Fuller House season 5 hints at Michelle’s (played alternately by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) falling out with her sisters. Netflix’s Full House sequel series wrapped up its five season-run by releasing its remaining nine episodes. Unsurprisingly, despite the wedding of her sisters, DJ (Candace Cameron-Bure) and Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), the youngest Tanner daughter remains absent. While the show didn’t have the opportunity to bring back all of Danny’s (Bob Saget) kids together, it left fans some clues about the state of the relationship among her girls.
When Fuller House was greenlit, fans were curious who among Full House’s main cast would return to reprise their roles. Shortly, everyone was confirmed – except for Michelle. Rumors regarding whether or not the Olsen twins would appear went on with conflicting reports further causing confusion. Apparently, while Ashley didn’t have any intention of returning in front of the camera, Mary-Kate briefly considered the gig but ultimately passed on it. While Fuller House immediately gave an explanation for Michelle’s absence, as she’s now based in New York where she runs her fashion empire (mirroring the twins’ current real-life job as owners of The Row and Elizabeth & James), viewers still hoped a cameo was in the cards. But, as fans know now, that wasn’t the case.
Until the end, Michelle remained a no-show in Fuller House, although the final season hinted at why the youngest Tanner sister doesn’t seem to make an effort to visit her family in San Francisco. In the penultimate episode, DJ, Steph, and Kimmy (Andrea Barber) rummage through their old stuff in the house’s attic in the hopes of finding their respective “something old” and “something borrowed” for the wedding. Kimmy spots Michelle’s bike and asks her friends when they’re going to get rid of it because, if their sister hadn’t picked it up yet, she wasn’t coming. It’s a meta-comment about the Olsens not making an appearance to set fans’ expectations for the finale, but narrative-wise, it also implies that the Tanner girls may not be as close as they were during Full House. Why would DJ and Stephanie even consider getting rid of it just because Michelle hasn’t visited? It’s not like she’s going to take it back to New York anyway, not to mention that the attic is full of other old stuff that they don’t seem to have any intentions of throwing out. Otherwise, it’s possible that elder Tanner sisters aren’t on good terms with their youngest.
Initially, Fuller House regularly had references to Michelle – in fact, they even included some fourth-wall breaking dialog asking the Olsen twins to join the sequel spinoff. However, as the years went by, they started mentioning her less and less. The idea of inviting her to the wedding is never brought up, which is odd considering that, at its core, the Full House franchise is about family. If they’re able to invite non-family members like Gia (Marla Sokoloff), CJ (Virginia Williams), and Vicky (Gail Edwards), it’s weird that Michelle doesn’t seem to be on the guest list. This might be due DJ and Stephanie harboring some ill-feelings towards their sister for ditching every family gathering in the last five years. DJ, in particular, could be hurt that Michelle won’t give her the time of the day even as she struggled to raise her sons after her first husband’s death. This is backed up by Danny’s comment about Kimmy taking Michelle’s spot as his third daughter.
It’s disappointing that Netflix and the spinoff producers weren’t able to convince any of the Olsens to make even the briefest of cameos in the show. Michelle was a big part of Full House’s success and it would’ve been nice to see her reunite with her family. However, what’s more frustrating is that it seemed like Fuller House simply stopped trying to incorporate her in their stories.
