Fuller House's finale brought back a lot of familiar faces, but some of them made Michelle's absence only worse. Until the very end, the youngest Tanner sister is a no-show despite both DJ (Candace Cameron-Bure) and Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) tying the knot. Though many fans were hoping to see either Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen reprise their Full House role, it's a lot more disappointing upon learning that some of the guests in attendance had no business being there.
Michelle's absence is a glaring plot hole in Fuller House despite the show providing an explanation about her whereabouts and that she couldn't join her family in San Francisco. In season 1, it was revealed that the youngest Tanner sister is now based in New York where she runs her fashion empire - mirroring the Olsens' real-life career. While the twins were offered the chance to reprise their breakout role in the Netflix offshoot, both turned it down. There were rumors that Fuller House creatives also asked Elizabeth Olsen to potentially appear, but nothing obviously came out of it.
Regardless of the situation, fans were still hoping that Michelle would show up in Fuller House's farewell season especially with both of her sisters getting married - a rare event that no one in the family should miss. Unfortunately, she still didn't show up, with barely any explanation from the show about why she's unable to attend DJ and Stephanie's big day, except for a meta-joke about Michelle's absence, essentially for the viewers' benefit. Fuller House skated through Michelle's non-attendance, and not even Danny (Bob Saget) asked about why his youngest daughter wasn't coming to the special occasion. While this is already frustrating for long-time fans of Full House who know how integral Michelle is to the Tanners, seeing some of the guests during the gathering makes it so much worse.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy's (Andrea Barber) had a small, backyard wedding with only a handful of guests. The whole Tanner extended family was there - except for Michelle and Aunt Becky (Lori Loughlin), who's apparently in Nebraska. The event was also attended by the couples' closest friends like Matt (John Brotherton) and Gia (Marla Sokoloff) who deserve to be there considering that they've become close to the brides and grooms over the last few years. The problem comes with guests whose attendance doesn't make sense such as CJ (Virginia Williams) - Steve's (Scott Weinger) ex-fiancé, who was ditched at the altar after the groom realized that he's still in love with DJ. It's an ugly break-up, and she mostly blamed DJ for it, so it's mind-boggling that somehow, she's willing to watch Steve and DJ get married.
Steve isn't the only one whose ex made a surprise appearance at the wedding, DJ's ex-boyfriend from high school whom she met through her Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), Viper (David Lipper) was also in the ceremony, although he's only seen in the background. Meanwhile, Kimmy's former boyfriend Duane (Scott Menville), who's fondly remembered for his signature catchphrase "whatever" was even prominently featured. Granted that this isn't Duane's first appearance in Fuller House, having popped out in their high school reunion episode a couple of seasons ago, it's still weird that he somehow got invited to the wedding - especially considering Fernando's (Juan Pablo di Pace) tendency to be over-jealous.
Understandably, Fuller House wanted to bring some familiar faces back in the finale to better link it to Full House, but it's frustrating to think that the Tanners invited all these side characters to the wedding, and there's not even any discussion about Michelle's absence. While the show creatives could only do so much in trying to convince the Olsens to join the show, the inclusion of characters who were less influential on DJ and Stephanie only makes Michelle's exclusion more obvious.