Fuller House’s Ending Missed The Perfect Opportunity To Include Michelle

Fuller House‘s final season missed the perfect opportunity to include Michelle. Originally played alternately Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on Full House, the twins refused to reprise their role as the youngest Tanner sister in the Netflix spinoff series. Michelle’s absence was immediately addressed in the first season, explaining that she’s now based in New York where she runs her own fashion empire. This is a reference to the Olsens’ real-life careers as the owners of brands like The Row and Elizabeth & James.

For the most part, viewers bought this explanation, with Fuller House leaving it at that without any additional effort to incorporate her into the story. Michelle wasn’t mentioned when Danny (Bob Saget) went through a mid-life crisis, nor when Stephanie had her daughter, Danielle. Things are different, however, when it became clear that the show was building toward a triple wedding finale, with DJ (Cameron-Bure) and Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), as well as their long-time friend and neighbor Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), tying the knot at the same time. With both her sisters getting married, it didn’t seem right that Michelle wouldn’t show up – or at least be involved in the preparations.

Unfortunately, instead of actively finding ways to incorporate Michelle in Fuller House‘s final season, the show cast her aside with only a couple of references – neither addressing her expected absence during the wedding. On the heels of the show’s finale, Cameron-Bure revealed that they didn’t ask for the Olsens to return in the final season granted that they’ve repeatedly turned down their offer before. That being said, the Full House spinoff actually had the perfect opportunity to incorporate Michelle, they just didn’t use take advantage of it. Given Michelle’s job, she could’ve easily given her sisters, and even Kimmy, their wedding dresses. Perhaps, Michelle could’ve also created them herself if her company covers bridal wear. If she was feeling extra generous, the youngest Tanner sister could’ve taken care of the whole entourage’s wardrobe too.

Fuller House brought back the designer named Berta (Natalija Nogulich), who first appeared a couple of seasons ago when Steve (Scott Weinger) was about to marry CJ (Virginia Williams). She provided the brides’ dresses and the grooms’ tuxedos, with one episode devoted to the guys going in for a fitting – indicative that the show was open to tackling this part of the wedding planning process quite extensively. While Berta made for some laughs, it would’ve been much better if this plotline involved the back-and-forth between the sisters and Michelle in New York instead. This would’ve allowed Michelle to be part of DJ and Stephanie’s big day without demanding the character’s physical appearance.

Taking it a step further, Michelle taking care of her sisters’ wedding dresses could be her way of making it up to them for not being able to come home in the last few years. Due to her work, she missed a lot of family gatherings, and she was about to miss another big one with the wedding. In an ideal world, everyone would prefer her to be back home for the occasion, but given the circumstances, Fuller House taking this route would’ve been the next best thing. If anything, it’s certainly better than how Michelle’s absence was handled in the final season.

For a franchise that centers on the importance of family, Fuller House did a disappointing job dealing with Michelle’s story in the final season. Granted, the producers could only do so much with regard to asking either of the Olsen twins to reprise the role of Michelle, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t put more effort into incorporating her into the story. Instead, she’s mostly brought up for a joke, with the show poking fun at her absence. It just didn’t feel right that Fuller House flippantly cast her aside given her significance in the original series.

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