
Episode 3
Season 8 Episode 3 | 57m 59sVideo has Closed Captions
The teams compete in giant bowling. Stephen is surprised with a slideshow.
Team Black battles snow and altitude sickness on the road. Yet another penalty from Team Green stings the rest of field during their drive. An oversized bowling challenge has the teams crushing pins and the competition. Stephen is treated to a theatrical release of his past with an emotional group meeting. Jurrell learns about his mother’s identity and where she came from.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback

Episode 3
Season 8 Episode 3 | 57m 59sVideo has Closed Captions
Team Black battles snow and altitude sickness on the road. Yet another penalty from Team Green stings the rest of field during their drive. An oversized bowling challenge has the teams crushing pins and the competition. Stephen is treated to a theatrical release of his past with an emotional group meeting. Jurrell learns about his mother’s identity and where she came from.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Relative Race
Relative Race is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipDan: Previously on Relative Race... Steve: Come on, baby!
Whoo!
Dan: The teams got a chance to shoot-- Pam: Go for it!
Dan: --at each other.
Team Black got their first strike.
Pam: Ugh!
Dan: And heard devastating news about their mother's death.
Pam: I just can't even imagine what she was going through.
I kinda felt sorry.
Dan: Stephen learned the chances of meeting his father are slim.
Steve: There's a one in five chance that one man who's alive is my father.
Dan: Jarrell met his first blood relative.
- Great to meet you!
Amauni: [squealing] - You're our family.
Dan: And JT had an emotional discovery of yet another brother.
- You're my brother.
JT: I thank God for this experience that I'm getting now.
Dan: DNA tells us who we are and where we came from.
Following their own DNA, four teams are racing-- - Love you!
- Pedal to the metal!
Dan: --to win $50,000-- Christine: Go, go!
Dan: --and to find their family.
[knocking] [theme song] ♪ ♪ Dan: It's Day 3 of Relative Race, and Teams Red and Black both have one strike.
Team Green won first place yesterday for their second day in a row.
They earned a benefit to give the other three teams a five-minute penalty on their drive today.
- Yeah, I feel like the bullseye got a lot bigger-- - Yeah.
- --uh, target-wise on our back after two days in a row first place.
[whoosh] Dan: Team Red, Jarrell and Amauni, are starting their day off in New Albany, Indiana.
Five hours south, Team Blue, JT and Kaleigh, begin in Mount Olive, Alabama.
And in their home state, Team Green, Stephen and Susan, start today's race in Amarillo, Texas, while Team Black, Pamela and Christine, start their day in the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado with their cousin Craig, where they already seem to be in trouble.
- How are you feeling, honey?
Chrstine: Horrible.
- Horrible?
Christine: Yeah.
- How do you like this 9,000 feet above sea level altitude?
- I do not like it at all!
- We think that she's got altitude sickness, 'cause it kinda all lines up, and it makes sense for the change in atmospheric climate.
Is there anything I can get you?
- No.
Yes, could you get my bottle of water right there?
Pam: Yeah, no, you need to be-- you know, you need to hydrate!
They said that.
It's really been affecting her the whole time we've been here.
She's got a ton of head pressure, constant headaches, nausea, and she's not feeling well this morning.
- Feeling any better?
- No.
- No.
- I feel horrible.
Craig: Well, I'd like to say it's all downhill from here, honey.
Christine: Right?
All: [laughing] - No, no!
Uphill, uphill, uphill!
Pam: I mean, we're just hoping that she'll feel better throughout the day because, hey, we, we have to stay in this race.
We gotta meet more family members!
It's just not a choice.
We have to adapt and overcome.
There's just no other option.
- So, I was speaking with my son, Nick, this morning.
Pam: Mm-hm.
Craig: And he told me that he gave you girls a gift of a photo album.
Pam: He did.
Craig: Well, the pictures that I showed you yesterday of your mother, I would like you girls to have and keep, take with you.
Pam: Yay!
Craig: Add to your photo album.
Pam: Awesome.
And you said you thought you knew who that was, 'cause we were wondering-- Craig: No, I know who that is.
That's Brenda.
Pam: Oh, okay, yeah.
Craig: Your younger sister.
Pam: Okay.
Craig: I really hope you get to meet both your sisters through all this.
Pam: We now know that we have two sisters out there.
I'm delighted by that.
I think that's amazing!
Four girls?
I mean, I hope and pray that we get to meet them on our journey.
♪ Dan: In New Albany, Indiana, Team Red, Jarrell and Amauni, are visiting with Jarrell's cousins, Desiree and Dovetta.
Jarrell: I'm very happy that I found out that I have three cousins on my mom's side.
They gave us a whole lot of pictures to try to piece the puzzle together.
- This is our grandfather, Eugene Lee Sr.
He had a couple of children.
He had, uh, Eugene Jr., her dad, and my dad, Ralph Lee.
So, then, through all of this, we find out that he also fathered some more children.
So, this is where we believe you come in as our first cousin.
- Looking at pictures that are potentially my blood relatives that are out there, it makes me wanna-- you know, my hunt is even stronger.
It's not a goodbye, it's a see ya later, 'cause we're definitely gonna meet up again.
♪ Dan: In Amarillo, Texas, Team Green, Stephen and Susan, are saying their goodbyes to Stephen's cousins, Connie and Laurie.
- What's up, cuz?
Susan: Hi, good morning!
- Hey!
- Good mornin'!
Laurie: So, Connie and I, we got you a gift, and we hope that you like it.
It is a photo album for you to put all of your pictures in as you go through this journey... Stephen: Oh wow.
- that you'll have something to put all of your photos in, 'cause we think that you're gonna end up with a lot of photos.
- Really?
- That's awesome.
- And memories.
- Oh, this is so cool!
So that photo album is meaningful because we've gotten so many pictures already, and we just really didn't have any place to put 'em.
We've been putting 'em in Ziploc bags, and we don't want 'em to get damaged, so this way we can put 'em in there, and then we can show the relatives we meet all the pictures alo-, on our, from our journey along the way.
Thank y'all so much!
- You're welcome.
- Come in here!
