Indy Chronicler

Nothing lasts ceaselessly. Homes. TV exhibits. Not even open idea residing. It’s onerous to think about now, however someday we received’t need our messy kitchens on show from the entrance door.

Sadly, we don’t must think about life past Good Bones. It’s right here. After eight seasons, the HGTV hit based mostly in Indianapolis has turned out the lights. The tip follows host Mina Starsiak Hawk’s choice to reduce her renovation firm, Two Chicks and a Hammer. Her workers was burned out attempting to renovate and movie 13 homes a yr. The friction turned an excessive amount of. The enjoyment was lengthy gone. Mina made the gut-wrenching choice to name it quits and re-evaluate her profession.

There’s possible much more to it. Covid didn’t assist. Two Chicks was a household firm, with a number of of Mina’s family members and shut mates on workers. Rumors nonetheless swirl that unhealthy blood contaminated Good Bones, however out of respect for the folks concerned and the elusive full fact, we’ll chorus from speculating. Mina discusses a few of it on her podcast, Mina AF, for these within the backstory from her perspective.

However, it’s protected to say the tears on the finale are largely these of pleasure. Tad Starsiak, Mina’s brother and the demo chief since day one, finishes his new home and proposes to his girlfriend within the kitchen (she says sure). Tad has grown up earlier than our eyes on Good Bones, evolving from the reckless “Tadmanian Satan” who broke issues he shouldn’t, to the extra accountable “Demogod” crew chief, to the proprietor of Hammer Building, his personal firm. Now he’s settling down with quirky accountant Anna, with whom he shares a love of J.R.R. Tolkien books.

The episode is stuffed with candy surprises for Anna (and for the remainder of us—there’s a pullup contest on the Iron Timbers workshop). Within the means of adorning their moody, eclectic new dwelling, which is painted black on the outside (one other pattern that undoubtedly received’t final ceaselessly), Tad pulls out all of the stops for his girl.

First, he brings in chocolate-scented mulch. Then fluffy yellow ducklings as new pets. Then the snail-shaped cupboard pulls she requested. Then a customized gate with the White Tree of Gondor from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. And eventually, a one-of-a-kind Elvish engagement ring impressed by the identical saga.

Discuss sealing the deal.

Tad is a ball of feelings for the entire episode. Six minutes in, he broadcasts that he’s a crier and can in all probability weep throughout the entire means of adorning the home with the assistance of Mina and Two Chicks designer MJ Coyle. “I’m so grateful [for] their experience,” he says, including that it wouldn’t really feel proper in the event that they weren’t there to assist.

They hone the precise model of “eclectic and moody” that Tad and Anna wish to “Outdated World, traveled, antique-y, with some quirk.” Mina suggests they carry within the quirk by way of just a few large items, not a ton of tchotchkes. Anna needs the home to really feel prefer it has been lived in for 40 years, nevertheless it’s onerous to pretend a curated life—the purpose is to stay it first and construct it as you go. Nonetheless, just a few design tips can set the tone with out feeling disjointed.

They go for smoky green-gray wall colours and go looking for stone for the counter tops within the kitchen, moist bar, and library. (Pause for the trigger: Who would have thought within the early seasons that Tad was a library sort of man?) In the primary suite, Tad and Anna clarify their plan to cease the black-green tile on the fringe of the moist room (a bathtub and showerhead in a doorless space, one other pattern). It might cease halfway under a window, and the remainder of the room can be drywall. Mina says it might look low cost and cease the attention, and it’s well worth the cash to proceed the tile by way of the entire room to make it really feel larger and look cohesive.

If it’s quirky they need, Karen has simply the factor. In her studio, she and Austin unleash feathers on a costume kind they salvaged from the attic of Tad’s new home. It’s weird and god-awful and has plumage that appears like a turkey. Karen is aware of it’s ridiculous and FaceTimes MJ so he’ll inform her to drop the glue gun, however he simply permits her as an alternative. Karen feels “compelled” to proceed assembling it for a cause she can’t clarify. She and Austin title it Desiree and acknowledge that Desiree shouldn’t exist.

