A curious line from Danny Tanner in the newest season of Fuller House is fueling a fan theory that the Michelle Tanner character may have been killed off-screen. Previously played by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on the original Full House, Michelle was the youngest of Danny’s three daughters, and she was also the only major character from the show not to return for Fuller House. According to a new theory, this is because the little girl we remember saying, “You got it, dude!” has since tragically died – and the family no longer speaks about it.
What’s feeding into this theory the most is one particular line of dialogue from Tanner family patriarch Danny heard in the first half of season 5. The moment comes when Danny congratulates “my girls” D.J., Stephanie, and Kimmy Gibbler on all three getting engaged to be married. That’s certainly curious enough, but then Danny follows this up by oddly saying, “You know, it’s so nice to have three daughters again.” At face value, this seems to suggest Danny had three daughters, lost one, and now has three again by finally accepting Kimmy as a part of the family.
Originally, Michelle Tanner’s absence was explained in the first season by way of a line of dialogue suggesting she was running her own fashion empire in New York – clearly a reference to the Olsen Twins’ real-life transition from acting into fashion. However, there have been bits of circumstantial evidence touched upon throughout the series since. As the theory purports, Michelle has been referenced less and less as Fuller House continued, getting to the point where nobody even called Michelle when Stephanie had her baby.
Even fashion designers get time off at some point, and it just doesn’t make much sense, in terms of the story, why Michelle couldn’t visit the Tanner-Fuller household at least once over the course of several years. Danny’s “three daughters” line also makes it pretty clear that for one reason or another, Michelle does not seem to be officially a part of the Tanner family any longer. This could be because she chose to disavow her own family, or vice versa. Because this would go against the very nature of the Tanner family, however, it seems to be much more likely Michelle has sadly passed away.
In reality, Michelle cannot be a part of Fuller House as the Olsen Twins had no desire to return to acting for the show. Dave Coulier has previously suggested this is because they were so young when Full House was in production that they don’t share the same nostalgic memories of the series that the other cast members do. Candace Cameron Bure has also said the Olsens made it very clear a while back they didn’t want to be involved, and those working on the show had since given up on trying to bring them in. This leaves their character in a permanent limbo where fans can only theorize why she hasn’t stayed in touch with the Tanner family.
The first half of Fuller House’s fifth and final season is now streaming on Netflix, with the remaining new episodes to come in 2020. Michelle may or may not in fact be dead, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on seeing the Olsen Twins appearing in the back half of the season. The theory about Michelle Tanner’s demise on Fuller House comes to us from Screen Rant.