Laurie: [indistinct] Connie: Oh!
Steve: It's super hard to leave these ladies.
I think we're definitely gonna miss their sense of humor and their-- - Their energy.
- --their smiles, their energy!
♪ Dan: In Mount Olive, Alabama, Team Blue, JT and Kaleigh, express their gratitude to JT's brother, Andrew, for taking a chance on meeting them.
JT: I just want to thank you for accepting me the way that you have.
It's-- It was an amazing day yesterday and last night, and I just want to thank you for that brotherly love that I felt right away, and I can't wait to keep that going.
I wanted to thank my brother this morning for all the love and the compassion that he has shown me.
It means a lot.
So far, everybody that I've met, same feeling, and I'm just so glad to be a part of this family.
Andrew: Drive safe out there, and y'all are gonna have a good day today.
I think y'all are gonna come in first, and, you know, y'all just give it all y'all got!
Both: No X's today.
Andrew: Yep, no X's.
But y'all got it!
Y'all are strong.
Kaleigh: It's Day 3, no strikes yet.
Um, we have that five-minute penalty today, so we have to make sure we really have all of our ducks in a row.
We have everything packed, so as soon as we get that text, we're headed out.
[tense music] [clock ticking] [notication sounding] - Ope, we got a text!
- Ope, we got a message!
- Ooo!
- Good morning, teams, and welcome to Day 3 of Relative Race.
- Team Red will be traveling to Dayton, Ohio.
- Team Blue will be traveling to Northport, Alabama.
- Team Black will be traveling to Grand Junction, Colorado.
- And Team Green will be traveling to Clayton, New Mexico.
- Clayton, New Mexico?!
- Today's first place prize will receive-- - --Their next destination city during the video call with Dan the night before.
Your time starts now!
Steve: Oh, we gotta go, we gotta go!
Pam: Come on, we gotta go!
- Give me my bag, give me my bag!
- Oh my gosh!
- I love you, man.
JT: I love you!
- Y'all have a safe trip.
- Let's go!
Come on!
- Team Lee all the way!
Craig: I'm trying to locate Grand Junction.
Pam: We have to stay in this race.
We've gotten a lot of information so far, but we want more.
Craig: Grand Junction, right here.
Susan: We love y'all, we love y'all!
Steve: Bye!
Bye!
We're goin' to New Mexico!
The pressure is on.
We've gotta continue this winning streak.
Jarrell: Come to find out that we're going to Dayton, Ohio, which is literally not that far from our hometown.
This is gonna be a walk in the park!
Kaleigh: Team Green, we love you, but it's our turn to know what first place feels like, and we're gonna have to take you down today.
♪ Susan: You know where to go?
You know how to get to Third?
- Yeah.
Pam: Yeah, we're just gonna go all the way back out to the interstate.
- So it had to be right here.
- Yeah.
Yep, right there.
Susan: 'Kay, so I turn right right here, right?
Steve: Yeah, turn right.
Susan: And then left on Washington?
- Yep.
- See, hey, I'm starting to get a little good at this.
JT: We're up here.
We gotta come down and go this way.
Kaleigh: --that far up there!
- Yeah, but we still gotta come down-- - Oh yeah, we are up there.
[short laugh] ♪ Christine: Look at all these cars!
I mean, these people live out here on purpose!
Pam: They're used to it.
- It's absurd!
♪ Steve: We've shown off our navigation skills freeway-wise, state to state, and now we're changing it up, and we're just gonna show 'em off another way.
- The freeway will take us straight to Clayton, New Mexico.
- Yeah, but we're gonna take the county roads, 'cause I think it's less distance, and it's gonna be a lot less traffic.
Dan: Taking a chance on an alternate route, Team Green, Stephen and Susan, are departing from Amarillo, Texas and heading to Clayton, New Mexico.
Their allotted time for the day is 2 hours and 15 minutes.
- I mean, it's the shorter distance, and I know right where we're going, so.
- Yeah, I agree.
- I think it'll work out.
- I do too.
- I'mma be really surprised if it doesn't.
♪ - We're gonna be going, what, 265?
- I didn't say anything about 265.
- Oh.
- So, you missed the whole conversation.
- You said 71 to what?
- Jarrell, what's the highway in Cincinatti?
[music cuts] - 275.
Whoa, I drew a complete blank!
- See, that's what we talking about.
That's why you ain't navigatin'!
Jarrell/Amauni: [laughing] Dan: Driving through their hometown of Cincinnati, Team Red, Jarrell and Amauni, are departing New Albany, Indiana en route to Dayton, Ohio.
Their allotted time for the day is 2 hours and 47 minutes.
♪ - Never again, ever, will I go up a mountain.
Ever.
I've never been this sick in my entire life.
♪ Dan: Still feeling the altitude of the mountains, Team Black, Pamela and Christine, are making their way from Breckenridge to Grand Junction, Colorado.
Their allotted time is 3 hours and 6 minutes.
- On Day 2.
Like, really?
Already?
- I mean, it's bound to happen statistically.
- I know!
Getting a strike this early in the game, it doesn't feel good, and now, the pressure is really on.
I wish it wouldn't have happened that early, 'cause that means that now we're at risk for not meeting a lot of family members!
- Well.
♪ Kaleigh: Which team is most likely to get a strike tonight?
- Team Green.
- Woo!
♪ Dan: Determined to put an end to Team Green's winning streak, Team Blue, JT and Kaleigh, are leaving Mount Olive, Alabama, and making their way to Northport.
Their allotted time is 1 hour and 21 minutes.
♪ As the teams are making their way to their destination cities, Team Green's first place penalty takes effect.
[notification sounding] Got a text.
It's from Dan.
Teams, it is now time for today's penalty.
Please pull over for five minutes.
[frustrated groan] JT: We knew it was coming, but this is painful.
Jarrell: Team Green has won two days in a row, and they get another advantage?
This is brutal.
- Yeah, this is horrible.
I don't like this.
Five minutes is an eternity.
♪ - All right, I'm gonna send it.
- All right, do it.
- It's sent.
- What did it say?
- 'Course they would.
Christine: Wow.
