After five seasons of Fuller House, the Tanner family once again bids goodbye. Here’s everything that happened in the Full House spin-off’s finale.
Here’s everything that happened in the Fuller House series finale, and what the ending means. After five seasons, the Netflix sequel to Full House has come to an end as the Tanner-Fuller family closes its doors once again to the public just as DJ Tanner-Fuller (Candace Cameron-Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) start their new lives together. The show’s final episode was full of cameos from familiar faces, but with some notable absences from some key characters.
Netflix split Fuller House’s season 5 into two parts – initially dropping its first 9 outings in December 2019, which ended on a surprise marriage proposal to DJ by her high school sweetheart, Steve (Scott Weinger). With both Stephanie and Kimmy already engaged to Jimmy (Adam Hagenbuch) and Fernando (Juan Pablo Di Pace) respectively, a triple wedding was inevitable – in fact, the girls even decided just that before the midseason finale. It was a jumping point for what was to expect in the remaining episodes of the Full House spin-off released in June 2020, with a majority of the outings devoted to wedding planning and other related shenanigans. Of course, there are the occasional appearances by the older cast members – Danny (Bob Saget), Jesse (John Stamos), and Joey (Dave Coulier), but for the most part, the story was focused on the ladies and their upcoming wedding.
As set up in the Fuller House mid-season 5 finale, the remaining episodes of the show were devoted to planning the DJ, Stephanie and Kimmy’s trple wedding. Here are all the biggest things that happened in the spin-off’s ending.
Aunt Becky Is In Nebraska
Fan-favorite character Aunt Becky was missing in the first half of Fuller House season 5, and she remains absent in its remaining episodes. Her absence is because of actress Lori Loughlin’s involvement in the college admissions bribery case that broke out early last year. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, reportedly paid half a million dollars to get their two kids into USC, either by faking athletic records or cheating their SAT scores. Hallmark and Netflix subsequently fired her from When Calls the Heart and Fuller House respectively, leaving both shows without her characters. Writing Aunt Becky out of Fuller House was trickier for of a couple of reasons. Season 4 ended with her and Danny reclaiming their old jobs at Wake Up, San Francisco which means that she and Jesse relocated back to Bay Area. On top of that, the wedding is a big family event, and it’s odd not seeing her there.
In the end, Fuller House opted to acknowledge her absence several episodes before the finale. As revealed by Jesse while he was dealing with a biting incident with their adopted daughter Pamela, Aunt Becky is in Nebraska helping her mother – although he didn’t get into specifics about it. After that, the issue was never brought up again, and the girls went on with her marriage without her. Since it’s a tricky subject to deal with, especially considering that Loughlin and her husband are still awaiting sentences, it was for the better that they dealt with the issue quickly and with no fuss. If anything, Fuller House being in its final season helped the situation since they didn’t have to write the character out permanently.
Why Michelle Tanner Didn’t Return
While Aunt Becky’s absence may have surprised some, Michelle’s was somehow expected. The younger Tanner sister never made any appearance in Fuller House after Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen refused to reprise their Full House role as they’ve moved on from acting. Throughout the spin-off sequel’s run, there were references to the character, revealing that she’s relocated in New York where she’s building her fashion empire – a nod to the twins’ real-life career as the fashion designers and owners of The Row. In the Fuller House’s mid-season 5 finale Danny made a passing remark about having three daughters again, giving fans the impression that Michelle may no longer be around, although he didn’t expound on that comment.
Instead of focusing on Michelle’s expected absence during her sisters’ wedding day, Fuller House limited its references to the character. For the most part, she was a non-factor except for some parallel visuals between her and Tommy after Steph once again accidentally drove Joey’s car into the house – the same way she did more than two decades ago. Kimmy also made a remark about Michelle’s old bike, suggesting that the Tanners get rid of it since she’s not coming back anymore anyway. It’s an indication that Fuller House simply gave up on Michelle, which is a shame since there’s a couple of ways they could’ve done just that in the final season.
For instance, since Michelle is a fashion designer, they could’ve tapped her help finding the brides’ dresses and the grooms’ tuxedos. A couple of episodes in the back half of Fuller House’s final season featured a designer named Bertha, meaning the show was devoted to showing this part of the wedding planning process. If the Olsens couldn’t be convinced to make an appearance, Fuller House could’ve explained why she’s not attending the wedding, instead of pretending she doesn’t exist. By way of making it up to her sisters, she could’ve sent them their dresses. That way, she’s still part of their big day without demanding a physical appearance from the character. They could’ve even gotten a body double if they really wanted to properly establish that Michelle is still part of the family.