Fortunately, the finale makes one final journey to Iron Timbers in small-town Osgood in Southern Indiana. Iron Timbers is a father-and-sons enterprise that does immaculate customized woodworking and metallic work. Two Chicks has collaborated with them for a lot of seasons. Tad asks them to make a ladder and a railing for a loft and incorporate the White Tree of Gondor into the design. Tad might have grown up, however he’s nonetheless Tad, so he challenges Caleb and Dustin, the Iron Timbers sons, to a pullup contest on the forklift blades. Tad does three and Caleb and Dustin blow him away with 18 and 17, respectively.

On landscaping day, Tad says he intends to be taught the names of the vegetation Karen chooses out of respect for her work, which is admittedly considerate. Mina swings by with “a cute child”—her 2-year-old, Charlotte—after which Karen breaks out the chocolaty cocoa bean mulch and a waddling (that’s what it’s referred to as) of child geese. They’ll must stay within the bathtub till a construction is constructed. By the top of the episode, the geese have their very own mini model of the home.

On the jeweler to design the engagement ring, Tad says, “It lastly appears like I’m getting this slice of happiness that I’ve actually wished for a very long time. And I’m getting it on this superb lady.” Later, he says of the home, “I can take a look at each nook and see the elements of my household that helped me construct it. I wouldn’t be right here with out this staff throughout me, and I simply can’t wait to point out Anna what we constructed for her.” Of all of the muses on Good Bones, they saved one of the best for final.

Anna, who, in contrast to Tad, is just not a crier, certainly tears up strolling within the entrance door with Tad, Karen, and Mina. She’s overwhelmed by how stunning it’s, by the snail cupboard pulls and the White Tree of Gondor gate to the loft. And so many residing rooms! 4! The principle one downstairs, one upstairs, a sitting room that’s a part of the primary bed room suite, and the loft (which has a pink sofa)!

They meet their new roommate, Desiree, the tragic feathered torso perched on the library’s moist bar. Tad graciously says he likes her, and she or he’ll be a superb dialog piece. Karen indicators off from Good Bones in true kind: “I really like her, and she or he’s all the pieces, and she or he shouldn’t exist. It’s all proper there. And that’s how everybody feels about her. Why … however then they’re drawn to her. It doesn’t make any sense.” It’s simple to think about Karen having lengthy conversations with Desiree on holidays after just a few glasses of wine.

Alone within the kitchen with Anna, Tad sweetly factors out the place he’s going to do the dishes and the place he’s going to cook dinner them duck egg omelets, and on the nook of the island, he says that is going to be her favourite spot … as a result of it’s there that he drops to a knee and pops the query, calling her his “dearest companion.”

Their households pour in from one other room, and the final scene of Good Bones is Tad giving a champagne toast. “It’s a second you get to have ceaselessly, and it’s so particular.”

Two Chicks and a Hammer got down to give new life to outdated houses, working in neighborhoods the place Mina and Karen stay, on this author’s opinion as a result of they care about their neighborhood. They did that for 103 episodes, driving tourism to Indianapolis and exhibiting magnificence photographs of downtown and Fountain Sq. to thousands and thousands of HGTV viewers. They actually elevated dwelling values in Fountain Sq., Bates-Hendricks, and the Outdated Southside, contributing (together with different flippers) to the improved livability, in addition to the gentrification, of these urban-core neighborhoods—for each the nice and the unhealthy. They opened a house retailer in Bates-Hendricks, which is able to shut on the finish of the yr. Mina turned HGTV royalty, showing on specials like Rock the Block and Battle on the Seashore.

What’s subsequent? Apparently not a present for Tad, which I speculated about as Good Bones targeted on his new firm this season. However on her podcast, Mina says she expects to have an extended future with HGTV and has pitched different exhibits. She has additionally talked about that some specials may air subsequent summer time. Within the meantime, she is going to maintain doing what she loves—renovating homes—simply not on the feverish tempo that cameras require. In case you miss Good Bones and Mina’s private trials and tribulations, hearken to her podcast, Mina AF, for plenty of behind-the-scenes tales and confessional ideas.

However for now, it’s goodbye, Good Bones.

Goodbye, gross discoveries.

Goodbye, bathroom Rochambeaus.

Goodbye, bobo vibes.

Goodbye, jorts.

Goodbye, Carrara marble.

Goodbye, barn doorways.

Goodbye, Iron Timbers.

Goodbye, Mama Chick’s Home.

Goodbye, Justin Vining.

Goodbye, Rottmann Collier Architects.

Goodbye, Toey.

Goodbye, Mina, Karen, Tad, MJ, and Austin.

And good luck to you all.