Dan: Previously on Relative Race... - I'm your only brother.

- Oh!

[laughs] Dan: Carolen met her brother and sister.

Carolen: When I heard Renita say, I'm your older sister, I didn't want to stop huggin' her.

Dan: Thaddeus discovered his great and great-great aunts.

Nolin had a surprise video call.

- I would love to present to you your son, Nolin, and his sister, Leah.

Nolin, meet your father, Quint.

Dan: Kentrelle received answers he's been searching for.

- I missed out on a lot.

- I needed y'all.

I re-- I really did.

I really-- Josette: I am so sorry for what you have been going through.

But now you belong.

You belong.

- I just want-- [sobbing] Dan: In the end, Team Green got another first place win, and after a rough day-- Tia: I feel like you're driving north instead of south.

- So what should I do?

- Turn around and drive back towards town.

Dan: Team Black picked up their second strike on the race.

DNA tells us who we are and where we came from.

Following their own DNA, four teams are racing-- Jon: It's gonna be right here.

Go, go, go!

Dan: to win $50,000.

- We made it!

Dan: And to find their family.

[knocking] Singer: ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh-oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh-oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh-oh ♪ ♪ Dan: As the sun rises on Day 5 of Relative Race, the journey of finding new family continues for all four teams.

Today, Team Blue, Jon and Kentrelle, begin their day in Birmingham, Alabama with one strike.

Kentrelle: Halfway through.

Um, it's been such an amazing journey, but-- I am so tired.

[laughs] But it's so worth it.

Jon: You know, we're halfway through the journey.

I'm absolutely exhausted in every facility, emotionally, physically.

- But at the same time, the most beautiful part is being able to have all our questions answered, or at least the ones we need to.

I mean, to kind of see family that has been longing for us as well.

Dan: In Quincy, California, Team Black, Tia and Carolen, start off with two strikes.

Tia: This has been a journey of a lifetime.

We've gained some new family members, we've gotten answers, and we've gotten a sister bond.

It's been amazing.

Dan: Team Green, Nolin and Leah, begin their morning in Miami Gardens, Florida, strikeless.

Nolin: I'm discovering new answers, stories.

I've met a ton of siblings and a father, and there's still more to go.

Dan: And Team Red, Karen and Thaddeus, start their morning in Roxboro, North Carolina, with one strike.

- It's been five long days, and my life has changed immensely.

- I couldn't agree with you more.

♪ Woman 1: Good morning.

Team Red: Good morning!

- Welcome to our church, Lawson Chapel Baptist Church.

I am Langston Logan, pastor, and we are glad that you are here.

- And I'm Frida Tillman.

I'm one of the members of Lawson Chapel Baptist Church.

Bunny: And she's also a cousin.

Thaddeus: Nice to meet you.

Langston: She's boss lady too.

Karen: Ahh.

Langston: [laughs] I'm going to get ready for service, and I'm gonna leave you with Frida.

Bunny: We came down to Lawson Chapel Church to bring Thaddeus, introduce him to some more family, which is Frida, who's the cousin who knows a whole lot about the family history, the church, and our ancestors.

- This book that I'm presenting you today is the 100th anniversary booklet, and as you look through here, you will see there is information that will tell you about Lawson Chapel Baptist Church and your ancestors as well.

- Frida gifted me a book, and she just showed me the people, the youth choir, the men's choir, the people that really helped shape this church.

Karen: It's just absolutely amazing.

We got a chance to see some of the pictures of Thaddeus' relatives, great-great-great relatives, and so that was really, pretty cool just to have the history.

Bunny: Grandma Annis is like the founder of the family.

She was given land by her slave owner.

Not only was she given land, she built the church.

She put the first nails in Lawson Chapel Baptist Church, which we're still operating out of that church to this day.

- Hopefully will give you information that you would need, and if you don't, you just reach out to any of your cousins, and your a-- your relatives here, and they will be able to give you additional information and facts that you need about your family.

- Thank you so much.

Frida: Thank you.

♪ Dan: In Miami Gardens, Nolin is learning more about his family roots from his cousin, Jazmin.

- I have a little family history that I've been working on, and I'd love to tell you more about your family.

- I would love to hear it.

Jazmin: Okay.

- This morning, Jazmin unrolls a big poster of the family tree, and of our family tree.

It actually was too long for the table, so it was hangin' off both sides, which is crazy, but then not surprising just because of how much family I've heard about already.

- So Nolin, this is where you start in your family tree.

And then this is your dad, Quint.

And then these are your grandparents.

Uh, your grandma's name is Ester Jennings, and she married Aubrey Forbes, which is where you get the last name Forbes from, from your father's side.

Speaking of your grandmother, I mean, talk about beautiful.

This is her.

This is Esther Jennings.

Nolin: Is she still living?

Jazmin: No, unfortunately, she passed away when I was a child.

Um, but she was very loved and very known throughout the community, and Turks and Caicos Island, yeah.

And then this is your grandpa.

This is Aubrey Forbes.

So, this is your father's father, and your grandfather, and he still lives in Turks and Caicos Islands to this day, 'cause he's alive.

Nolin: Really?

Jazmin: Yes, he is.

- Learning that my grandma had passed and that my grandpa, um, is out of the country, um, it was unfortunate.

And, 'cause I'd really love to meet them.

But, I still have high hopes that I will meet my grandpa soon.

- I look forward to many more years-- Nolin: Of course.

- of cousin gatherings together-- Nolin: Of course.

- okay?

[cell phone chime] Nolin: Oh.

Leah: Oh, we got a text from Dan.

Nolin: Let's see what it says.

Jon: Kentrelle, we got a text.

Kentrelle: For real?

Thaddeus: "Good morning, teams"-- Jon: "and welcome to Day 5"-- Carolen: "of Relative Race."

