Characters should dance around certain "taboo" topics that everyone knows not to bring up. The tension built by what characters don't say is often more powerful than what they do say.

When plotting a family-centric narrative, you need a strong inciting incident or structural framework that forces these complex relationships into a pressure cooker. The Exposed Secret

These shows excel by contrasting massive external stakes (billion-dollar empires or life milestones) with intimate, painful psychological warfare between siblings and parents.

Don't just set scenes "in the house." Use specific domestic spaces to mirror the emotional states of your characters.