- [chuckle] - Let's go, Team Green!
- [laughing] ♪ Dan: As Team Green makes progress towards their destination city, the other teams are at a standstill.
Christine: They're in southern states where they can go 75, 80 miles an hour.
We're up north.
Apparently people like feeling sick, skiing, and going 50.
Amauni: All right, we gon' practice taking selfies!
[laughing] - During our five-minute penalty, we decided to take some pictures, do some exercises, bust a couple moves, you know.
And two, and-- - My thighs!
Jarrell: And one!
- Do this whole number.
- I can't do that.
- Come on!
- I can't do that.
- Try it!
- This is embarrassing.
I don't do yoga.
Jarrell: Wanna do five more?
- No.
Jarrell: Five more!
- No, I'm good.
I'm good.
Jarrell: Come on, five more!
- I'm good!
Jarrell: Let's go.
- I can't.
[grunt] Amauni: Get back in the car!
All right, go!
♪ - Let's go!
[tires squealing] - Team Green, we love you, but next penalty, comin' for you.
[notification sounding] - [laughing] - Well, you're gonna have to win first first.
♪ Christine: Who do you think we're gonna meet today?
- It could be biological father today, biological sister, or a biological uncle.
One of the biggest things we found out was that we have two biological sisters.
I'm totally excited to meet them and find out what they know and see what they look like.
I just- I can't wait.
I couldn't be more ready.
This is gonna be life changing.
♪ - Clayton!
- Woo!
Clayton!
- Welcome to Northport.
Christine: Yes!
The first sign.
Okay, I'm getting the phone.
Jarrell/Amauni: Woo woo!
Susan: You see anything?
Steve: No!
Susan: I see nothing.
- I don't see nothing!
- All right, where do we go?
Christine: Oh my.
Pam.
- What?!
Get the phone!
Christine: I don't know where it's at!
Kaleigh: The church, the church!
JT: Yeah, the church.
- That said Clayton.
- We're gonna go right here.
Steve: Yep.
- Grand Junction Memorial Gardens!
- You got the phone?
- I got it!
Christin: Are you taking the picture or am I taking the picture?
Pam: I got it!
I got the phone.
Let's go.
Susan: Go, go, go!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
Steve: All right, all right, all right.
Christine: Do we sit down?
Come down here, come down here!
Amauni: Get over.
Kaleigh: Bend down, sit down.
Steve: In.
Christine: See my face too!
Jarrell: You ready?
Amauni: Yeah.
[camera shutter sounding] ♪ [notification sounding] - Welcome to Dayton, Ohio.
- Your challenge is located at-- Steve: Clayton High School.
Both: At 7385 Webster Lane.
- Come on!
- Let's go!
Kaleigh: That's actually on the map.
That is on the map!
Dan: With their selfies successfully sent in, all four teams are now making their way to today's challenge.
Jarrell: Ooo, Linhurst Avenue.
Amauni: Linhurst Avenue!
- Yeah, buddy.
Made it.
JT: I see it!
Kaleigh: [excited gasp] Do you see what I see?
JT: Yes, I do.
Kaleigh: I'm so excited right now.
Like, I can't wait!
[squealing] Steve: I see the flag over there!
Susan: I know, I know.
Come on, come on, come on!
- Oh my gosh.
We're getting in a hamster ball.
[dramatic music] [paper ripping] - Zorb bowling.
Dan: Day 3' s challenge is Zorb bowling.
Using large Zorb balls as bowling balls, teams will have 10 minutes to knock down as many pins as possible.
The team with the most points at the end of the allotted time will receive a benefit.
[pins crashing] - Let's go, go, go, go, go, go!
♪ Susan: Come on, come on, come on!
Got it, got it, got it!
Pam: Push it to me!
Christine: Okay.
Steve: Ready?
Susan: Ready.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Steve: Oh my gosh!
This is gonna be so good!
Take 'em out!
Take 'em out!
Take 'em out!
[pins crashing] Woo!
Come on, let's go, go, go, go!
[pins crashing] Pam: Try to aim!
[pins crashing] Christine: [screaming] Amauni: [screaming] I tried crawling inside of the ball, but it does not work like that.
Susan: All right, I'm getting in, I'm getting in!
- Get in!
Kaleigh: This challenge is fun because you get to act like a big hamster in this big inflatable ball, and it's just a blast.
Susan: You ready?
Steve: Let's go!
Susan: Go!
Steve: We gotta get the spare!
So, at the beginning, it's super difficult, for me anyway, to push my partner, but she did better running on her own.
Get it!
[pins crashing] Woo!
Pam: [grunting] Chrstine: I just fell on my face!
Pam: Go for the left!
I feel like the person in the ball was the main aiming person, and the pusher person was just trying-- Chrstine: Get some momentum, get some speed.
Pam: --yeah, just trying to enforce that aim.
[pins crashing] Christine: It's all a blur.
- Yeah!
Both: [laughing] Amauni: You just gotta roll with it.
Roll your body against it sideways.
Jarrell: [grunting] Amauni: There!
[pins crashing] Jarrell: [exhausted breaths] Are we doing something wrong?
Why is this so tough?
- [chuckle] Pam: Get up, go, go, go!
Hold on!
Christine: [laughing] Keep on going!
Pam: I can't stand up!
Jarrell: [laughing] Amauni: You're going too fast!
♪ [pins crashing] Christine: [laughing] Pam: How do I get out?
Christine: Come on, get out!
[laughing] [pins crashing] Jarrell: Yes!
This is so tiring.
I can't keep track of how many pins we've knocked over.
[pins crashing] Steve: [breathlessly] Hold on.
Hold on.
Susan: I can hear Steve breathing even outside of the Zorb ball.
Get out, get out, get out!
Let's go!
Right here!
Oh my gosh.
Steve: [grunt] I thought I might die on this challenge.
Susan: Come on!
Come on!
You got this.
Push through it.
[pins crashing] Kaleigh: Oh!
I didn't see the line.
There's a line the bowler can't cross, and I crossed it.
We don't get those points.
JT: [groan] It's okay.
Kaleigh: Sorry.