Nolin: "Team Green will be traveling to Palm City, Florida."

Leah: All right.

Nolin: Okay.

Jon: "Team Blue will be traveling to"-- Both: "Tuscaloosa, Alabama."

Kentrelle: Whew!

Jon: Easy, easy.

Kentrelle: Okay.

- "Team Red will be traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina."

Tia: "Team Black will be traveling to McArthur, California."

Jon: "Today's first place prize is a"-- Nolin: "benefit during tomorrow's challenge."

Thaddeus: "Your time starts"-- Team Black: "now."

Tia: Uh-oh.

Carolen: We gotta go.

Tia: All right, we gotta go.

Thaddeus: Thank you so, so much.

Bunny: Love you, baby.

Thank you.

Thaddeus: I love you, too.

Kentrelle: Let's go, let's go.

Josette: Oh, wow.

Kentrelle: Uh, what we gonna try to do different today is if we're not sure, we wanna stop in our place and make sure.

Every time we've had uncertainty, it's stopped us from being in first place, easily, every time.

So, we're gonna have to stop that.

Nolin: After another win, uh, we're ready, uh, this morning to get back on the road and go for another.

So Day 5, we're ready, we're ready for it.

♪ Carolen: Found it.

Tia: Did you find it?

Carolen: Oh, yes!

Tia: Good job, girl.

Carolen: Got this, got this.

Tia: Look at this.

Carolen: McArthur... Tia: This morning, we're on it.

We want that first place win, and we want the benefit that comes with it.

We're hoping the other teams struggle a little bit this morning.

♪ - Okay, so we're making a U-turn.

Karen: Yeah.

[sighs] My mom and I had had good drives in the morning, or good drives at night.

It's always one or the other.

Um, it's never a good drive in the morning and a good drive in the evening, which is frustrating.

We can never get a drive correct.

It's either one or the other.

Dan: Already having to do a slight turnaround this morning is Team Red.

Today, Karen and Thaddeus are departing Roxboro, North Carolina, for Charlotte.

They have an allotted time of 3 hours and 2 minutes.

And for Team Black, Carolen and Tia are racing today from Quincy, California, to McArthur.

Their total allotted time is 3 hours and 1 minute.

♪ Kentrelle: Team Green has been living it up, though.

No strikes.

Jon: They're big chillin'.

Kentrelle: Like, what's goin' on here?

How'd they get the beach getaway?

Jon: [chuckles] Team Green is on the top with zero strikes.

- And don't forget we get a penalty today because of them, because they won yesterday's challenge.

Thanks, Team Green.

- I don't like that at all.

They need to be taken down.

Kentrelle: Mm.

- We gotta make up some time.

People are comin' for us.

The other teams are comin' for us!

No strike and two wins in a row.

Dan: Beating the competition today is Team Green, Nolin and Leah.

They're leaving Miami Gardens, Florida, and are headed north to Palm City.

They have an allotted time of 2 hours and 10 minutes.

And a little jealous of Team Green is Team Blue, Jon and Kentrelle.

They'll be racing from Birmingham, Alabama, to Tuscaloosa, with a total allotted time of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

♪ - I don't know.

Probably the brothers.

Leah: Yeah.

- You know, I didn't, I didn't get to see my cousins very much.

- I know.

I feel like-- The only reason I don't feel like calling them is, like, I wanna call them after we meet, hopefully, your mom and stuff, because they're, like, you can see they're all bursting at the seams to tell you stuff.

And I'm just like, I wanna talk to you after we know everything.

Nolin: Yeah.

- I think this journey is very important for Nolin because the healing of being reunited.

I've wondered about his first family more than he has, and I would just love to tell him that, like, he's okay.

Since Nolin was in our, joined our family through adoption, um, my husband and I talked about that day one before we were even married about wanting to adopt someday.

And our journey has been very different than Nolin's journey in joining our family, but Nolin's adoption helped us so much through that journey.

Our son's birth mom actually chose us because of Nolin.

My son, actually, there's a funny story.

He said that, um, he didn't want to be adopted.

And he didn't really understand the term.

And then I told him, I said, well, Nolin's adopted.

And he goes, [gasps] I wanna be adopted.

And so every day since then, he's like, Mom, I'm adopted, so is Nolin.

- For me, that just has been a blessing to watch.

It makes me feel good knowing that I have someone that looks up to me, someone that I can help just walk through life with.

Leah: We have an open adoption, and so we have a good relationship with some his birth family, especially his birth mom.

- It'll be great for him growing up, being loved and still knowing some of his biological side, and be able to build a relationship with them.

♪ Dan: As the day moves on, teams quickly approach their destination cities.

[phone notification] Carolen: We got a text.

Let's see, let's see.

Oh, it's from Dan.

- Whoa!

Jon: All right.

- Let's go.

Jon: Get it.

Tia: All right!

Let's do this.

Leah: Let's go.

[smack] ♪ Leah: 'Kay, let's go.

Nolin: All right, see what we can do.

Carolen: Oh, there's the flag, there's the flag, there's the flag.

There's the flag.

♪ Kentrelle: Let's see what we got today.

- "Welcome to your Day 5 Challenge.

This is Castaway."

Dan: The challenge for Day 5 is Castaway.

Using rope, teams rotate turns while casting into three different pools.

Magnets at the end of the rope must lock onto blocks in each pool.

[metallic thunk] Each block has a letter.

Retrieve all eight blocks and arrange the letters to spell out a word.

Spell the right word to complete this challenge.

♪ With Team Green's first place win yesterday, Teams Blue, Red, and Black are penalized by casting their magnets five feet farther back than Team Green.

[ding] Nolin: Beautiful.

