Fuller House: Stephanie Should’ve Been The Lead (Because of Jesse)

Stephanie should’ve been the lead character in Fuller House, not DJ, because of her connection to Jesse. Netflix’s original series brought back the Tanners to the small screen as they opened their iconic San Francisco home again, two decades since Full House ended. It brought back all of the original cast members, except for Michelle with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen refusing to return; this time, the focus was on the younger cast of characters while their dad and other parent figures only appeared in recurring roles.

In an effort to tap into their existing fan-base, Fuller House pretty much just copied the premise of Full House — something that John Stamos, who was also an EP on the offshoot, didn’t initially want to do. Despite his reluctance, the original plan moved forward with DJ also suddenly losing her spouse and being left to raise three young kids, the same predicament her dad was in the late ’80s. This resulted in Kimmy and Stephanie moving in with her to provide assistance as Joey and Jesse did in the original show.

While Fuller House was an ensemble sitcom, DJ was its true lead. Much of its narrative was focused on her life, particularly her love life as she began dating again until she ultimately ended up marrying Steve in the series finale. However, it’s Stephanie who should’ve been the show’s main character because she was supposedly Jesse’s parallel. Full House may have been kicked off by the death of Danny’s wife, but his brother-in-law was its lead player. Aside from being a caretaker of the Tanner kids, a role he took on with Joey, he was the only character who had a clear overall arc throughout the classic sitcom’s 8 seasons. He started as a carefree rockstar who was essentially forced to babysit his nieces; at the end of Full House, he was a successful businessman with a family of his own.

It’s uncertain if Jesse’s story was supposed to pan the way it did in Full House, but there’s a reason why he’s given that much character development in the show: out of all the three adult characters, he’s the most fun to watch. Danny and Joey may have their quirks, but Jesse was immediately endearing not just because he’s cool, but because he also had terrific chemistry with the kids, specifically Michelle. So while he was initially apprehensive about moving in with the Tanners, there’s always the idea that he’d be a good family man himself. Considering that Fuller House attempted to recapture the magic of its original series, the writers should’ve treated Stephanie the same way. Granted that her and Jesse’s arc started and ended the same way, there’s not much focus on her journey throughout the spin-off. It’s not even clear why she dated Jimmy in the first place.

Overall, Fuller House may have been better if the focus was on Stephanie’s life instead. This doesn’t mean that the writers had to fundamentally change the offshoot: they could’ve still done the same premise but instead of tackling DJ’s dating life extensively, they should’ve allotted time to further develop her sister’s personal story. It’s disheartening that she was relegated to a supporting character when Stephanie every bit of a fan-favorite in Full House.