Good Boneswas a hit show on HGTV that ran for eight seasons from 2016 to 2023. The series starred Mina Starsiak Hawk and her mother Karen E. Laine, and followed them as they flipped houses in the city of Indianapolis.The houses they flipped were, for the most part, totally worn down, which fascinated viewers as Mina and Karen took the homes from looking shabby to looking fabulous. With the series' sustained popularity, many were surprised by the announcement thatGood Boneswould be ending after eight seasons, asthe reality serieswas beloved. Initially, Mina shared that it was simply time to move on to new projects, but shortly after, the true reasons began to come to the surface. The first reason was difficulties with permits in the city of Indianapolis. She sharedin an interview with theIndianapolis Business Journal, “I have done everything I could possibly do to attempt to work within the system. It’s tricky because, in local government, very few people are in charge of a lot of big decisions. It seems for a long time this plan for the city to have urban density, growth and development was not actually being enacted by the people making those decisions.”
There was also another, and much more pressing, reason the series ended, and it involved Mina’s relationship with her mother, Karen.As the series ended, news broke thatthings between the mother-daughter duo were notall butterflies and roses.During an interview withPeople Magazineshe shared, “There were definitely some challenging [moments] because my mom and I were in some of the most challenging places I felt we’ve been.” She has shared on her podcast that, since the series ended,she and her mother have barely spoken.And it makes sense once her podcast listeners begin hearing more about her life — and her childhood was unique in a very surprising way.
Mina Starsiak Hawk Talks About Her Relationship to Alcoholism
In a 2023 episode of her podcast titled"Why We Went Sober,“Mina and her husband each talked about the ways that substance abuse was present in their childhoods. Mina admitted that in her family,she felt the term “functioning alcoholic” best described the environment she grew up in with her parents. She claimed that as a result, she simply normalized the emotional, physical, and mental impact of this lifestyle, which she referred to as “ever-present.” Mina then explained that she carried this into adulthood, saying, “It’s just always been present and problematic.”
Mina and her husband made the choice to go sober together after they noticed it was having a negative impact on their marriage. In anotherpodcast episode about their sobriety journey, Mina commented that lowered inhibitions used to make them feel more justified in picking fights and saying hurtful comments. Being raised in an environment with alcoholism is certainly challenging for any child. But it appears that now,as an adult who has chosen sobriety, Mina is breaking a cycle for her children.And it seems that Mina’s upbringing may have taught her some hard lessons about living with people who are resistant to change. Inan interview withColliderfor the eighth season ofGood Bones, Mina spoke about working in an industry filled with implicit gender bias and sexism, and her observations seem to be informed by her childhood experiences:
“You’re not gonna change people because they don’t even know that they need to change. A lot of them don’t even know they’re doing it. When you’re younger, everything’s such a big deal, and you just care so much about everything. Then you get married, have kids, people die, all these things that create more balance in your life of what’s really important…” It’s clear thatthe transition into a new life phase as a wife and mother was the start for Mina to make changes in her lifeto prioritize these new and important roles. Going sober to break a cycle forher young familyis an admirable choice for someone who only recently began to speak publicly about her experiences growing up.
Mina Starsiak Hawk’s Husband Is Mortified By Her Childhood Stories
During a recent episode ofher podcast, the theme was, “What Is Normal Parenting?” In the episode,Mina reflects on her childhood and sees the dangersthat surrounded her then that she had never even noticed. She said, “As a kid, I had so many fun adventures… looking back, I’m like, ‘What the f*** was I doing and where were my parents?'” Her husband elaborated, expressing his horror the first time he saw one of the places she lived while on a date early in their relationship. She explained that her family lived in front of a warehouse her stepfather did business out of, and they lived in a makeshift home in front of it.
Mina expanded on what it was like living there as a kid, saying, “Looking back on it as a parent, what I refer to it now is it was like a wonderland, but with, like, knives and broken glass… We would play hide and seek in the backyard and there was this outhouse with, like, a broken down boat and, you know, shattered windows. And we would have trash can fires in the metal trash can. Like, I have a small scar on my wrist because I put my wrist down on the metal trash can when I was, I don’t know, like seven or something.”