♪ [ding, ding] ♪ [metallic thunk] Thaddeus: Okay, okay.

Um, slowly pull it to your right.

♪ [smack] [buzzer] Kentrelle: Nope, let's switch.

What was difficult about throwing a magnet is trying to figure out-- [buzzer] the technique on how to do it and, you know, overarm, underarm, like, just too much to think about.

Really wish I would have, you know, brushed up on my cowboy skills.

- You tell me where I need to throw it as far as, like, if it were a clock.

Do I need to throw it as, like, what-- You tell me.

Carolen: Okay.

Our strategy was to look at it like it was a clock, and direct our partner in clock rotation.

If the letter was sittin', you know, where two o'clock or three o'clock would be.

Four o'clock.

[clang] Oh!

Pull it out.

[ding] Oh!

- Okay, all right.

- Pull it, slow.

Okay, good job, girl.

[splash] [ding] [buzzer] [ding, ding] [ding] [splash] Leah: Nolin, try to go for the farther pools.

Oh, you got it.

[ding] Go, go, go, go, go.

[ding, ding] [clank] [ding] Kentrelle: You got it.

Pull it a little bit.

Pull it out, pull it out!

Okay.

[ding, ding] Tia: You got it, you got it.

Carolen: Oh my goodness.

[buzzer] - That's okay!

It's all right.

- My fishin' skills compared to Tia fishin' skills, not so great.

I needed a little bit more lessons before this challenge.

Tia: It's okay, it's okay.

Just remember, when you're, like when you were casting this morning, follow through.

[splash] Karen: Yes.

Um, to the right.

Right, right!

- How is this?

This penalty that Team Green gave us of five feet further back from the line has made it extremely difficult.

Karen: Pull it out.

Thaddeus: Out.

[buzzer] I'm not a big fan of Team Green right now.

Kentrelle: No, pull it back.

Yes, yes, yes!

Pull!

Good!

Tia: Come on-- Go over that way.

Wait-- You got it!

Okay, go ahead and pull it.

Come on.

You got it!

Good job!

[ding] Thaddeus: Yes, pull it, pull it!

Pull it, pull it!

Okay, wow.

Karen: When I got that bite, I was pumped.

I'm like, okay, we got this.

♪ [ding] [ding] [ding] Thaddeus: Yes, right there, right there!

Pull it, pull it!

Pull-- All right, okay.

[splash] [ding] Jon: Forward, just forward.

Little more.

- Um, it definitely helped to kind of, like, have Jon point at it so I know where's, like, a good throw.

That really helped.

[clang] Oh, you got it!

Pull it-- no-- you got it!

Pull it, pull it!

[ding, ding] [clank] [ding] - [gasps] [ding, ding] - Definitely think Tia brought some cowgirl skills.

Thaddeus: Okay, pull at the rope and move to your left.

I know we do not have much time left, and we still have a few more cubes in our pool.

[clang] Kentrelle: Yes, pull!

Now!

Yank!

Jon: If we hadn't gotten that penalty, it seems like it would have been a lot easier, 'cause five feet, you know, is a lot, but then you take away those five feet, and it seems like they would have been right at the pool.

Um, so it seems like Team Green may have had no difficulty at all, um, whereas other teams, um, maybe struggled more.

Leah: Yeah, just throw it, throw it hard.

[clank] Yes, go, go, go, go!

Go, go, go, go, go!

[ding, ding] Okay.

All right.

Team-- teamwork!

Nolin: What'd you say?

Leah: Teamwork.

Nolin: Teamwork?

Thaddeus: Okay, this is the last one.

Come on, come on!

Pull it, pull it!

Karen: Got it, got it, got it, got-- [ding, ding] Yes!

[clank] Jon: You got it, you got it!

Pull it out!

[ding, ding] [panting] [clang] Tia: Oh, you-- you almost had it.

It's too far.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.

[clang] Leah: Teamwork.

[clattering] Thaddeus: Okay, T-E-- uh, um, teamwork, teamwork, right here.

Kentrelle: This either has to be right here or right here based on how words go.

Jon: Mm-hm.

- Um, yeah, I don't do word scrambles.

- Um, I'm terrible with words and word scrambles.

I'm half blind in one eye.

I don't work well with them.

Nolin: 'Kay.

Leah: Teamwork!

[ding, ding, ding] Thaddeus: Um, the A. Karen: Yes, right.

Tia: Okay, just-- Nice and easy, nice and easy, right there.

Jon: Teamwork!

[ding, ding, ding] Come on, c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!

Tia: Just straight over.

Nice and easy.

It's gone.

It's out.

- [sighs] Tia: You did good, though.

You really did.

We ended up timing out on the challenge.

It's frustrating, and it's heartbreaking, but, it's sad that we didn't get all the letters, but-- Carolen: We did get six out of the eight blocks, so at least we were able to figure out what it spelled.

- Yeah.

- Teamwork.

- That's right.

Teamwork.

Nolin: My shoe is falling-- Go, go, go, go, go!

Thaddeus: "Your relative lives 3125 Mason Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina."

Kentrelle: Let's try to find it.

Jon: Let's go.

Carolen: Let's go.

Tia: All right!

♪ Dan: With the challenge reeled in, all the teams are now on the hunt to find their families.

♪ - Metzger.

We gotta keep our eyes peeled for Metzger Road.

Kentrelle: 3315, there's 34.

Yeah, just go to 40-- go to 41, all the way down.

- All right.

Nolin: 'Cause there's also numbers.

Leah: ...three two.

Nolin: Those are two three.

Leah: Okay, let's see.

Karen: We're in the middle of nowhere.

And so we're not gonna find a [indistinct] house, probably.

We have no idea where we are right now, so we're just going to ask right away.

Hi!

Excuse me.

