Is the 'Good Bones' Family Drama a Breakdown or a Breakthrough?

We don’t often watch HGTV shows for the drama, but when there is tension on the screen, it can make it a bit more interesting. The latest scandal has to do with the family drama on Good Bones, one of HGTV’s long-running home renovation series. In its ninth and final season, Good Bones began with Mina Starsiak Hawk and her mother, Karen E. Laine.

Karen and Mina were the perfect mother-daughter duo for HGTV. Mina had been working part-time as a waiter while Karen was a defense attorney. They began flipping homes in their spare time and went pro with their hobby under their joint venture, Two Chicks and a Hammer, Inc. But in August 2023, Mina revealed that she’s not on great terms with Karen or her half-brother, Tad Starsiak. So what’s the drama?

One of the great draws of Good Bones is that it’s all about a female-run family business. Karen and Mina were at the center of it and for a long time, they were the shining example of an ideal mother-daughter relationship. Not only that, but they were in charge of the renovations, while their male family members often worked for them.

The most frequent visitor on Good Bones is Tad, Mina’s half-brother. Tad and Mina share a father, Casey Starsiak, with whom Karen had two other kids. Tad’s mom, Cheryl, had another daughter alongside Tad. She then divorced Casey and remarried her ex-husband, Lenny, which makes Lenny Tad’s stepfather. Lenny later appeared on Good Bones for a few seasons as a trusted contractor.

Since Cheryl passed away and both Tad and Mina had a falling-out with their biological father, Tad moved in with Karen and started working on their job sites. Karen and Lenny became parental figures for Tad, who still has a lot of growing up to do, according to viewers. In fact, Tad often ignored Mina’s instructions for safety and performance, which could have led to tension between the half-siblings.

It’s unclear as to what exactly went down between Mina and Karen, but fans watching noticed that they barely talk to one another in Season 8. While we know there’s a rift, we don’t know what caused it, but some fans speculate that it could be due to working together, living next to each other, and disagreeing about various business decisions.

In an Aug. 28 episode of her podcast, Mina AF, Mina told listeners that she’s “not on good terms” with Karen or Tad. She brought this up while discussing who to invite to her son’s fifth birthday party, wondering if she should invite them despite being at a “status quo” where they just “exist” around each other.

"No one's punching the other person in the face by any means," Mina said. "We all just exist because it's what makes my dad happy. And that's fine. That's been fine for a long time. It's fine for a lot of families. I just don't think it's fine anymore."

While Mina doesn’t give much insight into what exactly caused this tension, as she discusses Karen’s relationship with Mina’s kids, we sense some issues.

“I think a lot of times we think about our parents and we're like 'Wow, you were a sh---y parent. Why are you such a good grandparent?'" she said.

She continued, "And we all know the answer. It's just, it's a different relationship. You've had the chance to make the mistakes with your kids. Like, these are your grandkids, the pressure's off, it's great. But I don't have that which is challenging."

Meanwhile, over on Reddit, some Redditors have suggested that Mina changed with fame into someone who Karen doesn’t get along with.

It’s also unclear what happened between Mina and Tad, but some believe that Tad’s years of shirking off his older sister’s authority finally caught up with them. Tad seemingly responded to Mina’s dig on the podcast in an Instagram post, which he captioned, “Recognize the power in the pause and release those negative feelings. We only get so much time to live on this earth, why spend any amount on it being angry? It’s just not worth it.”

After plenty of comments suggesting he was referring to his relationship with his sister, he later commented, “Just so everyone knows, this post has nothing to do with any specific instance in my personal life. It's a life lesson I've learned along the way that I enjoy sharing with everyone so their lives might be happier!” Whatever his post may be about, it seems like Good Bones doesn't end in the happiest place.

Although Mina and select family members still seem to be on rocky terrain, that didn't stop the Good Bones star from celebrating the holidays in 2023. During a Jan. 8, 2024 episode of Mina AF, she explained that she and Steve didn't celebrate Thanksgiving with a huge family gathering because she "felt like the fallout from not being there was going to be more manageable than the bad feelings I would have from being there and sitting at a table and pretending everything was okay.”

Instead, they went to visit her dad and stepmom prior to the holiday. After that, she decided to "[adjust her] mindset to "I can’t control any of this."

She added, “I’ve said my piece, people know where I stand, and me being angstful or upset or stressed out at this point is really affecting no one but me. So, I’m just going to move on mentally and make the decisions that I think are right, do the things that I think are best, and if other people don’t, then they’ve shown me who they are and where they stand and I can make my own decisions from there.”

While it's clear there is still tension within Mina's family, she did manage to attend all of her family's Christmas celebrations, so she gets an A for effort. As we all know, family rifts can take a toll on our physical and emotional health, so we can only hope that Mina's family pushes past the struggles and comes out stronger!

Season 9 of Good Bones premiered on August 14, 2024, kicking off a limited run that will consist of just three episodes.