"Michelle Rides Again" is the two-part final episode of Full House.
In the first half, Danny gets involved in a rivalry with a woman, whose daughter and Michelle become friends after meeting each other in a horse-riding contest, which goes horribly wrong when the horse Michelle is riding gets spooked and throws her off it. Meanwhile Jesse and Joey gear themselves up to audition for a late-night TV show, Stephanie rehearses for a play, and Kimmy tries to help D.J. find a guy for her prom.
In the second half, Michelle is able to return home without suffering much physical injury, but her memories are lost. The rest of the Tanner family reflect on their own lives, cope with her memory loss and the possibility of her no longer being able to remember her family or the time they've shared with her, all while doing what they can to help her regain her lost memories and carry on with life in general.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: The letter "M" gets this treatment early in Joey and Jesse's wrestling practice as they prepare themselves to better understand wrestling in anticipation for their audition for a late-night TV show as wrestling commentators.Joey: Arrgh! Behold, the Masked Marvel!
Jesse: More like the Masked Meathead. - And the Adventure Continues: This episode, and this series by extension, ends with the Tanners looking back on their latest dilemma and acknowledging that they will have many more adventures ahead of them.Jesse: But we stuck it out and we got through it.
Joey: Just like we always do.
Danny: Just like we always will. - Back for the Finale: DJ frets over not being able to get a prom date, but Kimmy finds one for her — Steve.
- Call-Back: D.J. and Kimmy's B-plot revolves around Kimmy trying to find a guy for D.J. to attend their senior prom with due to D.J. not having a date. The reason for D.J. not having a date? Much of her senior year has been spent in a Love Triangle with Nelson and Viper, who made recurring appearances throughout the season, as their dialogue at the start of the part-one episode indicates.D.J.: Wow. You have a date and a dress. So far, my prom's looking like a bag of chips and a remote control.
Kimmy: Deej, you spent your whole senior year dating Nelson and Viper. Nobody knows you're available. I'll put a word out. - Competition Freak: Danny becomes competitive against the mother of a girl Michelle befriends at the horseback-riding contest, effectively turning into a Sports Dad as the result, due to said mother speaking of the outfit Michelle is wearing at the time in unflattering terms and has him Mistaken for Servant.
- Exact Words: Played for Laughs. Kimmy's method in helping to "put the word out" regarding D.J. being single and available for the senior prom involves using a marker to write her information on a bathroom wall, but D.J. objects to having her name "advertised" this way. Kimmy agrees... and then says she'd write her initials and phone number instead, before grabbing a marker from D.J.'s desk and running off, which prompts D.J. to run after her to prevent her from carrying out her proposed action.
- Extra-Long Episode: This was originally broadcast as an hour-long episode.
- Grand Finale: This is the final episode of this seriesnote .
- Hands Go Down: Early on during the first part, Kimmy finds nerds as potential prom dates for D.J., who, already unimpressed, starts her vetting process with the three who remain. It ends with her disqualifying them all.D.J.: Have any of you guys been to a dance? [two out of three have hands up] With a girl? [one hand stays up] Who wasn't in the family? [all hands are down] O.K. Thank you. We'll, uh, get back to you.
- Ironic Echo: Played for Laughs. During Jesse and Joey's wrestling practice, Joey has Jesse thrown onto the floor mat ("I think I bruised a side-burn", quips Jesse), Nicky and Alex, watching them at it, asks Jesse if he needs help, but Jesse responds "no, don't help" and tells them to sit down instead. After Joey gets himself and Jesse leg-locked with each other, Jesse asks Nicky and Alex for help, only for them to say "sorry, you said 'don't help'" before walking away, much to Jesse's chagrin.Jesse: Joey, this is all your fault.
- Memory Wipe Exploitation: Michelle suffers Trauma-Induced Amnesia after falling off her horse. Nicky and Alex then manipulate her into thinking she let them keep a Rigby the Rhino doll before the accident. After regaining her memories, Michelle catches Nicky and Alex with the doll and makes them give it back to her.Nicky and Alex: Busted!
- Mistaken for Servant: At the local horse stables during the first part:Mother: (hands a $20) Could you comb out my little girl's?
Danny: I'm a parent, not a groomer.
Mother: Oh, I'm sorry. You just have the air of stable help.
Danny: In that case, I'll take the money. [takes the bill] Thank you! - The Prom Plot: D.J. and Kimmy's B-plot throughout both parts of this episode is all about Kimmy's effort in getting a guy as D.J.'s prom date. The episode, and this series as a whole, end on the night of their senior prom.
- Running Gag: The hugging, or rather how frequently it occurs, gets lampshaded by an amnesiac Michelle during the second half:
- "Shaggy Dog" Story:
- Michelle and the girl she befriends initially enter the horse-riding contest for enjoyment, but Danny and the girl's mother push their respective daughters too much in their obsessive drive for one-upping the other, which culminates in both of them deciding to ditch the contest and ride for fun instead, effectively forfeiting themselves as the result.
- Jesse and Joey spend the early part of the first half of the episode excitedly preparing themselves for the audition for the late-night TV show, only to lose interest and begin reflecting on their own already-busy lives after Michelle's accident and resultant Trauma-Induced Amnesia.
- Shout-Out: To Milton Berle, as the animal Joey rides while he helps Danny search for Michelle when she's absent from the horse-riding contest, according to the owner, is a burro with the name "Milton".
- Sports Dad: With horseback-riding as the sport of choice. Danny turns into this with Michelle when he becomes a Competition Freak against the mother of a girl Michelle befriends. Said mother of Michelle's friend provides a female example due to pressuring her daughter in ways similar to how Danny pushes Michelle.
- Stage Magician: Though he's only mentioned and not seen, Kimmy's next prom date of choice, after the group of nerds fail to make the cut, is a cousin of Duane's who does stage magic acts for a job, though she also states that he may need to get bird droppings out of his pocket.
- Tempting Fate:
- As Rebecca talks to Jesse about his already-busy schedules, Jesse decides to set aside a moment with her, only for Joey to inadvertently ruin the moment.Joey: (off-screen) Jess, can I borrow your shaving razor?
Jesse: Gotta go. [runs off] - Right at the moment of the junior horse-riding contest, the mother of the girl Michelle befriends runs off after noticing her daughter is absent. Danny smugly states that the woman's daughter must have been unable to handle the pressure of the competition, only for Stephanie to mention that Michelle is also missing from the line-up, causing Danny and Joey to start searching for Michelle, with Jesse joining them soon afterwards.
- As Stephanie is talking to Danny on the phone after Michelle is discharged from the hospital, she asks when Danny will be back. Danny enters the house at that very moment.
- The final example plays it for heartwarming effect, when D.J. worries about who would take her to attend the senior prom after Kimmy informs her that Duane's cousin, whom Kimmy has set up to be D.J.'s prom date, can't make it.D.J.: I'm not going to the prom?
Kimmy: Don't worry, Deej, I've scrounged up another guy for you.
D.J.: I'm afraid to ask.
Steve: [walking into the house] Come on, Deej, let's go. I don't wanna miss the buffet!
- As Rebecca talks to Jesse about his already-busy schedules, Jesse decides to set aside a moment with her, only for Joey to inadvertently ruin the moment.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Michelle becomes amnesiac after falling off the spooked horse she's riding at the time. She manages to get her memories back shortly before the series' end.