[pins crashing] Christine: I'm stuck!
[laughing] Pam: I'm tired.
Susan: Go!
Steve: [grunt] Susan: Come on, baby.
You got this!
- I can't let Susan down.
I really gotta give it my all.
Susan: Go, go, go!
Go, go, go!
[pins crashing] [pins crashing] Amauni: Push your body against it hard, really hard!
Roll against it!
Susan: Go, go, go!
[pins crashing] Susan: Nice!
[buzzer sounding] Dan: Team Black racked up the most pins on the challenge with 52 total, one pin better than Team Green and Blue, and Team Red came in last.
♪ Christine: I have no clue what the pin tally's gonna mean at the end of the night, so I'm anxious, excited, a little nervous waiting to see what that means.
- Your relative lives at 609 Walnut Street.
- Walnut Street!
Susan: Let's go, let's go!
- 3103 31st Street.
Jarrell: 311 Morton Avenue.
Come on!
Both: 1352 Main Street!
♪ - Okay, where do you wanna go?
- I -- I don't know.
- I'm gonna do what I do.
Let me drive.
I'm the driver.
Kaleigh: Jonathan, you can't get out this way.
- Yes, I can.
Amauni: Oh, ask him, ask him, ask him.
- Who, who, who?
Oh, the mailman!
Amauni: The mailman.
Excuse me!
Do you know how to get to Morton Avenue?
Steve: We're looking for 609 Walnut Street.
We're far.
Amauni: Get on the highway and go left.
Thank you!
- Pull, pull in right here.
Park in front!
- Oh my gosh.
Pam.
- There's a cop right there.
- Please be in your car.
Please be in your car.
Kaleigh: Hey, I've got a question.
Where is 31st Street at?
♪ Pam: We need to find Main Street.
We're on a time limit.
- 609 Walnut Street.
- Yep.
When we pull into towns, we make maps of all of the streets that we cross, and, like, I physically draw maps.
- The next street?
- Next street, take a right, please.
- Great, yeah, I need you to focus and navigate for me.
- Baby!
- Right here?
- Yes.
- Okay.
Christine: Thank you!
[laughing] Go!
♪ Amauni: So, we just gon' go back where we came from because, no, that- no, he sent us the wrong way.
Kaleigh: You gotta turn, though.
JT: Yeah, I gotta turn.
Dan: All four teams continue to race with the pressure and anticipation of meeting their next relative.
- I really, honestly think he meant the other way.
The mailman gave us the wrong directions.
Steve: Come on.
Susan: I thought you wanted me to go that way.
Are you turned around?
- No, baby, but it sounds like you are.
- I am.
- Let's go this way.
- Okay.
- All right?
- All right.
- Yes!
Thank you.
Kaleigh: Just go, just go.
Go!
Pam: We have to go down till we hit Main.
Go!
I mean, not at the red light, but just-- - I'm going the speed limit!
I'm going the speed limit.
Pam: What's the speed limit?
- 35.
Pam: Oh.
They love that 35.
Jarrell: Wait, are we going up there?
35, 35, 35.
Kaleigh: That's 30.
This is gonna be 31st.
Nope, that's 32nd.
Whoa.
JT: Where's 31st Street?
That way?
- Okay, thank you!
You said, "Where's 31st Street?"
Steve: Let's take a right right here.
- Okay, okay, 601?
- Turn right.
609!
609!
- Where's that?
Steve: 609.
- 3202.
That way.
Steve: Uh, 606.
It's gonna be over there.
Kaleigh: 3103!
That was it.
That's it right there, right there.
♪ JT: Stepping out of the car, I didn't know what to expect.
I've done met two brothers for the past two days, and I see another- another male.
What's up?
- Hi!
- Hey, how are y'all?
Kaleigh: Good.
- I'm Jonathan.
Man: Hey, Jonathan.
- And this is my wife, Kaleigh.
- Hi.
Man: Hey, Kaleigh.
- Nice to meet you.
So, who are you related to?
- I'm related to you, Jonathan.
- How are we related?
- I'm your first cousin.
Kaleigh: Aw!
JT: What's up, dude?
[tender music] It was beautiful.
I felt instant love, acceptance, like I just belonged.
Austin: He opened his arms and just brought me in.
It was, it was full of love, and neither one of us wanted to let go.
We just kind of stood there and enjoyed the moment.
♪ JT: Awesome Yep, I see it.
I see it.
Oh, there's so many now.
- New people, yeah.
- So many new people.
- Um, sorry.
JT: It's okay, man.
- So finally nice to meet you, my friend.
Really didn't have any words to say.
He looks a lot like his brothers, and it threw me for a loop.
JT: This is awesome.
- Yes.
- So, you married or anything?
- Soon to be married.
Kaleigh: Aw.
- Three babies.
Two little boys and one little girl.
- Okay!
We got two boys named Easton and Cayden.
Kaleigh: So many kids!
[laughing] Austin: It'll make for a big family reunion.
Kaleigh: Yeah.
- You're my first cousin on my dad's side?
- Yes.
JT: Yeah.
I can definitely tell.
I mean, you got the ears.
- Yeah.
And the nose.
[laughing] - I wanna give you a hug, man.
Kaleigh: Watching my husband have these emotional meetings for three days in a row now, first with his brothers, and now with his first cousin, has been amazing.
His entire world is changing right in front of my eyes.
♪ Steve: Keep going, keep going, keep going.
Right there.
Stop.
♪ Oh, crap.
Susan: I'm smiling!
♪ - Hi!
Uh, I'm Steve, this is my wife, Susan.
- Hi.
- My name is Danette.
This is my daughter, Justine, and my brother Bobby.
- So, who are you related to?
- Uh, we are actually related to you, Steve.
We are cousins on your mom's side!
- On my mom's side?
All right!
Come on, man!
- All three of you are his cousins?
That's awesome!
Bobby: Yes, the Philbrook side.
Danette: It's so nice to meet you!
- Nice to meet you, too!
- Dude!
I can't believe it!
Steve: [joyful laughter] Oh man!
[sniffles] When he came in for that big hug immediately and started crying, I was already there with him.
