashier to ring up as returns in order to receive their money back. Following their scheme, they split the money and keep it for themselves to do with whatever they want. Virgil is often treated by Han and Ben like a child because he tends to make multiple mistakes, either during their schemes or otherwise noted. Han is particularly short-tempered with his cousin, slapping and beating on him whenever he gets the chance, often for no reason.
When Ben aligns himself with Deric Loo, their school valedictorian and the president of every club in the school, they decide to pull of a cheating scheme. They use Ben's friend, Jesus, as a go-between in order to break into the school offices to retrieve the answers. Afterward they have students pay for the answers in order to earn a higher GPA and score on their tests. Rumors surrounded Virgil and the others to fantastic degrees. Most of the student body believed they were gang members in a Chinese Mafia.
Virgil gets off on their infamy, often losing his self-control. When Ben decides to abandon their life of crime and drug abuse, Deric follows suit. Only Han and Virgil remain in the "business" they started with Ben and Deric. However, it isn't before long that Virgil allows the power and fame of their reputation go their head. He begins telling everyone about their dealings and no longer cares to be discrete about it. As a result, Ben and Han's operation is found out by the school. Han is suspended for spreading cheat sheets around. Virgil ends up being beaten my his cousin, who uses his belt to punish him.
After they participate in the Academic Decathlon championships in Los Angeles, they retire at a hotel where Deric hired a prostitute for them to sleep with. After Han, Deric and Ben sleep with her, Virgil is next. However, when he gets the chance to be with her, he pulls a gun on her. Frightened and furious, the prostitute leaves with more than the amount of money she was owed after Han apologized for his cousin's behavior. Virgil, believing he did nothing wrong, was quick to pull a gun on his cousin when Han attempted to attack him again.
Following the incident and the winter formal, Ben gathers Virgil and the others together to collaborate on Steve Cho's plan to rob his parents to teach them a lesson. Virgil and Deric agree to the plan, Virgil agreeing with Deric desire to teach Steve a lesson. Han and Ben, while they do not like the plan, go along with it anyway. They work together and practice to successfully pull off the score.
However, it was decided by Deric that Steve would be attacked. They called Steve over to Jesus's house where they meet in a garage. As soon as Steve enter the room, they attack him. They struggle with Steve for the gun, which goes off. When its revealed that Steve survived the gunshot, Ben enters the garage and beats him with a bat. To make sure he's dead, Deric has Virgil hold Steve down while he suffocates him. Once Steve is dead, they clean up the blood left behind by their attack and bury his body in Jesus's backyard.
Virgil, however, is initially unable to cope with the guilt of participating in Steve's death. He calls his cousin Han over to watch pornography with him. However, what Virgil really wants to do is kill himself and not be alone when he does it. When Han arrives, Virgil pulls the trigger. Han, believing his brother is messing around him, demands that Virgil open the door to his bedroom and let him in. When he realizes his cousin actually shot himself, he has him hospitalized and he is treated for his head wound caused by the bullet.
Virgil eventually recovers and spends the rest of his summer break with Ben. When the two hear a ringing phone, they dig up Steve's body and discover Stephanie Vandergosh is trying to contact him. While Deric Loo is concerned that Han and Virgil will speak to someone about what they did to Steve, Ben chooses not to act against them. Han and Virgil never speak of the incident afterward.
Trivia
- Jason Tobin appeared in Justin Lin's first The Fast and the Furious film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, as a character named Earl, a friend of Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), later returning for the Lin-directed F9.[2]