Ducky

Came here to mention this- I caught that instantly (am deaf & use ASL) and was so happy that they showed that! :) :). Sad that Rob & Corey came in third due to navigation (as mentioned in above snippet of their interview. But happy with Greg & John winning. R/C and G/J were my two favorites. Lukewarm-ish on Joel & Garrett but good on them for 2nd place (the 'underdogs' angle was a bit too played up for me). This season was a good one. No teams that were utterly awful- either in actual task performance/navigation or personality- only mildly to moderately irritating (coughS&ALcough). As for Greg/John being well-off... yes they are in tech and likely pulling down six figure salaries but they both live in high cost of living cities and taxes will eat into the salaries as well. I say good on 'em- they can invest the million and retire early or help out others- whatever they decide. Oh and I definitely would love to walk on the Space Needle! My brother lived in Seattle for about 5 years- sadly I never got a chance to visit him but did visit a friend of mine who lives in Poulsbo (now) twice. Didn't do the Space Needle though (yet) due to $$$$.

Yep- years ago my father went to England for his antique car- as he had shipped it to get it 'refurbished' (an Alfa? I can picture it but can't quite remember the model ATM). He is left-handed and said the same; I believe he almost got himself in trouble at one point driving on the road and trying to make a turn. He grew up with manual transmissions well into adulthood so a challenge for him driving in the UK (even more so if he had driven his Alfa with steering wheel on the right!) What a great episode- F3 is great, can't remember the last time I liked all three teams! Rob/Corey still my top team but won't quibble if Greg/John or Joel/Garrett wins. Yep- I believe navigation hurt AL and Steve more than the Roadblocks did. What AL said at the mat "The worst feeling in the world"- I've heard other teams say the same though the worst one was that football player who REALLY lambasted TAR negatively. Freezing cold water? Whoooo. that wake me up in a hurry like Joel said Riverdance... Amazing to watch- I would still be there- terrible balance and I likely would not have been able to hear my tutor calling the steps on stage! (Hearing aids only amplify sound not clarify them). Corey and Anna Mai were so cute together :). Hurling looks really cool- seemed like a cross between baseball, lacrosse and field hockey! The recitation- Rob's was awesome- ASL is his primary language even if his speech is fairly good (with a 'deaf accent') so I am very sure there was an ASL interpreter behind the scenes interpreting in whispers to the judge what Rob was signing. It looked like most of the crowd was behind the racers so no way most would see Rob anyway (or understand him ASL is not the same as Irish (or British) sign language). Joel's dramatic pauses in trying to remember his was a bit nerve wracking! Gotta agree here- it sounded more like gentle ribbing/teasing more than anything as over the race they've never been unfriendly with any teams or spoke ill of anyone- other than "I wish they'd stop following us!" re Robbin/Chelsea and AL/Steve this episode. Looking forward to the final- Rob/Corey FTW ! with Greg/John my 2nd choice. To those wondering what Corey's instructor's name was, closed captions said Anna Mai.

Good lord I was worried for Steve, his face was so red and him holding his side while running. Amazed he hasn't passed out on a leg yet. I'm sure the TAR medical team is keeping an eye on him 🤞. Re Express Pass- I think in the moment Rob/Corey thought that taking it on the Roadblock was the better choice as they usually do Detours easily enough. They could have not known there would be an intermediary "task" (find the violinist)- bled a little time running completely around the building. Garrett/Joel were so sure they were either 4th or 3rd Maaaaybe 2nd- never expected 1st- that was fun to see. Meantime the wandering of the 3 other teams was a comedy of errors until they found someone with a phone to use google maps. Ashlie/Todd- bummer that they didn't make it (would rather have had them instead of Steve/AL) but despite some of the down/negative talk Ashlie was doing sounds like overall they enjoyed their time on the race (notably the skydiving for Ashlie). Greg/John- awesome as ever- loved when Greg was doing the roadblock and said after the first check failed- 'well time to debug it!' My final 3- Corey/Rob, John/Greg, Garrett/Joel. I hope that R/C wins though. And if S/AL do manage to squeeze in- 3rd place. I don't hate them per se just not a big fan of AL and worried for Steve- regardless of 'well he signed up for it!'; I do wonder if he felt that he could do it but didn't anticipate just how hard all that running etc was and what it was doing to his body. He's 54 (thought he was older than that?!) so that's partly why I'm a tad worried on just how winded he was.

