Fuller House Review: Family is Fuller (Season 4 Episodes 1-3)
On Fuller House Season 4 Episodes 1-3, our beloved Fuller family focuses their attention on relationships both friendly and romantic. Through it all, they realize that family is forever.
The whole series has been all about family, but the first few episodes of Season 4 do a great job of making family bonds a very cohesive thread. It’s like the Fullers, Tanners, and Gibblers are finally coming together as one big unit.
This ease of flow from one family element to the next really aids the story in making it more concrete, more interesting.
A really great example of this comes during “Big Night” when the story goes from Stephanie trying to police Kimmy and Fernando’s affection to Rocki trying to police Jackson’s desire to label their relationship.
Both of these instances come from a place of love and affection, but somewhere along the line communication gets misconstrued.
Granted this miscommunication makes for flawless comedy, so in the end, all of the trouble is worth it. This show can interweave simple, yet inspiring messages of hope and reality amongst the never-ending laughs as if the two are one and the same.
On Fuller House Season 4 Episode 1, “Oh My Santa,” the humor helps to break up the more serious moments of grief from Max. After all, it’s a holiday episode — the pain cannot overshadow the hope and joy.
On the same note, the moment itself creates a poignant and masterful look at grief during the holidays. While most of us find joy and happiness at Christmas there are still many who find it hard.
Max is a character who is normally brimming with joy and holiday spirit. So it’s a noticeable change when his grief unexpectedly takes over.
The moment coming on so suddenly and without warning really drives home the true nature of the beast and Elias Harger really solidifies it for viewers with his little nuances to Max’s character.
It gets the new season off to a great start by showing the writers are serious about connecting completely to their audiences. The stories are going to be deeper, more diverse in nature so as to make a connection with all walks of life.
Subjects such as the loss of a parent or navigating the complex relationship between surrogate and potential parent are ones that don’t get fully explored on a family sitcom too often.
Focusing on the day-to-day struggle and humor of all types of relationships gives the show a new purpose. It propels the show forward and speaks to longevity.
Fuller House Season 4 shows us how these relationships change over time. D.J. and Steve work toward having a successful relationship 25 years after their high school romance. Stephanie, Kimmy, and D.J. are constantly adjusting themselves to keep their friendship fresh and strong.
By contrast, there is the newness of Jackson and Rocki and Stephanie and Jimmy. The latter two look to the others for examples of how to succeed through everything in life.
They all lean on each other for advice and support. On Fuller House Season 4 Episode 3, “A Sense of Purpose,” Kimmy is there for D.J. as she navigates a working relationship with her ex, just like Max and D.J. give Jackson the love and support he needs in order to find his own personal talent.
If these first few episodes are any indication the rest of the season is going to be a splash of drama with the comedy. And it all will bring everyone closer together as a family.
Hopefully, the first real mention of Tommy, Sr. will lead to further discussions about what his absence means to each of the characters. It’d be interesting to see D.J. have a moment of doubt with Steve because of it and have them work through it.
All in all, Season 4 is already placing Fuller House amongst its predecessor as a long-running classic. The elements are all there, now we just wait to see if they’ll continue to come together.
What did you think of these episodes of Fuller House? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Fuller House is available for streaming on Netflix.
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Elias Harger Previews ‘Fuller House’ Season 4 [Exclusive Interview]
Mads Misasi
Mads is a part-time entertainment journalist and full-time marketing content creator. They love any and all TV Dramas with a few sitcoms mixed in. Join in the fun talking about TV by following them on Twitter: @dorothynyc89.