- This is too much.
Man, I've got a family!
Come on!
Bobby: To see the joy in his eyes brought joy to my life too.
Sharing that moment together is just- it's just surreal.
Danette: I felt it immediately.
The first time, like, we hugged, it just- it felt like, you know, like I knew him my whole life.
- We are so blessed.
- This is so amazing.
I love my family, I just have always, you know, wanted blood relatives.
I just never thought it was gonna happen, and then I got an uncle, I got a cousin, I got more cousins.
- You don't even understand how many more you've got!
[laughing] Danette: Yeah, we have a big, big family back home.
Bobby: Yes.
Danette: Huge.
Huge family.
Bobby: Huge.
Susan: It doesn't surprise me, because I always told him, I said, you know, we're gonna find your family, and then they're gonna be huge, because we have five kids, and I still don't-- [laughing] Steve: Yeah.
- What's the oldest?
Steve: Uh, 18 to 3.
- What?!
Oh man, that is so cool.
- I can't wait to get to know y'all.
♪ Jarrell: Here's Morton Street.
- Main!
- This one?
- This is Main!
- Left?
Left?
Pam: I don't know!
- We're turning left?
Pam: Yeah.
Dan: Teams Red and Black are still racing to find their next relative.
Pam: 12-something, so we're looking for 1352.
1213, 1215.
Christine: This is 1208.
Jarrell: It's 311?
Amauni: It's 311.
Jarrell: So, 301, 304... Ooo!
It's right here!
Amauni: Right here in the blue house!
Jarrell: Blue house!
Amauni: There we go.
♪ Come on!
Hi!
- How you doing?
I'm Jarrell.
- I'm Amauni.
- I'm Charles.
- Who are you related to?
- You!
I'm your cousin on your mother's side!
- On my mother's side?
- Yes!
- Wow, that's crazy!
Charles: [laughing] Nice meeting you!
Amauni: Hi.
[giggling] - Where are you from?
- I'm from Cincinnati.
Jarrell: Really?
- Yeah.
Yeah.
Both: Wow.
Charles: From Cincinnati.
Where you from?
Jarrell/Amauni: Cincinnati!
- We live in Cincinnati!
- [laughing] - Ah, it's a small- it's a small world.
- Yep.
We just came from Louisville.
Charles: Just to meet family for the first time, you know, it's like, um, it's like heaven-sent, you know.
It's just- it's just- it's incredible.
I'm so glad you're here, man.
You look just like your mom.
- Man.
- Just like her!
- What features?
Like, everything?
- [sigh] The nose, the cheekbones.
All: [laughing] - To see him and know that we got the same blood running through our veins, it's like hugging my brother or my dad.
Jarrell: We met Desiree and Dovetta yesterday.
- The rest of the family!
Jarrell: The rest of the family!
- Yeah.
- We have some pictures that Desiree and Dovetta gave to us.
- Really?
Jarrell: And hopefully, you'll be able to answer some of those questions about those pictures that they possibly weren't able to.
Having a close cousin on my mom's side is amazing, and I am really excited to find out what kind of information he has about her.
- Yeah, why don't you come inside?
We can talk about it.
♪ Pam: 13!
1300s!
Christine: Okay.
Pam: We're in the 1300s.
- Okay, so 1352.
Dan: Back in Colorado, the twins are honing in on their next discovery.
- 1335.
Slow down a little bit.
Christine: I'm slowing down, I'm slowing down, I'm slowing down.
Pam: 1341, 1349, 1361!
It's on that side!
Christine: Oh my gosh.
Okay.
♪ - Hi!
- Hi!
- I'm Christine.
Man 2: Hi, Christine.
- Hi.
Oh, I'm Pamela!
I'm sorry.
All: [laughing] Pam: I forgot who I was for a moment.
I'm shocked.
- Which one of you are related to us?
- I'm Chris.
- I'm Brenda.
Both: Brenda!
- Oh my gosh!
Hi!
When she told us her name's Brenda, we knew who it was, but only because the previous two family members had kinda mentioned her name a little bit.
- I'm Brenda Henriet, I'm 33, and I'm Pamela and Christine's sister.
Pam: I told you it was gonna be one of the sisters!
I told you!
Oh my gosh!
Chris: So nice to finally meet you.
- I love your freckles!
Chris: We've been looking for you guys.
Pam: Hi!
How are you?
- Good, how are you?
This is probably the most important day of my life because of the fact that I have wondered who my sisters were, were they okay, were they together, were they alive?
And the minute that I got the call, that validated all of those answers for me.
You guys were always, always thought of.
- Really?
Oh my gosh.
- Wow.
That's amazing.
- I found out about you when I was seven, and-- Christine: Did you?
Brenda: --um, have been always thinking of you ever since.
Both: Wow.
Pam: She's built this love for us not based on personal meeting.
You know, that's amazing to me that she's been able to hold onto that all these years and hold onto that hope that we were gonna be reunited.
It was extremely touching.
Like, our biological mother just told you?
Brenda: Um, actually, one of her friends from Singapore had wrote her a letter asking how the twins were.
- Wow.
That's- that's quite a story.
Christine: Yeah, yeah.
Pam: Meeting our sister Brenda and getting a hug from her right off the bat, it felt strangely familiar.
There will hopefully be a lot of healing from this and a lot of great things to come.
- You look a lot like our mom.
- I do?
- I said- I told her that too!
Like, the eyes!
- Oh my gosh!
Pam: I know, I can't believe this is happening.
I cannot believe this is happening.
A sister besides you!
- I know.
Oh my goodness.
Please give me a break.
You can have her!
Pam: Keep her!
She can stay with you today.
- You can have her today!
Her bags are in the car.
I'll get 'em for you.
All: [laughing] [camera shutter sounding] ♪ Dan: In Northport, Alabama, JT and Kaleigh are learning about how Austin, JT's cousin, was raised.
- So, what about your mom?
- My mom, um, her name's Lindy.
She tried her best to raise me and my brother.
After that, uh, my aunt raised me.
She raised me from since I was 11.
She was- she was really the father figure that I needed growing up.
Would you like to see who raised me?