LOL- that was one of my favorite moments of the ep- Rob and Corey arguing about who was best at Darts (not soccer). Playing Darts is a big thing in the deaf community- I used to be a part of a Deaf darts team when I lived in Colorado (still have the shirt too). Sad to see the Philly pair go :( but navigation - or lack of it- really burned them. No idea what happened fully since we only get snippets on screen but it seems like they handled the elimination with grace (the comment about the party being held already without them was memorable). Steve and Anna Leigh sure showed another side of themselves this episode- and not a pretty one. Still don't care for them though I like Steve a bit more. Greg and John continue to impress and I love them for the finale three. Rob and Corey- they're just amazing overall- I'd be on the ground crying with that Soccer Dart (Dart Soccer?) detour after a bunch of tries lol. They definitely stopped for a minute to see how they could improve their odds and it worked. (BTW- loved the silent laughter in the talking heads- visual communication at its finest lol). Garrett and Joel- kind of lukewarm with them though liked that they at least didn't melt down thinking they were last. Lena and Morgan- ooof... I feel like after the India (KF) leg they were more apt to be at each other throats. I'm terrible with directions and probably would have done the same thing that one of the sisters did turn right instead of left (I do that enough when I use google maps!) Robbin and Chelsea- eh...they seemed...I don't know like what others have said like they aren't enjoying it much though they seem enthused at the mat for a 2nd place finish(!!? was so sure they'd be lower down in the order) Todd and Ashlie- not much to say but they were smart to switch detours and Todd admitted that he wasn't quite thinking clearly regarding his wife's preference (and not doing well with the ball kicking). Malaina and Andrea- they were fun to watch even with the out of towners deal and I love that they barely bickered (maybe some)- their friendship is strong. Thems the breaks that they had such a bad leg- was sad they didn't get to enjoy the carnival and the horse-bike. My final three- Greg/John, Rob/Corey, toss up between Garrett/Joel, Lena/Morgan (even with all their bickering) and Todd/Ashlie. Chelsea/Robbin and Steve/Anna Leigh I'd like to see walk off into the sunset.

Coming here a bit late-- just wanted to comment on two things.. 1. No idea if Luke did or did not have an interpreter if he or his mom had to do a task apart from the other but if he did TAR likely kept the interpreter off screen. First time I've seen an interpreter shown (I wonder if TAR/CBS directly hired him and in past only hired 'terps on contract... ) 2. As already noted- no Rob is not mugging for the camera (on purpose or not)- Facial and body expression is a BIG part of ASL and visual communication with the Deaf. 3. Somebody noted that because Rob could voice, he may have lost his hearing as a child. Maybe but I've known quite a few Deaf people born deaf who could voice very well and very clearly (with or without Hearing aids/Cochlear implants)- me being one of them. Luke if i recall could voice somewhat but not as well. So not sure on Rob's background- it seems like he attended (and later work at) CA school for the Deaf at Riverside. And.. happy to see TAR back. So far most of the teams I like. Rob/Cory, Ian/Joe, Andrea/Malalia(sp?), John/Greg, Victor/Jocelyn. Rest I'm luke warm on for now. Don't care much for Todd or Ashleigh Anna Leigh (managed to mash Anna Leigh and Aslie together).

Coming way late to this (life and all lol but figure I'd comment anyway. Yes the actress that played Wilder is deaf...oooh didn't realize she made her mark in the Deaf West's production of Spring Awakening; Marlee Matlin (she was the doctor trying to convince Wilder to go for the Deaf School of Medicine job). On that note even though that school doesn't exist....yet- I hope it does some day- Can almost see either NTID or Gallaudet U adding that on lol. Sadly yes this is true. I grew up oral and went to Gallaudet (with a 6 week-ish crash course in ASL provided by Gallaudet the summer before freshman year). Many Deaf people also have treated the DeafBlind community badly (and still do to some extent); never really ran across seeing intellectually disabled people being discriminated again(tho I am positive it happens) but I can see autistic people being discriminated against by d/Deaf people. Honestly pretty much any group of people who are different including LGBT are 'less than' or 'sinning' (the LGBT one) in the eyes of some d/Deaf folks. I have hope that things are better now than in the 80s but currently racism is a hot button as it is with the rest of the US...

