Fuller House Recap: And They Called It Puppy Love

Every week, we're recapping Fuller House season two, episode by episode.

After the last episode's graveyard snooze, Fuller House gives us an actually welcome episode about nothing. It's when Fuller House isn't trying so hard that it's truly most endearing. Well, "endearing" might be a stretch when it comes to DJ's middle child, Max. He's been hung up on the "One Kid Can Make a Difference" project, which we're pretty sure was just summer busy work, but that doesn't matter. He's been exercising his activism all season, this week landing on the idea to create a small sustainable farm in the backyard.

Ever the over-achiever, Max comes home with not one, but four chickens for his farm (named Danny, Joey, Jesse, and Becky). This all came as a surprise to DJ, but she quickly gave in and let him keep them. He puts them outside in their coop and gives them corn on the cob. Cosmo the dog is keeping guard close by and Max tosses a cob out for him to fetch while he continues to tend to his roost.

Meanwhile, inside, Ramona and Kimmy are pushing all the furniture around to make room for a dance audition she has for a private coach, Seniore Pignoli, who will hopefully help her land a spot at San Francisco School of the Arts. Her parents are characteristically enthusiastic and supportive, even pretending to have just come form a ballroom class in order to prove their family's commitment to dance. It was horrifying, but well-intentioned. No matter how much we loathe them as a couple, they sure do love their daughter fiercely.

Pignoli is played by real life Dancing with the Stars judge, Bruno Tonioli. This is not the first DWTS cameo (fun fact: Candace Cameron Bure and Jodie Sweetin have both been contestants). Last season, Val and Maksim Chmerkovskiy appeared as two creepers at a night club. Ramona completes her routine, and the Seniore is impressed. However, he'd like to see her try and tango. Although she banished her parents after the ballroom dancing incident, she invites her papa to come dance with her. Impressed by the whole family, Pignoli agrees to be her coach.

Elsewhere, DJ is trying to juggle a play date for Tommy with two other boys from the neighborhood. She also gets an unexpected visit from Matt and his girlfriend, Crystal, who are coming in from a long bike ride to ask to use the bathroom (totally normal). In the midst of all the chaos, she notices Cosmo is gnawing at the corn on the cob Max gave him. She quickly recognizes that as a hazard, but it's too late - he's managed to swallow it whole. Lucky for Cosmo, he had two qualified vets in the house who rally to the clinic they thankfully own and operate.

Even though they work together every single day, this day is suddenly different for some reason. Matt's willingness to spring into action to save the dog lit a spark in DJ, who had muffled the flame since Matt showed up with his much younger girlfriend. Even though she seemed more visibly annoyed by Steve's lookalike girlfriend, apparently it was Matt she was pining for all along. It all seems very sudden, given how little he's been around, but we're going with it.

After a few close calls at the clinic, they leave without resolving their feelings. Later that night though, Matt barges in and lays a big one on her. He tells her that he broke things off with Crystal and is ready to give a relationship a real shot. It's a bit frustrating since he's the one who decided to move on, but again, we're just going with it. As excited as we were to see what other love interests might come into DJ's life, it's nice that she gets a second chance to get it right.

There was also a lesson to be learned for Max, who kept repeatedly beating himself for being a bad "dog daddy" and giving Cosmo the wrong thing to fetch with. Jackson reminds him of the time he lost his pet Gecko, because everyone makes mistakes. When Max still isn't convinced, he tries to pawn ol' Cosmo off on his mom, who explains that he wasn't being a bad doggy daddy at all. Being a parent isn't about being perfect, it's about love. That is to say, loving your child even when he brings home four chickens.