Would you know where Mason Drive is?

Mason Drive.

It's in Charlotte.

We just know it's Mason Drive.

- We asked a lady in a parking lot where Mason Drive is.

She didn't know where it was, but instead, she started asking other people.

Woman 2: [distantly] I have no clue-- wait.

Excuse me!

Do you know where Mason Drive is?

Karen: And guess what?

She knew exactly where it was.

[laughs] Thank you!

Nolin: Does that mean we have to go either to the, over one more row to the right, and that'll be 24, and the next one 25.

Man, we just could not find this street.

I don't know if we should just stay on this main road or maybe try and find a neighborhood to pull down.

- Yeah, and then there's nobody out walking 'cause of the rain today.

- Oh, we're going across the bridge now.

I think it's back the other way.

Kentrelle: 4113.

Yes, keep going!

Go!

Go, go, go!

Yep, here it is.

- 28033.

- Make a left here.

Come on, girl, we on the clock!

We gotta get there!

Nolin: You wonder-- maybe we should turn down this main road left and see if we go further if it changes numbers.

- Well these are southeast roads, though.

I don't think-- I don't know.

Kentrelle: It has to be right here!

Right here!

No, that's 4133.

Jon: This way.

- Yes.

Carolen: And we're looking for 280-- Tia: 33.

Carolen: 33.

Tia: Look on this house and see.

Thaddeus: Oh my gosh, Ma, I think we found it.

- Oh, it's right there, it's right there, it's right there!

- All right, all right.

Let's do it.

Pullin' in.

- Now that's how you navigate.

- We killed it today!

♪ ♪ How's it goin'?

Man 1: Pretty good, how 'bout you?

- Good.

I'm Jon.

Kentrelle: Hey.

I'm Kentrelle.

- I'm Ian.

Jon: Hey, nice to meet you.

Ian: Nice to meet you, too.

Jon: Uh, I assume you're related to me.

- Yeah.

- How are we related?

- Well, I'm your brother.

- Nice to meet you, man.

Ian: Yeah, nice to meet you.

♪ My name is Ian Baer, and I am Jon's brother.

We share the same mother.

- Definitely see the face shape.

Um, I share that with you.

The hair, um, you know, longer hair.

We both like to keep it long.

- Yeah.

Seeing Jon's face for the first time, definitely the first impression I had was, wow, very similar looks.

- Yeah, no, definitely the, the jaw too.

Kind of have it going down with the chin, like-- - Oh, the chin that, like, has the weird dip there.

Jon: The dip!

- Yeah, the-- Jon: It's, it's weird, but yeah.

Yeah, so we're brothers through Mom or Dad?

- Uh, Mom.

- Mom?

Ian: Yeah.

- Okay.

Dustin, I thought, mentioned all the brothers he knew about to me.

The incarcerated one, myself, and him, and I thought that was it.

Do you know Dustin?

Or do you know of a Dustin Chapman.

- I know of a Dustin Chapman.

Jon: Yeah.

- Yeah.

Jon: Okay.

Did you ever meet him?

- No.

- You've never met him.

- No, I've never met Dustin.

- So you're-- you know Dustin and brothers with Dustin.

- I'm unsure about the dad, though.

It could be, it could not be.

I honestly have no idea.

'Cause he had, like, I think three or four kids with her-- - Mhm.

Ian: but I have no idea who's-- like, I have no idea.

There's no way to tell unless you know, a DNA test.

Jon: Right.

- Yeah, which we can't because he's not here anymore.

- Yeah.

Shock, surprise, but no, no bad emotions at all.

It's, it was all happy.

I was overjoyed and just extremely, extremely happy to, to see and meet, you know, that, uh, I have another brother, so.

- Well, I'd love to learn more about you and Dustin, so I can like, we can head inside if you want to.

- Most definitely.

Yeah, cool.

Ian: The reality of actually meeting biological family, uh, siblings, whatever, it is surreal but in a non-invasive way.

It feels-- It felt really easy, but it also felt kind of like I, it was, like, made up, like, it wasn't real.

It was a script, and that's not really my brother.

But it is.

♪ Karen: There it is right there, okay.

Pull in, pull in, pull in.

♪ [car door clicks] Thaddeus: So we ran up to the house, and for the first time, no one was outside.

It's a note.

Um, "Thaddeus and Karen, please come in!"

- Okay, let's go!

Thaddeus: Honestly, I don't know who is on the other side of the door.

I don't know if there is more than one person inside waiting for me.

I open the door, and I just saw a little laptop waiting for me.

Hi.

- Hello.

- I'm Thaddeus.

Um, this is my mom, Karen.

- I'm Juan.

I'm your uncle.

- My uncle, okay.

Nice to meet you!

Juan: Nice to meet y'all.

Yep, this is your newborn cousin.

He's, uh, three months old.

- Hi.

[laughs] - He's so cute.

Juan: My little bundle of joy.

- Wow.

It was my uncle waiting for me!

It was my uncle, uh, my mother's brother, actually.

- And I apologize I couldn't be there in person to meet you.

I was looking forward to it, but, uh, I had a medical emergency that we had to attend to, and, uh, we look forward to seeing you in person.

- I can't wait to meet you.

Unfortunately, my Uncle Juan could not make it to meet me today.

I really hope that we can meet very soon, but for now, my mom and I will enjoy this time together.

- Yeah, me and your mom, we, we close.

Uh, you know, she raised me, uh, as a, you know, when our mother wasn't there really with us.

- Wow.

Juan: And, uh, I know, you know, she loved you.

You know, and on the surface you kinda see that she had a lot of trouble, and she was goin' through a lot of stuff, and she got herself together.

She thought it was the best thing to do, you know, to let somebody else take care of you, 'cause she couldn't take care of herself at the time.