The She-Wolf Pack Get Married (& Happy Endings)
After months of preparation, the She-Wolf Pack finally got married in the Fuller House series finale – but not without some serious hurdles during the big day. First, the venue suddenly closed, then their officiant backed out, followed by their hairdressers. The Tanners and Gibblers had to be creative pulling off the wedding last minute in their backyard, which they eventually did. For some reason, Danny was able to hire New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre to officiate the event to the surprise of DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy. Each of the older cast walked the girls down the aisle, and of course, there are the mandatory emotional speeches. The celebration was small and intimate, with few familiar faces invited – some made sense, others just straight-up weird like Steve’s almost wife, CJ (Virginia Williams), whom he left at the altar for DJ.
Frankly, the whole wedding celebration was a little bit disappointing, even by Full House/Fuller House standards. While the couples were given the chance to say their vows, it’s just not as emotional as previous milestones seen in the spin-off and its parent series. The kids weren’t that involved, which was a missed opportunity considering that they’re typically front and center with gatherings like this. If anything, the events leading up to the ceremony were more fun to watch than the wedding itself. In any case, the girls, especially DJ got their happily ever after, which is the most important.
Since Full House, fans had envisioned Steve and DJ tying the knot, that didn’t happen with the pair marrying other people. Seeing them finally getting hitched is the pay-off many Stejay followers had long been waiting for. Kimmy and Fernando’s part in the ceremony wasn’t as satisfying considering that they almost remarried a couple of seasons ago, nonetheless, the pair’s antics – particularly Fernando’s upon learning who’s officiating – made for some big laughs. Finally, it might never make sense how Stephanie and Jimmy got together given how different they are, but it’s nice to see the middle Tanner sister getting a family of her own, considering how laid back she was, with no plans of starting her own family when the spin-off began in 2016. It also helps that Jimmy is a part-owner of Uncle Monty’s, which means he’s going to be at home more allowing Stephanie to pursue her music career and be on the road without having to worry about Danielle as she grows up.
Why Stephanie and Kimmy Decide Not To Move Out
The wedding was a bittersweet moment from the She-Wolf Pack as Stephanie and Kimmy decided to move out of the Tanner family home after they all got married. Kimmy and Fernando decided to relocate to Palo Alto as they open the second branch of Uncle Monty’s there. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Stephanie wanted to move closer to the original location as they managed that one. There were a lot of goodbyes not just for the girls, but also with other characters like Ramona (Soni Nicole Bringas) and Jackson (Michael Campion), as well as Max (Elias Harger) and Fernando, which was surprisingly one of the most emotional moments in Fuller House’s final season.
The day after the wedding, everybody packed up and ready-to-go, but not even a minute before they all left the door, Kimmy and Stephanie came back and declared they didn’t want to move out. As it turned out, they never really wanted to move out in the first place. Admittedly, their decision to live in separate houses came out of nowhere. While DJ mentioned that they’ve talked about it, there was never any proper discussion about it on-screen. Of course, DJ welcomed them all back with open arms, and just before the show fully wrapped up, the latter announced that she’s pregnant which is a big deal considering that for the longest time, she thought she was unable to have kids; it’s the reason why Kimmy became the surrogate for Danielle.
With the whole gang back in, plus Steve who moved in after he married DJ, it’s curious how everyone would be able to operate in the crowded house. As it is in Fuller House, it’s already unclear where exactly Kimmy sleeps since the attic, which was previously Jesse and Becky’s first home, has been nothing but a stock room. It’s also unclear if Jimmy, Stephanie, and their growing family would fit in the medium-sized basement. Maybe as Jackson and Ramona expectedly move out for college in the next few months, they could free up some space to ensure everyone has their private areas. There’s also the possibility that they can just extend their property to the Gibblers’ lot to build a bigger house for everyone.
Like Full House’s ending, Fuller House’s series finale didn’t shake things up for the Tanners. Aside from the She-Wolf Pack being married, nothing’s really changed in the house; even as the show wrapped up, it left fans with the notion that the Tanner extended family will continue to operate the same way they’ve done in the last five years. The older cast did mention how they eventually moved on from living together at one point in time – something that fans never saw this play out since the original show ended with Michelle’s odd amnesia plotline. Over time, it’s safe to assume that DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy will also get to this point, but for now, they decided that it’s better to stick together.
While there were individual character arcs, there’s not a clear overall narrative for Fuller House, and it doesn’t help that the show ended by maintaining the status quo as it makes the spin-off almost pointless. With Kimmy and Stephanie opting to remain in the house, they’re curtailing their chances to grow and make it on their own – this is especially true for the latter, who struggled with living in the shadows of her older sister. At the end of the day, DJ is still the head of the household, and while living together worked for them in the last five years, being married can drastically change the dynamic in their home. Seeing Kimmy and Stephanie move out would’ve indicated the end of an era for the franchise, something that fans didn’t get from Full House. Admittedly, it’s a better send-off as it highlights how far each of the main characters has come since the spin-off began: DJ’s now fully recovered after the tragic death of her husband; Kimmy is still weird but is back with Fernando; and Stephanie is more responsible after having her own family. Regardless if anyone wants to revisit the show in any capacity moving forward, chances are that a potential new project will once again be primarily set in the iconic San Francisco home.
