Fuller House – Declarations of Independence

By: Gladys Luna

The Fuller and Gibbler family are getting ready for their usual 4^th of July celebration. As always, DJ (Candace Cameron Bure) is excited to cook her favorites and colorful variety of dishes, but this time she is not the only one as Fernando (Juan Pablo Di Pace) shows up dressed like a cowboy and speaking with a fake Texan accent and referring to himself as “Frank Smith.” Kimmy (Andrea Barber) explains that every year, Fernando becomes very patriotic as a way to show the love for the land that adopted him.

Jimmy (Adam Hagenbuch) breaks in the kitchen pulling Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) on a chair since she still has a broken ankle. He offered himself to be her “Little Rascal,” but Stephanie asks him not to help her. She wants to be able to do things by herself so she makes an agreement with the family to not to help her in anyway. Max (Elias Harger) seems to be thrilled about the holiday so he innocently asks DJ for some dynamite in order to celebrate properly and impress Rose (McKenna Grace), but the woman explains to him that it is not needed.

Danny (Bob Saget) makes his entrance to his old home and everyone is so happy to see him. After a friendly exchange with the family, he explains the reason why he is there as he is interviewing Matt (John Brotherton) and DJ for his show “Wake Up USA.” Kimmy tries to tease him and tells him that he didn’t bring anything for the barbecue and he replies that he hasn’t seen that she is paying any rent for staying at his house, making the woman to drop the subject and welcome him again to the celebration.

Ramona (Soni Nicole Bringas) is in her room when suddenly her friend Lola (Ashley Liao) walks in and they both jump out of excitement since they haven’t seen each other in a while. Lola explains that she has been trying to avoid Jackson (Michael Campion) and that´s the main reason she hasn’t visited Ramona. She tells the other girl that her boyfriend is so clingy and she has decided to break up with him, but she doesn’t know how to do it. Right in that moment, she receives a text from the guy asking several questions about how she is. As he sees that Lola does not send a reply, he texts the same questions to Ramona since he knows the two girls are now together.

Ramona helps Lola and pretends to be Jackson in order to find the best way to break up with him. And once again, Jackson texts Lola saying he is coming in along with his grandfather Danny. Jackson takes two maracas that he´s been hiding behind his back while Danny plays the guitar. They both start to sing “Copacabana,” which makes the two girls run away. Of course, that didn’t stop the two from continuing to sing and dance.

Matt, Danny and DJ are getting ready for their Facebook Live for Danny´s show about how to protect your pets on these kind of holidays, but the woman seems to be so nervous since she has never done anything like this before. Matt tries to calm her down and asks her to follow his lead. The streaming starts and as soon as it does, DJ takes the streaming device away from Danny and starts to explain the kind of food that may harm the pets and how to prevent from them to eat it. She steals away all the attention and by the end of the streaming Matt has been just left out. The man doesn’t seem to be so happy with the results, but DJ doesn’t caught on that.

Max invites Rose to the backyard as a way to perform an experiment for the girl. He had set a table with two bottles of soda and has handed the girl a pair of googles and an effervescent pill. He informs her that at the count of three they would have to throw the pill in the soda and wait for the results. He starts to count, but the girl throws the pill before time on purpose and the sodas explode covering Max in the sticky liquid from head to toes. Rose cracks up by watching Max´s reaction, but the kid is not happy at all about it because his “most patriotic vest” has been ruined by the girl´s shenanigans. He goes back inside the house leaving a very confused Rose in the backyard.

In the meantime, Stephanie had managed pretty well so far without any help or so she thinks, until her phone is ringing. When she asks Jimmy to pass the phone to her, he refuses as it´ll be like helping her which she asked him not to. She takes her crutches and goes to take her phone and she is requested to provide her account number, but she remembers that her card is in her purse so she asks for her boyfriend´s help but once again he refuses to do it. Steph walks to her purse and then, the timer for DJ´s pies rings so she screams for help, but nobody is around to hear her. She attempts to move towards the stove and then her phone falls to the floor. She leaves it there while she still manages to reach for the pies. Tommy (Dashiell Messitt/Fox Messitt) walks in and Stephanie asks him to pick up her phone and give it to her, but the kid just takes it and runs straight to the backyard leaving a very frustrated Stephanie behind.

The family is now gathered in the backyard and are ready to participate in the “Danny Tanner´s World Cleanest Pie Eating Contest.” The family have been set in pairs: Tommy and Ramona, Lola and Jackson, Matt and DJ, Stephanie and Jimmy, Fernando and Kimmy and Cosmo is on its own. Danny starts to explain the rules of the contest and to judge by the couples’ behavior, it does not seem it will turn out very well. Danny announces that the winner will earn the “Golden Napkin.” The contest begins and so does the mess. Everyone starts to throw the pie towards each other while Danny freaks out by the scene before him. So, he blows his whistle and decides to disqualify them all. He explains that he taught them differently about how to solve their problems. “They talk it out, they work it out and then, they hug it out.” He makes the couples to solve their problems starting by DJ and Matt. He expresses how he felt left out and DJ apologizes to him.

Kimmy confronts Fernando and tells him that she hates “Frank Smith” so he tries to stay out of his character and goes back to being Fernando again. Stephanie explains to Jimmy that it is not like she doesn’t want to be helped at all. She wants him to help her sometimes so when he finally understands it, the problem is sorted out. Rose and Max are next, the little girl apologizes to Max for the prank she played on him and for laughing at him and he forgives her. Lola and Jackson´s turn has arrived. The young man believes that everything is ok with them, but then Lola says it isn’t and before she breaks up with him. Jackson throws a speech exactly as Ramona predicted earlier that day. He runs inside the house and is followed by Kimmy, DJ and Stephanie. Danny promises to follow them, but first he has to award the winner that it turns out to be Cosmo.

Kimmy, DJ and Stephanie try to cheer Jackson up. Stephanie says that he will eventually meet someone great just made for him, just like she found Jimmy after she broke up with her boyfriend. The same goes for DJ, when she confesses that after she broke up with Steve (Scott Weinger) she met Jackson´s father. And as usual, Kimmy´s uncommon pep talk doesn’t go so well when she assures him that Lola will surely meet someone wonderful too now that she had broken up with him. Danny asks to be left alone with Jackson. He starts to tell him that there are some people that aren’t meant to be together and that he saw that Lola was taking him for granted so he deserves better. He begins to list a couple of things that apparently Lola didn’t thank Jackson for, but at some point the conversation turned to be about Danny himself and not his grandson. Jackson asks him if he is ok and then Danny confesses that he got divorced, but he asks the guy to keep it a secret. He promises to do it, but he is not the only one since DJ, Kimmy and Steph have been listening to the whole conversation. Danny explains that he was embarrassed about his situation so he decided not to tell them. After having it all in the open, he earns a hug from the three women. Jackson goes downstairs and meets with Lola who is still in the house. She apologizes to him and he forgives her. They agree to be friends and Ramona also asks them not to put her in the middle since Lola is her best friend and Jackson is almost like a brother to her.

The whole family is gathered again in the backyard to watch the fireworks. Another day goes by and a new one will bring some more adventures.

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