- Mhm.

I understand that.

I was disappointed, um, not meeting my uncle, because he actually mentioned how my mom kind of raised him.

And I kinda really wanted to ask more questions on, about who she was.

She was not only a mother to her kids, but she was a mother to her brothers.

- She never stopped talking about you.

You know, it was hard for her, but she kept trying to look for you and, you know, it just never happened.

And I think she was quite surprised to see that, you know, you reached out.

- Mm-hm.

Wow.

It's amazing to know that my biological mother, Sharon, never stopped thinking about me or looking for me.

My uncle also updated me on her current situation in the hospital, and she's doing a lot better.

It was great to meet you virtually.

Soon it's going to be in person, very soon.

Um, I wanna just thank you for everything.

- It was great to meet you, too, Thaddeus, and your mom, and, uh, I look forward to meeting y'all and you in person, and, uh, I hope you best wishes in the race.

Both: Thank you so much.

Thaddeus: I have high hopes.

I know that we are not meeting them on this journey, but I know we will have that moment, my mom and I, in the future to meet them.

♪ Tia: Yay, we found it!

Carolen: We found it!

We found the address.

There it is.

[whispering] Perfect, let's go.

♪ Hi.

Woman 3: Hello!

Carolen: How are you?

Woman 3: Good.

- I'm Carolen.

- I'm Tia.

- I'm Angela Watson.

Carolen, I am your sister, your big sister.

Carolen: Nice to meet you.

♪ Angela: I never, ever, ever wanna let you go.

Carolen: I appreciate it.

I'm so glad to meet you.

Angela: Likewise!

Carolen: [laughs] Angela: Sorry.

Carolen: You're okay, you're okay.

- My name is Angela Watson.

I am 49 years old, and I am Carolen's older sister.

Oh my goodness!

[sighs] Hugging Carolen for the first time felt like taking a breath of fresh air.

It, it felt like something I just needed to do, and longed to do, and I never ever wanted it to end.

I want to hold her and pour all of our lost time into that hug, and I want her to feel that love.

[sniffles] I'm the crybaby of the bunch.

- No, it's okay.

Angela: I have a baby sister.

Look how beautiful you are!

Carolen: Meeting Angela was so refreshing.

She reminds me a lot of myself.

And it just was, you know, nice to know that she was looking forward to meeting me.

She's been waitin', you know, for me.

She was excited ever since she found out about me.

So it made me feel really good about this journey.

- Wow, I cannot believe this is real.

So, I'm sure you ladies have had a very long day.

So let's go on in, get comfortable, and get better acquainted.

- Absolutely.

Angela: All righty, let's do it.

Carolen: Let's go, let's go.

♪ Leah: Keep goin', keep goin'.

- 2522.

- No, 32.

532, right here.

'Kay, pull in, pull in, pull in.

- Pull in to the-- - Yeah.

- Let's go.

♪ Nolin: How you doin'?

- All right.

Nolin: Good, good.

I'm Nolin.

- I'm Leah.

- Marlene.

Leah: Marlene.

Nolin: How are we related?

- Your auntie by your mom's side.

- Auntie.

Marlene: [laughing] Oh!

- Marlene.

Wow.

Wow.

- Oh, as you can see, I'm the shrimp.

- Yeah?

All: [laughing] - Everybody's taller than me.

Nolin: Yeah?

- I'm Marlene Reed.

I'm Nolin's aunt by his mother's side.

Nolin: I like the outfit, it looks good.

Marlene: Give me a hug!

Ah.

You look so handsome.

- Thank you, thank you.

- Yeah, we're related.

[laughs] Nolin: I can see it, for sure.

- There is no word that could actually describe how I f-- how I felt seeing him, um, knowing that you had a nephew, not knowing if you were ever going to meet him.

So actually seeing him, it was amazing.

It's a feeling that I'd never experienced before.

Ever since I found out, I've been so excited to meet you.

- Wow.

Marlene: Yeah.

- I'm excited too.

This, this is wonderful.

- You can't describe it.

You meet someone for the first time, and it's your blood, your family member, and you, the moment you lay eye on the person, you already love the person, like you knew the person from many years.

Like, it, there's no, f-- there's no word to describe the feeling.

[sighs] Okay.

Would you like to go in and talk?

- Of course.

Marleen: Oh my gosh.

Nolin: [laughs] - Let's go, let's go, let's go.

♪ Jon: Do you still talk to Mom?

- I've never met her.

Jon: No?

- Nope.

Jon: Seems to be the case.

Ian: Yeah.

- Yeah.

Ian: Don't really know much about her, either, so... 'Cause I, I was, eight-- around eighteen months old when I was adopted, so, like, even if I did meet her, I would have no recollection of that.

Jon: Sure, okay.

Did your-- Did you have any siblings that were adopted as well?

- Uh, a younger brother.

Jon: Younger brother.

- Yeah.

They literally called my, my mom, was like, she had another one.

You want 'im?

And they're like, okay, sure!

- So we-- There's another brother, then?

Ian: Yeah, my younger brother, the one I-- I grew up with him.

Jon: Right.

How old is he?

Ian: 21.

Jon: Okay, okay.

It was definitely a shocker to know that he was raised with his biological brother, but I thought that was really cool.

I didn't-- I wasn't jealous or anything that.

It's just the way things happened.

And I'm happy that he got to grow up with someone that he's related to.

Ian: When Jon realized that I grew up with a biological brother, I also noticed some, like, sincere, oh, that's cool, I'm glad you got to do that kind of expressions.

And I also noticed the, like, curiosity of, like, oh, cool, does that mean I get to meet Mattie?

Does that mean are you gonna introduce us?

Like, I saw that too.

I saw curiosity.