- Yes, I would.
♪ Oh!
♪ Austin: Brandy was a very special person in my life.
She was a person that I needed when I was younger.
This is me and her when I was a baby.
♪ - Oh my goodness.
Kaleigh: Uh-huh.
Looks like everybody.
JT: I see all of us.
That's... that's crazy.
- Showed you these pictures 'cause I wanted to introduce you to this person.
Her name's Brandy.
She is your sister on your mom's side.
♪ - [breathy] Ohhh.
♪ So I have a sister.
That's awesome.
I didn't think that was gonna happen.
That's crazy.
JT: Yeah.
Never woulda thought I had a sister.
[sniff] And then you see your sister, and... you see a lot of you in it.
It's just, it's powerful.
So she took you in and raised you?
- She did.
She... she was there for me when I needed her.
- Well she did a dang good job, 'cause you, from what I can see right now, you're a good man.
- Thank you.
- Since you grew up with my sister, did, did y'all even know about me?
- She knew that she had a brother out there that nobody would tell her about.
- I always had that question, if anybody knew, if anybody tried lookin' for me.
[sniff] - She did.
She... she did.
Just, long time.
But she didn't know who she was lookin' for.
It was... [emotional piano music] JT: Thank you.
♪ It means a lot to me to just know that somebody tried.
♪ Austin: I knew that we had another cousin out there, just didn't know where or who.
It was somethin' that I can't put in words, but, I can definitely show it when I hug him.
Make up for all them years of him not knowin' and me not knowin'.
JT: All the feelings of love, acceptance, the knowing that you have a family member, that they care about you.
It's just, it's a whole new world.
♪ Dan: In Grand Junction, Colorado, the twins, Pam and Christine, are discovering images from their past.
- Our mom had limited, um, pictures, and I got together pictures that she did have and made you guys photo albums of your baby pictures.
Pam: Who is that?
Brenda: That's you.
Pam: That's me?
Christine: Let me see!
Brenda: And that's you.
- Look at that cute little baby.
Brenda: [laughs] But then the rest of the album is pictures of our mom.
Pam: Okay, awesome!
- Brenda gave us a photo album, and on the front cover is a very, very first picture of Pam and I that we have never seen.
- Neither have our adoptive parents, like nobody that we know-- - Has seen those photos.
Pam: This is amazing.
Christine: For me to see.
- I know!
- Like, who is this tiny person?
- I know!
Christine: Wow.
Pam: She held on to these... - Yeah.
- ...forever.
Christine: Wow.
Pam: Wow.
- She loved you both, very, very much.
My mom didn't have a whole lot of personal items, but in going through her stuff, she had kept what she had left of the girls because she cherished it, and so I was able to put together a photo album, um, with some of their baby pictures and toddler pictures and then, um, pictures of my mom throughout the years.
I can't even describe how happy I am to finally meet you guys.
I've wanted this day my entire life, and it is just amazing to have you here with me.
♪ Steve: We're meetin' all this awesome family, but now we're goin' to the movies.
Oh, wow, look, darlin'.
Our name's on there!
Susan: Oh my gosh!
That is so awesome!
Danette: We wanted to bring you to the Luna Theater.
It is actually one of the oldest functioning movie theaters in existence still today in the United States.
- That is awesome.
- Oh, wow, that is awesome.
- So why don't we get some popcorn and go enjoy the show?
Steve: All right, let's do it!
♪ As we're walkin' in, I'm wondering, what are we gonna watch?
♪ - This is actually why we brought you here today, so we could show you some photos to see all the Philbrook family that you've never met and see some photographs of your great-grandparents and grandparents that you've never had the chance to see.
- Awesome, I can't wait.
[film ticking] ♪ Robert: That's Grandpa... Steve: That's Grandpa?
Robert: ...and Grandma.
Steve: Looks like a mobster.
- Look.
Your cheeks.
Steve: Oh yeah.
Susan: Like your cheeks.
Robert: We called her Nana.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
Steve: Who, so who's the guy in the middle?
Danette: That's your great-grandfather.
Susan: I can see that.
Steve: Oh, great-grandfather?
Yeah, I saw it in the, in the cheeks, right?
Who's that?
Danette: That's your grandpa.
Robert: That's him again.
Susan: I see you in him.
Steve: I know!
Susan: [laughs] - Like it, it almost looked like I was standin' in the picture, sorta.
Gettin' to see people that I look like, is, it's blowin' my mind.
Lookin' like somebody really means a lot to me.
I couldn't help but tear up again, I mean, it's, it just affects me re-really easily.
This is crazy, to, to see people that look like me.
Danette: That look like you.
Steve: Has, like, I can't explain it.
You have to, like, never have seen it before.
♪ My mom, Charlene Philbrook, she never got to meet any of y'all, and I, I guess it's kinda like I'm meetin' y'all for her, in a way.
I mean, would y'all have loved to meet her?
- Oh, 110 percent, man.
- Yeah.
- Blood's blood.
Family's family.
[laughs] Steve: A lot of work went into this, and, you know, they stopped their busy lives to, to meet a total stranger and then treat them like family.
That's amazing.
Danette: Where did your mom grow up at?
Steve: On her death certificate, it actually said she died in Fort Worth, um, which is 30 minutes-- - Wow.
Steve: --from where we pretty much lived my whole life, so.
She was right next door, and I didn't even know.
On the, uh, death certificate, it said that she had a daughter, Jennifer Sky Mache, and that is my sister.
- [gasp] Steve: So that would mean another cousin for y'all.
I'm hopin' that at some point in this journey, I get to meet Jennifer, my sister, 'cause there's a lot of answers that I wanted to ask my mom.
- That would be really cool.
Well, hopefully through this, um, these pictures that we're showin' you today, you'll get some comfort knowing that, um, you know, we love you.
We love you with all our heart.
Just to be able to have that moment with him, I want many more of those moments, and I, I guarantee you we're gonna have them.
♪ Dan: In Dayton, Ohio, Jarrell is learning more about his mother from his cousin, Charles.
Charles: Come on in, have a seat.
I got a lotta pictures to show you.
