DANGER! viewers were surprised when the show’s defending champion made a bold decision that inspired gasps from the audience.
Survivor alum Drew Basile won his first game on Jeopardy! on June 19 and has held the lead ever since, but came close to being dethroned on Friday.
5
On Final Jeopardy, players Drew, Josh Heit, and Richelle Brown were given a challenging clue.
“50 years ago, Vin Scully announced that he received a ‘standing ovation in the Deep South’ for breaking a long-standing record,” shared host Ken Jennings.
Michelle shared her response first.
She wrote: “who is this?” and bet $5.
Her incorrect guess took her from $1,000 to $995.
Josh, who was in second place with $10,000, came in second.
He bet $10,000 and guessed correctly: “Who is Hank Aaron?”
Drew correctly guessed Hank Aaron, but made a big mistake by not betting anything.
This led to a tie between the two men, which doesn’t happen often on Jeopardy!.
Ken, 50, announced they were going to a “final jump-off track”.
The presenter announced a category, followed by a clue.
“This phenomenon named after a 19th century man is apparent in moving light sources as well as moving sound sources,” the clue said.
The first man to call with the right answer would be considered the winner.
Danger! Host timeline
Danger! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts following the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are every host since the game show’s inception in 1964.
Art Fleming – from 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.
Alex Trebek – From 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted the modern iteration of Jeopardy! for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.
Guest Hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested a series of guest hosts for one- or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton and Aaron Rodgers.
Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for a week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.
Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.
Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the winningest contestant of all time) joined Mayim as guest host and they shared hosting duties.
Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a long hiatus, having defended the writers’ strike, and Ken was named sole host.
Ken now runs all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the late night show and other primetime specials such as Masters.
Drew called, asking, “What is Doppler – what is the Doppler effect?”
The answer was correct and Drew won his third consecutive Jeopardy! to win.
The win brought his three-day total to $53,282.
VISITOR REACTION
After the episode, viewers began Reddit to discuss the dramatic ending.
Fans seemed to enjoy the intensity, noting the difference between previous champion Adriana Harmeyer’s gameplay and Drew’s.
“Good tense game. After seeing the extremely modest Adriana, Allison and others on my screen for so long, I’m still trying to get used to Drew’s exhibitionism and banter,” one fan posted.
Another poster called the episode “One of the best regular season games so far.”
Others were surprised by Drew’s strategy on Final Jeopardy.
“Just looking at the numbers, a $1 bet would have been the right play, but when your buzzer rate is as good as Drew’s (65% and 70% in his first two games), I think it actually makes sense bet the category under consideration and say ‘I think I have a better than 70% chance of getting a sports question right?’ “, posted another person.
A fourth viewer added: “It’s true. My first thought upon hearing that Drew bet on the undercard was that it seemed a little risky, but remembering that he’s great at the buzzer AND learning that the FJ category was Sports. .yeah, I’m not surprised he apparently didn’t trust the track to be a softball.
FAN SPECULATION
Drew has been generating buzz on Jeopardy! fan community since her victory over Adriana.
Although the competitor seems unstoppable, fans speculate that one player could have dethroned Drew.
On June 19, Drew, Adriana and Tekla Sauter faced each other.
Adriana was gunning for her 16th win after racking up an impressive total of $349,600.
Throughout the episode, Drew dominated the game.
During Double Jeopardy!, draw discovered a second Daily Double and bet $10,000.
He won the show in a runaway victory, to the point that Final Jeopardy didn’t matter.
While Drew was in the lead throughout the episode, Tekla had the opportunity to win.
She discovered the latest Daily Double and won a whopping $6,400.
She bet a modest $3,000, rather than going all in, and failed to reach first place, or close to it, before Final Jeopardy.
On Reddit, fans discussed Tekla’s near victory.
“I know the headline is the giant killer, but I can’t stop thinking about the Daily Double’s latest bet,” one fan wrote.
“At this point in the game, without many clues on the board, falling significantly behind the leader, what is the merit of betting just $3,000?
“If you miss, you’ll be dead anyway, so it’s best to go big to try and get within striking distance.
“And if Tekla had done that, she probably would have won, seeing FJ’s result. It always hurts me a little to see such experienced players miss a chance to win.”
Other fans agreed that even though the game didn’t play out that way, Tekla had the opportunity to be the champion.
“Yes, that was a shockingly bad bet. She definitely wasn’t understanding the situation and it ended up costing her the game,” another viewer posted.
“If she made the correct bet, she wins 100%,” commented a third.
“Given the opportunity to be a giant killer and the timing of the bet in the game, it has to be one of the top 10 bets of all time. Not quite Cliff Claven, but close.)” A fourth fan chimed in.
5
5
5
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