Jon: Where's he at?

Ian: He lives in Florida.

He's going to school there, he's going to Full, Full Sail.

So he's attending a school there.

Jon: Oh, that's awesome.

- Yeah.

- What is his name?

- Uh, Matthew, but he goes by Mattie.

- Goes by Mattie.

Ian: Yeah, a little nickname, Mattie.

- Right.

Okay, cool.

I have Donald, I have Dustin, you, Mattie.

- Yeah.

Jon: And me.

- That's five.

Jon: That's five of us.

Yeah, that's the basketball team right there.

It's all brothers then.

That's crazy.

Coming onto the show, I was, you know, entering with a certain, uh, series of questions that I really wanted answered.

Who's my mom, who's my dad?

I want to meet them, I want to ask them these questions, but it seems that that's not what I'm gonna get.

It seems that what I'm getting instead is, you know, brothers, and closer relationships, cousins, that we can, like, start afresh with.

And maybe it's for the best.

Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

If I don't meet my parents, maybe it's because they don't wanna meet me, or maybe it's because they're not in a good place in their lives, or maybe it's 'cause they're not alive.

But I thought about it a lot last night, too, and I'm, I'm fine with not meeting my parents.

It's-- I'm perfectly-- more than content with what I have right now.

Like, we could stop now, and I'd be like, I did what I came here to do.

I am so happy.

I'm, I, I'm overjoyed.

Yeah, no, having siblings, you know, at least knowing them now, it'll be, it'll be, it'll be good going forward knowing that, you know, finally got back together and kind of just starting over, I guess.

- Right, yeah.

And especially at a, like, a young enough age that you're still, you know, learning how to be an adult, so it's not like you're jumping right into an adult relationship with siblings.

It definitely seemed like Jon had things he really wanted answers to, but he got answers to other things that he didn't realize he wanted.

Um, and then the other questions kind of took the back burner.

They're obviously still there, but they, you know, still haven't figured out that answer yet, I still haven't figured out that answer yet, so, like, that's gonna be something that we can try and figure out together.

So it's, you know, got the answers he needed, not wanted.

Jon: No, I definitely appreciate you taking the time, you know, meeting me.

It's cool to know that my family's expanding, you know?

More and more brothers that just keep piling on.

You know, my family's getting bigger, and it's, it's pretty exciting, so, thanks again, man.

Ian: Of course, man.

Jon: Appreciate it.

Today has been an amazing day.

Meeting family, meeting my brother, bonding over the shared experiences that we have, it's been a day that will live in my memory for the rest of my life.

I'm super excited to build memories going forward, and having that brother's trip.

We've already started planning it.

♪ - We have such a big family.

What's it like with your brother and sisters?

- Oh my goodness.

It's a never-ending party, for sure.

[laughs] When we get, when we all get together, it's nothing but laughter, fun, and food.

I wasn't necessarily separated, but I did spend quite a bit of time as a young child with our great-grandmother.

Carolen: Okay.

- And I was always kind-- and still is-- somewhat of an oddball in the family.

I kind of stick out.

I don't really fit.

So I guess she kind of saw that, and, and kinda just took me under her wing.

- Good.

Angela: And... it shaped me a little bit differently than my sisters and my brother, I would say.

Um, it's nothing but love between us, but definitely differences, in our outlook, and our family structures, and things like that.

- When Angela mentioned that she often feels like the oddball of her family, um, it made me feel like that me and Angela would connect on, you know, her feelin' a bit out of place growin' up, and me feeling a bit out of place growin' up, so, it's, you know, nice that we do have that in common, because we can talk about it, you know, just discuss it.

I'd love to hear how she overcame it, or how she, you know, just get through life and don't let it bother her.

Seeing that she still have a, a very healthy, close relationship with her siblings to this day.

Angela: I'd also like to share with you a photo that I have of our great-grandmother.

She's no longer with us.

- Oh.

Angela: Um, she was like the matriarch.

And this young lady, she's-- I say young lady.

She was about... uh, I wanna say she was 92 here.

Carolen: Ohh.

Angela: And her name was Tracy Scott, but we called her Tuhtuh.

- Tuhtuh.

Angela: Tuhtuh.

Uh, that was a nickname that she got when she was a kid, 'cause her sister couldn't say "sister."

She called her Tuhtuh.

[laughs] She was a firecracker, but she was very, very smart.

She was a schoolteacher, um, in Houston, Texas, which is where she was from, and, um, she came here when she was fairly young, and kinda just took over and ran the family.

[laughs] Carolen: Yeah.

She's beautiful.

Angela: Yeah, she-- - Look at those cheeks.

Angela: Oh yeah.

Carolen: Today I learned about my great-grandmother, Tracy Scott.

Angela shared a photo with me of her.

She was extremely beautiful, very high cheekbones, curly hair.

She was amazing.

She's beautiful.

- She definitely taught me a lot about being who I am, and kinda stayed on me, made sure I, I went to school, and I was clean, and I was dressed, and I was presentable, and I presented well.

- Mm-hm.

Angela: And...

I attribute a lot of who I am today to her being one of the most dominant figures in my life.

And, I'm honored.

And I wish you could have met her.

But through our relationship, I'll continue to teach you, and tell you more about her.

- Okay.

Angela: And hopefully through my stories and my experiences, you'll get to learn a little bit more of who she is, or who she was.

- Absolutely.

I look forward-- Angela: Yes, yes yes yes.

- to hearin' so much about Miss Tracy.

Angela: The future, I hope, holds some amazing, memory-building moments.

That's the one thing I'm looking forward to, to with Carolen, just experiencing her life.

I think we have a lot of things in common as far as hardships and things like that.

It may not have been the same, and I think we could really bond and help each other heal even more.