Yes there would have been an alternate interpreter available if for whatever reason Ben has to do something or at least has a day off/vacation. As for staff learning sign... maybe they did but they're not showing it in the show for some reason (They should) Source- I'm deaf and familiar with interpreters. Actually I'm a little surprised there isn't a team of interpreters as they do need to rotate every 2-3 hours to allow rest and prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. I'm no doctor or medical personnel so don't know what a day in the life of Dr. Wilder would actually be like in the (so-called) real world outside of tv shows. Ahh the superpower of reading lips (and I'm surprised the deaf actor went along with it). She can read lips yes but most times it's a supplemental aid- kind of like a tool... Hearing aids/Cochlear implants aren't magic so some deaf lipread, sign and write (paper or phone). At least Dr Wilder was smart enough to write on the wall (graffiti!..) in the stairwell. Not sure why they didn't do the phone back and forth like they did in the All Night Long episode- I was thrilled to see that.

Just a note from the previous episode continued here- My lil theory that the 'curriculum' could have been some sort of software program or something (I am going to see it that way :P - probably the only one). This ep she mentioned something about opening many schools for blind/low vision kids. But as I'm typing- thinking/remembering that I think that was more in the line of "wishful thinking" or potential goals for the future not a reality in the 'present time --> day of Rebecca's funeral. This episode...I really thought we'd see more flash forwards like Randall & Beth with new grandson; what happened with the younger generation Big 3 (Only thing is Hailey working at some art gallery); we see more of Jack D in the past 'flashforwards- nothing on Kevin's twins! Overall good episode but WHY in the hell did it end on RANDALL. I mean...I like the guy but the show was This is US not This is ME...would have figured closing scene would be the big 3 even further into the future with their kids grown or something!

Haven't read the rest of the the thread but wanted to get this down... been meaning to since seeing the episode last week (on Hulu); kept forgetting. 1. I liked the episode- the train was interesting; I can see why that was the case because Rebecca (somewhere) said she liked riding trains with her dad so that popped up in her mind. 2. Re Kate and her curriculum... I kind of wonder if the "curriculum" is some sort of software to aid in the teaching of music to blind/low vision kids (and working with Toby lol)- so I can see and understand the California and going international angle. That's my theory and sticking with it (err.. will be putting new thoughts in the last episode thread ...:-O ) 3. LOVED that Toby asked Rebecca if she liked him more than Philip. I still don't care for Philip. I may be misremembering but didn't he at one point say he hated children? (That thought came to me in the episode where he proposed to Kate). 4. Happy to see a bit of Annie in there, poor kid...This Is Us nearly pulled a Chuck Cunningham/Judy Winslow move. I'm sure I'm forgetting something... Oh yes-- the Marcus Brooks subplot- took a bit too much away from the main plot- I spent half the time trying to figure out why they were focusing on Marcus and who the hell he was.

Plus one- for Rebecca's situation being a lot like my late grandmother's. She was fairly quiet, 'vacant' if you will. There were periods of fear & lucidity in what was happening to her- she was aware at times and it broke my heart when she did show that fear. After a major seizure- one thing that happened was that she stopped smoking because well she forgot she did- that's after a 70some year habit along with a faster decline in her mental/physical state. There's more but that's the gist of it. It's like what many have said already- dementia & Alzheimer's manifests in many different ways for everyone. At least one of her 2 children has said that line "That isn't my mother" to me; the same person may still be 'there' but the essence and personality was not the same as before the disease took hold and progressed. So to me that's a believable line coming from Randall and Kevin.

Meant to come here earlier after I saw this episode.... The scene of Jack at the hospital getting stitches kicking & screaming made me remember the same happening to me. No, didn't escape the house to go outside lol. story below- hidden so not to bore people to tears 🙃 Little Jack was adorable and loved the 'teaching moments' with Kate and the song to teach Jack how to navigate (taught him a little too well- he had it memorized quite well!)

Came here wondering if I was the only one not being a fan of Dusty/Ryan (Mainly Dusty- now that I know which one does the howling/hooting/screaming)....10x worse when you have a pair of hearing aids that amplifies sounds- loudly. Ouch. I also think there's quite a bit of KF going on and it's noticeable in all the teams more so with Arun/Natalia. They seem to bicker more than outright fighting each other though.

Reading the posts about manual vs automatic and how hard/easy it is to learn reminds me of my experience learning- Mother and sister taught( or tried to) me- 3 of us went to a local school parking lot (empty must have been a weekend). I did ok driving around but when it was time to leave, I went to stop at the exit before turning onto the street. Stalled out the car...and immediately managed to restart the car in third gear. Both of them said well nope you ain't driving home! Haven't tried to learn since. Would be nice if I could try again though.

I seem to recall they did the same with Ziva's desk when Bishop first arrived... which was Kate's desk when Ziva first arrived...

When did Will/James say this? I know that one of the beard brothers said the same thing... "take take take..." So it's not all on them.