Jarrell: Aw, man, I'm ready for 'em.
To catch up.
Amauni: Y'all talk alike, y'all move alike, in the face.
Yeah, like you guys are so much alike.
Look!
[laughs] I love seein' the similarities and everything.
They are just alike, they walk alike, they talk alike, they breathe alike.
Everything is alike, the nose, the forehead.
That's Jarrell's cousin for real, like, [laughs] Charles: We are DNA matched.
I'm gonna explain to you how we're related.
Eugene Lee and Mabel Black, which is my grandmother, are brothers and sisters.
Vicki, your mother, and I are first cousins.
So that makes you and me second cousins.
Amauni: Mm, mm.
Charles: [chuckles] Got the same blood runnin' through our veins.
Jarrell: Yeah, we do.
Charles: Yeah, yeah.
Me and your mom, we played in the back yard a lot.
She lived in the house, and then my grandmother, which is your great aunt, lived right next door, and we all lived right there.
Jarrell: Knowin' that my cousin, Charles, spent time with my mom when they were younger is amazing, because he is the first blood relative that I've met that knew her at a young age.
When I was growin' up, I was given a baby book, and in this baby book were pictures of my mom, Victoria.
Even though I knew what she looked like, I still had one big question: Is my mom still alive?
- Yes.
Amauni: [happy vocalization] Jarrell: The fact that she's still alive, it means that I still have a chance of meeting my biological mother, and to me, that is a huge deal.
I need to find her.
[chuckles] That's what I'm here for, is to find my mother.
♪ Dan: Back in Grand Junction, Colorado, the twins are learning more about their mother's past.
- Brenda continued to shed light on who our mother was and how she thought and felt about us.
- She loved you both.
[sniff] With all of her being.
To the day she died, she thought of you every single day.
Pam: It definitely is making me gain a compassion for someone who I haven't even met.
- She just, unfortunately didn't have the, um, help and the support that she needed to get you back.
[sniffs] - The cards she was dealt were not good, from early childhood for her.
If she was here today, like, I would just wanna hug her and reach out to her and tell her that, you know, it's gonna be okay, because she's been through a lot, too.
- She really, truly did.
She loved you both, um, with everything that she had.
My mom's heart was forever broken.
She was never the same after losing them.
She loved them with every part of her and wanted nothing more than to be able to be reunited with them.
♪ So I wanted to share these with you to let you know that you were not forgotten.
This is, um, a birthday message to the both of you, um, in 2018 that I had wrote on Facebook in hopes that you might see it one day.
Pam: Aww!
Ahem.
It says, "Happy happy birthday to our twin sisters."
Didn't even make it past the first line.
"Pamela and Christine.
Today you turn 37 years young.
We love you with all our hearts and think about you all the time.
So did our momma.
There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of you, cry for you, and wish that she could have got the help that she needed to make things different.
I hope and pray that one day, we can find one another and be united."
The fact that she posted about us, I just felt so important.
I felt so important to somebody that didn't know me.
That takes an extreme amount of love and dedication, and love built from a relationship that has not been hands-on.
There's a response from Monique on here that says, "Sweet sister, you are so very thoughtful.
Happy birthday to our sisters, Pamela and Christine.
One sweet day we will meet."
We have another sister, Monique, who we haven't met yet, and to see her reply on Brenda's Facebook post that she has thought about us all this time is really unbelievable.
Thank you, thank you for that.
Thank you for never forgetting about us.
[sniffs] ♪ Brenda: I think that she is watching us right now and loving every minute of it.
Dan: Back in Colorado, the twins and their newfound sister, Brenda, share a special moment reflecting on the life of their mother, Diana.
- You both have, like, her mannerisms.
- Really?
That is so funny!
- And you both have a sense of humor; our mom had a sense of humor.
It's crazy, it's amazing.
Pam: And you guys were like, really close, huh?
- Yeah.
She and I were very close.
We just had that strong mother-daugher bond.
It was really, really hard.
It's a piece of my heart that will never be the same.
Christine: Right.
Pam: I'm so sorry.
When I realized we missed her by four years, I was like, man.
Christine: Almost four years, yeah.
Pam: Like, so close!
Brenda: It's bittersweet, for sure, but I do wholeheartedly believe that she is here with us.
My mother did think about them every single day, and that was the only thing that she wanted, was to have her girls in her life.
She is finally at peace knowing that you guys are okay and that you guys were together and that we finally get to unite, and... Pam: Yep.
- ...start our journey together.
Christine: Of course.
- I'm so grateful that we got to meet a biological sister, and yeah, we're family, we're doin' this.
- I have a gift for both of you.
Pam: More gifts?
You shouldn't have!
Brenda: Our mom's ashes are in... Pam: [gasp] Oh my gosh.
Christine: Wow, oh my goodness!
I love hearts!
She gave us heart-shaped necklaces, um, with our mother's ashes in it.
Pam: This is amazing.
Christine: I know.
Pam: Thank you so much.
This is so thoughtful.
Every day that this journey goes on, I realize more and more what it's taking from everybody to make this happen.
The gratitude in me is just coming in bounds.
It's so incredible.
It really is.
- I love you guys very, very much.
- We love you, too.
Thank you for thinking about us.
Thank you for making such heartfelt gifts.
Brenda: It's an amazing feeling to finally meet them, to finally see them, to finally be able to touch them and hug them.
They're amazing.
♪ Jarrell: Honestly, about today, I'm actually really nervous goin' into this call.
We did everything right except when it was time to find the relative's house.
Steve: We're feelin' really good, um, but we did go a back way, so, a little worried about that to see if it was the quickest way.
Pam: We're nervous goin' into tonight's call.
We definitely don't want a second strike this early on, so we're keepin' our finger's crossed.
Kaleigh: We've been firmly sittin' in second place for two days now.
It would be so nice to take a W home tonight and send a message to Team Green.
Dan: As Day 3 comes to a close, all teams are anxiously waiting to find out who will win and who will receive a strike.
Day 3, roughly a third of the way through Relative Race, and I wanna talk with our twins first!
Who drove today?