And I think that's extremely important with siblings, is that you not only come together for the good times, but you learn to build and heal and take care of each other, and I wanna be that for her.

♪ Nolin: So you said you have five siblings?

- It's five of us.

Nolin: Five altogether, okay.

- Yeah.

It's me, Patricia, Francisco, Sheila, then your mom.

- So my mom's the youngest?

Marlene: Yes, your mother's the youngest.

- Just like me.

Marlene: Out of five.

Nolin: Wow.

Leah: Yeah, just like you.

Nolin: What is my mom like?

- Your mother, she's a very nice person.

Nolin: Yeah?

- She would give you her last dollar.

- Wow.

Marlene: Yeah.

She's always been like that.

Nolin: Just hearing about her personality and how it's similar to mine when I, uh, just reflect on myself is, is just awesome.

- Let me show you.

Nolin: Wow.

Leah: How long ago was this picture?

Marlene: She was in her twenties.

Leah: Okay.

Marlene: Mm-hm.

Nolin: Her twenties.

I don't know, it just feels... kinda unreal, like, to see her for the first time after 20 years, and she's the same age as me in the picture.

Um... Marlene: I was looking at him, I could see the emotion, the way he was just staring at the pictures.

It was priceless.

Nolin: I just would love to, get to meet in person now, just to talk.

Super neat to see my mother at the same age as me.

Just felt just that instant connection.

Yeah, I'm kind of at a loss for words, really.

Marlene: This one, a close-up picture but she was younger.

I think she was either 17 or 18 in that one.

Mm-hm.

Leah: She-- Your younger pictures just look a lot like her.

Nolin: Yeah.

I thought my mom looked beautiful.

This was the first time that I had seen my mother as an adult, and it was just a surreal moment.

It was special.

And, yeah, I just wanted to soak it all in.

I can just feel a connection.

I mean, it's weird, because it's, it's like a stranger, but familiar, too, 'cause you've never seen 'em, but at the same time, you're like, I-- I know that person somehow.

So, did you know that my mother gave me up for adoption?

- I didn't know.

Nolin: You didn't know.

- I didn't know that your mom was pregnant.

- Wow.

- I think she was ashamed.

Or, maybe not ashamed, maybe, I don't know, embarrassed?

Nolin: Right.

- Um, she loved you.

- Right.

Marlene: She gave you up because she wanted a better life for you.

Nolin: Right.

- His mother giving him away, she was doing the best that she can at that time.

It's not that she didn't love him.

She just wanted the best for him.

And sometime in, in life, you can't be selfish.

♪ She did it for, for him, not for her.

If it was for her, she would have kept him, but she wanted the best for him.

No matter what, she always loved him.

Nolin: I know I had a, a great life.

That all I want to do is just meet her, and just tell her I love her, and just, just make her know that I'm okay.

I want nothing more now than to just wrap my arms around her and tell her that it's gonna be okay.

Marlene: [emotionally] Um, I found out... she tried to kill herself... because she gave you up.

She tried to find you, and she couldn't, because it was a closed adoption.

And she did her, her best, but she didn't tell-- And I tell you, she didn't tell me.

♪ Nolin: I just had to just take a moment, just soak that in.

It was something that I had never imagined, and it showed, I mean, how much she cared, and how much she wanted, uh, me in her life.

- It's when, um, after she tried to kill herself, that everyone, especially me, find out why she tried to, why she tried to kill herself.

She couldn't take the guilt.

As a sister, it was very hard, especially...

I started thinking of all the years that she had to hold that in, not letting, you know, people know.

She did what she can.

She search and search to find him.

When I spoke to her, she said, everytime she saw someone that was your age, a young boy, she was th-- asking herself, is that you?

♪ - I assumed that it would be hard.

I knew that it would be hard, especially, uh, with Leah and her adopting a child and having that being an open adoption.

So, seeing, uh, her son's birth mom and how hard that is for her and how emotional it can get, I could only imagine.

- [emotionally] I think that, that story happens a lot.

I wish that we could have been there for her to help her navigate that time of her life.

- But, she got help, and she's gotten better.

And believe me, if I woulda known, any of us would have taken you.

♪ And when we find out, it was hard for all of us, especially seeing her, what she was going through.

Nolin: Yeah.

- But... we can't live in the past.

We can only go forward with the future, so.

Hearing all this is... a shock, really.

It's-- I mean, I couldn't imagine her thoughts and what she was going through as she made that decision, but... yeah, trying to take your own life, I didn't...

I couldn't imagine.

And...

I'm so thankful that she didn't.

Thank you for sharing everything that you have.

It was just so-- just a pleasure talking to you more.

My first auntie-- - [laughs] Nolin: on my mother's side.

It's so exciting, and I just can't wait to get to know you and the whole family better.

- Me too, sweetie.

- We got a lot of years.

Marlene: [laughs] I'm looking forward to spend more time with him.

Very grateful that I got this chance to meet him.

♪ Dan: As the sun sinks over Day 5, teams prepare for tonight's results.

Thaddeus: Today I really dropped the ball.

I really think we're getting our second strike today.

- We struggled more than we usually do on the navigating.

- Things were just different than what they have been.

Smaller cities... - Different roads.

- Different roads, different direction.

Kentrelle: This challenge, I don't know, I hope it didn't, um, bring us back.

I really hope it didn't because... Jon: That was pretty bad.

Kentrelle: I know.

Jon: Took us— it took us awhile.

- I do not wanna go home tonight.

Tia: Neither do I.

- We have two strikes now.

- I'm worried that if we get another strike, we're out.

- We can do this.

Let's not go home tonight.

Tia: No.

Karen: We'll find out tonight.

Dan: Welcome to the halfway point of Relative Race, teams.