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She also remembered having fun swimming in the streets during a bad flood, something that people should generally never do, as flood water contains all kinds of dangerous contaminants.But it was her story about wandering aroundwith her siblings that takes the cake. She shared, “Me and my brothers would take the dogs, because we had eight dogs… We’d take a couple of them and we would think we would find these treasures. These poor homeless people, we were stealing their s*** because they were sleeping under the bridge and we were like, ‘Oh my God! We found this [and] we found this [and] we found this.It was just homeless people’s stuff, now I know that as an adult.”Mina’s childhood stories are certainly dark, but they also helped shape her into the person and parent that she is today.
Mina Starsiak Hawk Has an Up-and-Down Relationship With Her Mother Karen E. Laine
In the past, Hawk has been forthright about her relationship with her mother, Laine. When she spoke with Collider, Hawk opened up about the pair’s “up-and-down” relationship.
“We’ve had moments where we were probably dysfunctionally close and then moments where we didn’t speak for years. The start of the show was one of those times when we were really, really close…We were like each other’s number one, we were doing this together and as we’ve gotten older, she got married, and I got married, and I’ve had [two] kids; so many things have happened since the show started. She retired. It’s really hard to maintain a good balance when you don’t really have a great base like we do, particularly in the microscope of the show, because it just creates so many more dynamics.”
Hawk went on to discuss why Laine’s involvement in the show decreased, citing the pair’s mismatched needs as her mother headed toward retirement. “I’m trying to build an empire, she wants to slow down, and until we got on the same page with that and what that looked like, it was tough.” Hawk sharing more details of her childhood on her podcast sheds new light on her relationship with her mother. She used to view her childhood as “a wonderland,” but it’s clear that,upon reflection, Hawk recognized the unusual nature of her upbringing. Whether or not this played a factor in the show remains to be seen, but what is clear is that Mina Starsiak Hawk’s ability to view her childhood in the light of being a parent has caused her to have a new outlook on her relationship with her mother.
On her podcast, Mina stated, “As I’ve gotten older, I think you get to a point where you may start seeing your parents more as just, like, humans that exist versus just your parents.And I don’t think that makes excuses for a lot of things, but I think it helps me understand things.” She continued, “And if you can understand it, even though it wasn’t okay and it should have been different or whatever, you can understand why it was the way it was. I think once you can understand, you can have some empathy.”
Can There Ever Be Reconciliation?
For many long-time fans ofGood Bones, they were given a shock as HGTV revealed that the beloved series would be returning to television for an abbreviated special season. Despite the conflict between mother and daughter,Good Bones: New Beginningshas given the women a chance at reconciliation. Except not exactly;the series focuses on Mina and Karen on their own personal journeys.The limited-run special season showcases Mina as she tackles a lakehouse in Martinsville, Indiana. For Karen, she is working on her own beach bungalow in Wilmington, North Carolina. But without the women sharing any projects, only the televised title, it continues to hammer home the fact that reconciliation between families might not be on the horizon.
Karen and Mina have an immensely complicated relationship and no television show is going to reunite them at this time.Good Bonesshined when viewers witnessed Mina and Karen together. But forcing them to share a show rather than rebranding into two separate entities proves that they are forever tied, not only in blood but by career.Experiencing a childhood that was less-than idyllic has weighed heavily into Mina’s life, her journey through pain and trauma has allowed her into a strong, confident woman. And that spirit is what has drawn viewers to her andGood Bones. While reconciliation is what fans would be overjoyed to see, both Mina and Karen seem eager to embark on the next journey in their lives.
Mina has understood the errors of the past through the lens of being a mother. And perhaps the more she learns about being a mom might allow that bond to return in the future. The more you grow, the more you understand. As the new series shows, the lakehouse that Mina is working on is an opportunity for healing for her and her family. For Mina, it’s her rift with family and friends from the past. For her husband Steve,it’s the immense loss he’s suffered greatly recently.Knowing how Mina feels about Steve having his time cut short with his family,it might end up being the catalyst that ignites the bond with her mother.Can time heal old wounds?
Good Bonesis available to stream on Max in the U.S.
Good Bones
A reality TV series featuring the dynamic mother-daughter team of Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk, who specialize in revitalizing old homes in Indianapolis. The show documents their journey as they purchase dilapidated properties and meticulously renovate them into beautiful, functional living spaces. With a focus on craftsmanship and design, each episode presents the obstacles they overcome and the creative strategies they employ to breathe new life into neglected homes. The series combines elements of renovation expertise, family collaboration, and the revitalization of local communities.