- I did most of the driving 'cause Christine, um, had altitude sickness, and she hadn't quite recovered from that, so she just wasn't up to driving.
- You're dealing with snow, you're dealing with altitude sickness, but you guys powered through.
Hey, Team Green.
Props to you guys.
You stay up late every night, and you study various options of cities that you may be headed to the next day, and you map that out on your maps that you have.
- Yeah, we absolutely stay up and map out everything.
It ended up payin' off.
Uh, we had to make some adjustments 'cause we didn't plan on goin' straight up like we did, but, uh, we were familiar with all the freeways, so we went right to our city.
- Congratulations on doin' that.
With Team Green winning yesterday, it required all the other teams to pull over for five minutes today.
What did you do during that five-minute period?
Jarrell: Um, in our five minutes, we decided to, um... Amauni: Practice taking selfies.
[laughter] - Team Blue, was that kinda similiar situation for you guys?
- It was pretty similar.
We decided we were gonna get out and move around and get limbered up for our challenge, and then we practiced takin' some selfies.
[laughs] - Let's talk about the most important part of every day.
Amauni, Jarrell.
Who was on the other side of the door waiting for you?
- So, when we pulled up to our relative's house, I got to meet a second cousin on my mom's side.
His name is Charles.
Steve: What's up, Charles?
- Hello!
- And Charles shared some, uh, interesting information with me.
Nobody else really knows anything about my mother, and he was able to tell me that my mother is still alive.
So I was pretty, uh, ecstatic to hear that information.
Dan: That is awesome news!
You got an answer that I'm sure that you were hoping for your entire life.
Team Green!
Who was at the door for the Dimmitts?
- So today, I met three cousins on my mom's side, and they are Danette, Bobby, and Justine!
- And I just wanna say one thing real quick: I'm so happy for each and every one of you.
It melts my heart.
- Thank you!
- Thank you!
- [laughs] - That's really cool.
Congratulations to the Dimmitts.
Team Blue.
Who was waiting for you today?
- Okay, today, I got to meet my first cousin, Austin.
Austin: Hey guys.
Steve: Hey!
JT: And he also shared with me some, some, some more news.
He actually gave me some pictures of, I have a biological sister on my mom's side.
Steve: Hey!
Dan: Wow.
♪ Do we know if she's still with us?
- Yes.
She is still here.
- Nice.
- Does she know about you?
JT: She does know about me, and she's always known about me, and she has, was trying to look for me when I was adopted.
And that, that was a big hole, big question I had, and it got answered tonight.
- We appreciate all of you sharing these really personal, emotional stories.
And with that in mind, to our twins.
♪ - Who was on the other side of the door waiting for you two?
- We had the complete honor of meeting our very first biological sibling.
Her name is Brenda.
Steve: [laughs] Hey!
- It was so much to take in at that moment, but we had kinda heard her name from some of the other family members.
We, I, we were ecstatic when, when she told us who she was.
Brenda: It's been a huge blessing that we've been able to unite and meet each other, so.
They're amazing!
- This is so cool because you guys have already met siblings on this show, a-and that is remarkable.
[tense music] All right, teams.
It's time to find out who finished in first and who earned a strike.
I wanna remind you of what's on the line.
Whoever picks up first place today will find out where they're headed tomorrow.
I can tell you that one team did incredibly well.
[dramatic thuds] Man, I'm tellin' ya, Team Green, you guys are on a streak.
- [laughs] Dan: Because you finished one minute over your allotted time.
You're lucky that you're able to keep handin' out penalties to all the other teams.
Congratulations, Team Green, and with your win, you get to find out where you're headed tomorrow, and that location is Santa Fe.
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- Okay, all right.
Tonight, we learned on the video call that we are goin' to Santa Fe!
Dan: Now.
I can tell you that the difference between second and third place was once again 60 seconds.
One minute.
Finishing seven minutes over their allotted time: Team Black, congratulations.
- Oh my gosh!
[breathes out] - It comes down to Team Blue and Team Red.
The team that finished eight minutes over their allotted time and in third place and safe... ♪ ...Team Blue.
Team Red, you finished 21 minutes over your allotted time.
You have picked up your second strike on Relative Race.
Any thoughts?
- We did really good today.
We just had minor setbacks that cost us some time.
- Well, let's hope that your luck changes tomorrow, but you never know what can happen on Relative Race, which reminds me, I'm sure you guys are wondering who knocked down the most pins in today's challenge.
We're gonna find out tomorrow.
Christine: It's gonna be really interesting to find out what these pins mean in the race tomorrow, because we worked really hard to get those down, so I'd like to know why.
- Teams, you all worked today.
You worked hard for one reason: you worked hard to get to the doorstep of your relative, and in that regard, all of you succeeded.
So think about that.
Think about the positive, because each and every day, there's another relative waiting to greet you.
Goodnight, everybody, and I look forward to finding out how your day goes tomorrow.
[farewells] - [sighs] Susan: Oh my gosh!
Steve: OHHH!
Threepeat!
- You killed it.
You killed it sick, like, I mean, I give it to ya.
Oh my goodness.
- You gotta look at it this way: we're Day 3 and we still haven't gotten an X.
- That is true.
- That's three days in a row!
- That is three days in a row.
- Woo!
Santa Fe, come on!
Woo, my Philbrooks!
- Just put today in the past, in the past, and let it be the past, 'cause you know, you can't change it.
- There's so many more days.
That's another three days that we have on the show.
That's another three family members.
- I'm very proud of what we did.
We did really well.
- Group hug!
♪ - Hey guys!
Um, Steve was exhausted, and he passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.
I've never felt so much love, um, for people we're just meeting, um.
We are just so thankful to everyone that supports us and to Relative Race for allowing this.
We're just so blessed.
- My biological mother, Vicki, is still alive, so that information is fuelin' the fire for me to make me want to, you know, keep, keep goin' strong for this competition just for the sake to see her.
- We had a great day.
I mean, we met a biological sibling, the only one we've ever known until today.
The first!
- Besides each other.
- We get to be a family again, and that's about as important as it gets.
♪
Support for PBS provided by:













