Some family dramas have no villain. They are about two people who love each other but have caused each other immense pain through misunderstanding or pride. The entire storyline is the agonizing dance toward a conversation that should have happened twenty years ago.
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.
: Drama stemming from rigid, dysfunctional rules —such as the "no talk" or "no trust" rules—passed down through history. Foundations of Complex Relationships