"Taking The Plunge" is an episode in the eighth season of Full House.
D.J.'s and Kimmy's college application results are revealed, and D.J., despite being turned down by Stanford, her dream university, does get accepted into Berkeley, making her fare better than Kimmy, who has been rejected by every major university in California. This causes Kimmy to decide to run off to Reno to marry Duane, her boyfriend, which, in turn, prompts D.J., with Nelson in tow, to rush to Reno to prevent the wedding, with Jesse and Danny following them there due to a misunderstanding. Meanwhile Joey goes to meet the Queen of England, but a misunderstanding causes the visit to go awry.
Tropes in this episode:
- Actually a Good Idea: Zigzagged. When mourning her rejection from Stanford, Stephanie jokingly suggests marrying her rich ex-boyfriend Nelson. DJ quips back that's a good idea with how she's feeling. This, alongside a smudged up note, leads the family to think she actually went through with it, when the note really said that she was going with Nelson in his private jet to stop Kimmy from marrying her boyfriend Duane.
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Kimmy leaves on a sad prospect of D.J. and herself no longer being together as best friends after high school, Stephanie quips with "that's gotta brighten your day a little". Jesse chuckles at Stephanie's remark, before he stops smiling at the sight of D.J. casting a withering look at him.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
- Danny's advice about Kimmy marrying Duane goes this way:Danny: Don't get married because you're scared, or because you're trying to run away from your problems... [cast a look at Duane] or because you just want to make sure you have a plumber at two in the morning.note
- Kimmy delivers this line when she and D.J. mention the prospect of life after high school, when they're expected to be apart:Kimmy: But, Deej, it wouldn't be the same without you. I mean, who am I going to hang out with? Talk to about boys? Copy my homework from?
- Danny's advice about Kimmy marrying Duane goes this way:
- Black Comedy Burst: The result of having a Friday the 13th Themed Wedding in a kid-friendly sitcom.
- British Royal Guards: One appears when Joey and his Girl of the Week were going to meet Queen Elizabeth II. Joey attempts to get a rise out of one, presumably failing. He turns away, and the guard then kicks him.
- Chainsaw Good: Averted. A chainsaw is utilized as a prop to start off the Friday the 13th-based wedding theme, but Kimmy finds the fumes from the chainsaw nauseating, so the wedding minister turns it off and puts it down.
- Comically Small Bribe: Kimmy attaches a $20 bill with her college application to Stanford in the hope that they'd overlook/ignore her poor academic records and accept her anyway. It fails, and Stanford even sends her rejection letter with $40 and a note saying "Let's pretend this never happened".
- Disapproving Look: D.J. casts one such look at Jesse when he chuckles at Stephanie reacting to Kimmy's belief that her time together with D.J. as best friends will end after high school with saying "that's gotta brighten your day a little".
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: As Kimmy is about to get hitched with Duane in a Friday the 13th Themed Wedding, she asks D.J. to be her "victim of honor".
- Ivy League for Everyone: A realistic subversion. When applying for college, it's revealed DJ had her heart set on the prestigious, but not Ivy League, Stanford. Despite having a good SAT score, respectable extra-curriculars, a good personality, and an outstanding GPA, she still got rejected. After she mourns, she recognizes that she still got into the only slightly less prestigious Berkeley and is waiting to hear back from other schools.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: The note Kimmy receives in return for her college application reads "Let's pretend this never happened".
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: As far as Kimmy could tell, D.J. gets to spread her wings in Berkley while she herself is going nowhere, and D.J. would eventually make new friends and have a life without her. This drives her decision to get married with Duane.Kimmy: Face it, Deej... life together as we know it is over.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Danny and Jesse, at D.J.'s request, try to talk Kimmy out of her would-be wedding to Duane and their prepared speech isn't getting the desired effect, the exchange below takes place:Jesse: Uh, Kimmy, what we're trying to say here is that we-we-we-we... *beat* care about you.
Kimmy: Really? You do? I can't believe what I'm hearing.
Jesse: I can't believe what I'm saying. - Poor Communication Kills: The cast gets hit hard by this trope in this episode, but thankfully it's Played for Laughs.
- D.J. leaves a note about going to Reno with Nelson to stop Kimmy's wedding, but Comet chews all over it due to the combination of his own hunger and the smell of corned beef sandwich on the note (D.J. was holding one such sandwich before writing the note in question), which results in the message on the note too botched to understand easily, leaving only certain keywords like "D.J.", "Nelson", "Reno", and "married". The note in question gets brought up during the conversation between D.J. and Jesse/Danny.D.J.: Didn't you read my note?Jesse: Yeah, we did, but, after Comet slobbered all over it, some parts of the message got... well, lost in translation.
- Not helping matters is the facts that A) Nelson had lent D.J. some earrings he brought with him in a jewelry box in anticipation of meeting the Queen, before Kimmy's wedding announcement to D.J. threw a wrench into the meeting schedule, and B) Stephanie and Rebecca found the empty jewelry box after D.J. and Nelson had already left for Reno. The empty jewelry box + a botched note about getting married = misunderstanding about D.J. marrying Nelson.
- Nor does it help that, earlier in the episode, Stephanie actually suggested (presumably in jest) for D.J. to marry Nelson in order for him to pay for the expenses of whatever D.J. decides to do after high school, while D.J. was still rather disappointed with being rejected by Stanford.Stephanie: And who knew that, after 12 years of not listening to me, she'd start now?
- On the other hand, Danny's initial assessment about the message is even more wildly inaccurate.Danny: Why would Janet Reno
want to marry Willie Nelson?Rebecca: Well, that's one way of interpreting the message.
- Joey tries to take a picture of the Queen due to Michelle handing him a camera before he went to the meeting and requesting for him to take some photos of the Queen, but his poorly-timed words and action cause the guards there to mistake him for an assassin, pin him down, and confiscate the camera before he gets to take any photo.
- D.J. leaves a note about going to Reno with Nelson to stop Kimmy's wedding, but Comet chews all over it due to the combination of his own hunger and the smell of corned beef sandwich on the note (D.J. was holding one such sandwich before writing the note in question), which results in the message on the note too botched to understand easily, leaving only certain keywords like "D.J.", "Nelson", "Reno", and "married". The note in question gets brought up during the conversation between D.J. and Jesse/Danny.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After hearing that Joey is going to meet the then Queen of England, Michelle requests for him to take some pictures of her. Joey agrees, but his poorly-timed words and actions at the occasion cause the guards there to mistake him for an assassin, pin him down, and confiscate the camera before he gets to take any photo.
- Shout-Out: Two examples, as wedding themes.
- The couple getting married there before Kimmy and Duane are to pick a theme of their choice went with Star Trek.Minister: Live long... and pay the cashier on your way out.
- The theme Kimmy picks is Friday the 13th because Kimmy believes not many people select it; Nelson mutters in agreement.
- The couple getting married there before Kimmy and Duane are to pick a theme of their choice went with Star Trek.
- Spanner in the Works: Comet indirectly helps to get Kimmy's wedding with Duane stopped by slobbering on the note D.J. writes due to it smelling like corned beef sandwich — D.J. was holding one such sandwich before writing the note in question. This results in the rest of the Tanner family mistakenly believing that D.J. would marry Nelson because of the botched state of the note, which, once Jesse and Danny arrive at the wedding chapel, allows D.J. to request help from Jesse and Danny to talk Kimmy out of marriage.
- Themed Wedding: The wedding chapel in Reno where Kimmy and Duane decide to get hitched serve such weddings, with the participants picking their own preferred theme of choice. Kimmy picks Friday the 13th; the couple before Kimmy and Duane are set to go chooses Star Trek.
- Why Waste a Wedding?: Averted. Kimmy's wedding with Duane is called off after D.J., with help from Jesse and Danny, manages to persuade Kimmy not to go through with the wedding.Jesse: I don't know how to break it to you, but... the wedding's off, kid.Duane: Whatever.
