Fuller House: Why Jesse Walks Stephanie Down the Aisle (Not Danny)

Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) walked Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) down the aisle during her wedding in the Fuller House series finale — not her father Danny (Bob Saget). Netflix’s sequel spin-off to Full House opted to end its run with DJ (Candace Cameron-Bure), Kimmy (Andrea Barber), and Stephanie all tying the knot for a feel-good finale. However, instead of the Tanner patriarch sending off both of his older daughters, he only walked with DJ, leaving Stepanie with her uncle instead.

In Full House, Danny treated all three kids equally. That said, given the girls’ ages, he had more emotional interactions with Stephanie throughout the original show’s eight-year-run. As the oldest, DJ grew to be independent quickly and didn’t latch onto her dad in the same way, while Michelle (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) was too young in the early seasons to really have a connection with him. Stephanie, on the other hand, was at the perfect age to be more attached to Danny.

Given this, many fans expected Danny to walk both DJ and Stephanie down the aisle during their wedding day, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, Joey (Dave Coulier) was partnered up with Kimmy, Danny with DJ, and Stephanie with Jesse. In hindsight, it’s understandable from a storytelling perspective why Fuller House would want all three older cast members from the original series to play a pivotal part in the finale, considering the men raised the girls — even Kimmy. It’s the reason why they went out of their way to establish a connection between Kimmy and Joey during the midseason premiere as a set-up for the former escorting the latter during her wedding. The thing is, Jesse and Stephanie didn’t have that kind of lead-in. Although the characters spent eight years together in Full House, the show never demonstrated that Jesse had a special relationship with Stephanie; in fact, he was particularly close to Michelle instead. So, why did he end up giving Stephanie away on her wedding day?

While DJ is the main lead of Fuller House, the offshoot also spent a considerable amount of time diving into Stephanie’s personal arc. Re-introduced in season 1 as the more laidback Tanner sister, she gradually became more responsible over the years. While she’s still not as organized as her older sister, she’s matured in the five years since she moved back into her childhood home to help DJ raise her kids on the heels of the death of her husband. At the end of Fuller House, Stephanie has become a mom herself. Aside from her first-born, Danielle, who was born through Kimmy functioning as a surrogate, it was also revealed that she’s expecting another baby and this time — one she’s carrying it herself. This effectively parallels Jesse’s arc in Full House, the same way Danny’s narrative mirrors DJ’s. Aside from Jesse not experiencing any pregnancy issues with Becky (Lori Loughlin) and their twins, Nicky and Alex, his character development pretty much followed the same trajectory: Both Jesse and Stephanie were musicians-at-heart, not to mention cool uncle/aunt to their respective nieces and nephews until they became parents themselves. This ultimately justifies the decision to partner them up during the wedding.

Of course, things would be different had Michelle appeared in Fuller House. It’s likely that the youngest sister would have taken Kimmy’s spot in the triple Tanner wedding, with Jesse walking her down the aisle, leaving Stephanie with Joey. That pairing has problems, though, as it would imply that just like the comedian, the middle Tanner sister is technically an outsider to the Tanner family. If anything, not having this dilemma is one of the few upsides to Michelle not appearing in Fuller House.

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