You are all alive and well as we are now through our first five days of this ten day journey.

All of you go through all of these ups and downs throughout the day, but ultimately, you find yourself at an address and you expect to find family at that address.

But that wasn't the case for Team Red.

You had an unusual situation come up today.

Tell us about that.

You arrive at your home and what do you see?

- Um, we saw a note on the door, um, to tell us to come inside the house and in the middle of the house it was a laptop and I virtually met my uncle today on my mom's side.

- Why?

Why was that?

Thaddeus: So last minute, um, a family emergency popped up, so they had to be with their family.

- And did he have information to share with you that was helpful?

- Yes, actually.

He gave me more details about my mom.

- I hope you have uh, more good family meetings and introductions ahead for you on this journey, Thaddeus.

Carolen, yesterday you met a sister and a brother.

But who was waiting for you today?

- Today I had the pleasure of meeting my older sister, Angela.

- Hello!

Dan: Another sister.

Carolen: Yes, Dan.

Another sister.

[laughs] - Hello!

It's nice to meet you all.

- Nice to see you and meet you and thanks for being here for Carolen.

Angela: I'm honored, it's my pleasure.

Dan: Again Carolen, there's a big ol' smile on your face.

Carolen: [laughs] Yeah Dan, I really appreciate you guys makin' this happen.

Dan: Team Blue, tonight, who was waiting there?

Was it Jon's relative, or Kentrelle's?

- Uh, well Dan, it ended up being a relative of mine.

Um, so today I was able to meet um, another brother.

This is Ian.

- Hi.

Dan: Hey Ian!

What's goin' on?

How you doin'?

Ian: I'm good, how 'bout you?

[chuckles slightly] Dan: I'm great.

Jon, so happy for you.

And so happy for your brothers.

- Thank you Dan, I appreciate that.

Team Green, who was waiting for you, Nolin?

- So, I met today my aunt, Marlene, on my mom's side.

Marlene: Hi everyone.

[chuckles] Dan: Nolin, when you started this journey, I gotta be honest with you, in our nightly meetings, I wasn't seeing a lot of emotion.

And now I see all this emotion.

Has it almost taken you three, four, five days to realize this is real?

- You could, you could say that.

Uh, the first-- just— yeah, as the days went on— I'm not too much of an emotional guy.

I like to hold things in, which I know I shouldn't.

But um, as I kept meetin' more and more family just... at some point something gives and it's been amazing.

Dan: I love to see how your families are growing and how your bonds with each other are growing as well.

[intense music] Five days down, five more to go.

Who, on this fifth day of Relative Race, will pick up the strike?

And who will finish in first place and pick up a valuable first place prize?

We're about to find out.

Today was a very close day overall.

Only eight minutes separated first from fourth.

Only one minute separated first from second.

Finishing 15 minutes over their allotted time, Team Red, you keep moving up the ladder.

Congratulations, you finished in first place today.

Karen and Thaddeus: [laughing in disbelief] - You've got to be kidding.

[laughs] Dan: The clock doesn't lie.

Thaddeus: [wheezing] - Okay!

- Whoa.

Dan: Guys, what it all came down to is your navigations on the road were absolutely supreme.

Nice job.

- Thank you.

[laughs] - You also pick up a first place prize, which is a benefit for you in tomorrow's challenge.

Finishing one minute behind Team Red, 16 minutes over their allotted time... Congratulations to Team Blue.

Kentrelle: Yes!

Jon: Let's go.

- Yeah!

- Heck yeah!

- Be scared of us.

Both: [laughing] Dan: It does come down to Team Black and Team Green.

One team finished 20 minutes over their allotted time.

The other team finished 23 minutes over their allotted time.

Safe on this day, finishing 20 minutes over their allotted time... Congratulations Tia and Carolen.

Team Green, you finished 23 minutes over your allotted time.

The weather, the struggles on the road, wrong turns, it all caught up to you on this day.

But tomorrow is the second half of your 10 day journey.

And so, consider how each and every day, you might be able to do something a little bit different, a little bit better.

Is it teamwork?

Is it communication?

Is it map reading skills?

Is it finding different and unique ways to find locations when you arrive in your city?

Ultimately, remember it's all about family.

Goodnight everybody.

All: [goodnights] Carolen: [exhales] Tia: Oh, gimme a hug.

Oh, thank goodness.

- The first thing that went through my head when I heard third place was you got this girl.

It-it was just confirmation, it's not over.

- Teamwork.

- Okay!

Let's go to Day 6!

- I'm over the top.

Absolutely over the top.

When I go to sleep tonight, I'm gonna have a big smile on my face.

[laughs] Thaddeus: I think us winning first place, getting that benefit, will definitely help us tomorrow.

- For sure.

- Yeah, we got our first strike.

Leah: Mhm.

- But we're the last team to do it, so.

Leah: Yeah.

- You'll do better tomorrow.

Nolin: [chuckles] We will, we will.

Marlene: [laughing] - We're halfway through now, I think— Leah: Yeah.

- I think we'll be just fine.

- I'm still encouraged that we only have one strike.

I mean, it's still is a bummer, but we're gonna try to move on from it tomorrow and keep pushin' forward.

Kentrelle: [fierce whisper] I told you!

Kentrelle and Jon: [laughing] Jon: Let's go man.

Kentrelle: [sighs] And looks who's gettin' it.

- Team Green wasn't so happy today.

You know, they finally caught that strike.

It's been overdue for a long time though.

- Seems like they're green with envy now.

- I was talking to Kentrelle about, you know, Team Green has a benefit, imagine if they still lost.

And it's like, you guys lost, even with the benefit, so uh... - You know, we was speakin' things into existence the entire show.

- We really do.

- We're gonna win.

- Mhm.

- Yeah.

♪