Fuller House Season 2 was everything I had hoped it would be.
Did I enjoy Season 1? Yes. Yes, I did. It was met with some pretty critical reviews when it was released, sighting the hokey feeling of the show as a negative. However, what critics maybe did not take into account was the fact that OG Full House fans wanted to see the cheese. That feel-good hokey laugh-track filled atmosphere is something that Full House fans enjoyed -- Fuller House is a modern embodiment of the pleasure fans felt watching the show as a child.
The fact that Fuller House kept the catch phrases resonated with fans. Though, obviously, these things were not the only reasons Full House was popular in its day. For me, and for many other fans, Full House was a show that prized quirky people. It was a show that illustrated how a non-traditional family could still be a functional and loving environment in which children could flourish. That was important in a time where most TV families still relegated themselves to the expected social norms.
Fuller House Season 2 keeps just enough of that original magic alive. This season, however, wasn't entirely fueled by one-liners and references to the original show. It took a step forward; it has evolved into its own show.
In Season 2, we are re-introduced to some of the original characters from the show (We're looking at you, Gia) and tossed in some new characters--including an entire family, albeit an annoying one, for Joey Gladstone. The Full House universe is expanding, and that's great.
We also get to see some real issues tackled this time around. Yes, DJ was facing some trials in season one. But, there was enough nonsense that we didn't really deal with complex emotions. This time around, Danny is having a 2/3 life crisis, Jesse and Becky are debating adopting a child, Kimmy is secretly reconciling with her ex-husband, DJ is facing rejection from the two men who were previously vying for her attention and she's turning 40, and Stephanie is testing the waters with a Tanner-Gibbler love affair. We also get to see the Fuller children grow into their own a bit more.
The season was touching, funny, and ultimately very familiar, though new. Several shows are re-inventing themselves or attempting this "next generation" concept (Girl Meets World), and there's really something to it. It is really cool to see the flashback scenes use actual clips from the original show. We're seeing the same person, decades apart, instead of a facsimile of the actor portraying a younger version of the character. The success of this show might make this something that is sustainable in another generation as well. DJ's children could grow up and do the same thing again.
