Warning! Spoilers ahead for the final season of Fuller House on Netflix. Look away until you've caught up!
When Lori Loughlin was revealed to be a part of the college admissions scandal in mid-March 2019, Fuller House had to think hard and fast about whether or not Loughlin's Aunt Becky would be coming back for the final season of the revival. As we know, the decision was made, within just a few days, to drop Loughlin, meaning that Season 5 wouldn't have any sudden pop in visits from the beloved character. But, seeing as how she'd been around for previous seasons, we were left to wonder how Becky's absence would be explained, and now we know.
Fuller House has now debuted its final nine episodes on Netflix, and while fans were soaking in the last bit of nostalgic fun and good feels from the she-wolf pack and their many assorted friends and family, they were also wondering if any mention would be made of Aunt Becky. So, where is she? Well, it's not until Episode 15 that fans get a reason for her absence, when Jesse stops by the Fuller house and mentions that their young daughter was bitten by another child at school. After Jesse is asked about discussing the issue with Becky, he responds:
Becky is in Nebraska helping out with her mother. I don't want to bother her with a tiny little thing like that.
We aren't given any more details about why Becky hasn't been around previously in the season, or why she doesn't show up later. And, we get no more mentions of her by the time Fuller House wraps on its final season. I can certainly understand why audiences may have wanted to get at least a bit more information on Aunt Becky, especially as D.J., Kimmy and Stephanie prepared for their massive triple wedding at the end of the season, with a lot of festivities and planning which would usually see a trusted aunt come around to help out. But, I can also see why the producers chose to keep it simple.
The Fuller House cast seems to be a pretty tight knit one, having remained close across the two decades between Full House and the start of the revival. Many of Lori Loughlin's cast mates called her a friend, and when news of her involvement in the college admissions scandal broke, the cast remained largely silent on the matter, but then seemed to refer to Loughlin and their support of her during her legal troubles when accepting last year's Kid's Choice Award for Favorite Funny TV Show.
With Loughlin being in and out of court over the past year, losing all of her acting jobs and now deciding to plead guilty (along with her husband, Mossimo Giannulli) and likely spending several weeks in prison, it has to be hard for her friends to come to terms with Loughlin's actions. On top of that, everyone knows, logistically, why she couldn't bring Becky back, so it makes a lot of sense to give a quick answer for her not being around in one episode and let it go.
It's probably a bummer for Fuller House fans that Aunt Becky couldn't show up for that wedding-palooza, but if you've seen the finale you'll know that there was enough craziness going on that the lack of Becky wasn't even really felt. So, good on Fuller House for keeping the she-wolf pack party going full steam ahead through the last moments.
You can catch the entire run of Fuller House on Netflix right now, along with plenty of other new content, but if you need more to watch, look into our guide to summer TV!
