‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to Second Chance Final: ‘Nail-Biter Till the Very End’

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the January 8 episode of Jeopardy!]

In the second game of this Second Chance final, it all came down to the Final Jeopardy.

Randall Rayford, a solar project developer from Houston, Texas, came in with 0 after Friday’s game. Michael Cavaliere, a consultant from New York, New York, had 6,600. And Matt Harvey, a healthcare administrator from Providence, Rhode Island, was in first coming in to the game with 10,000. Matt did once again lead the game through the Jeopardy round, but things shifted in Double Jeopardy.

Matt went into Double Jeopardy just ahead of Michael by 200 with $4,200 and he even added $5,400 to his score with a True Daily Double wager by getting the first of the round correct. But it was Michael who found the second Daily Double of the round (and last of the game), and he made it a True Daily Double, doubling his score to $26,400. As a result, he went into Final Jeopardy in the lead with $29,200 to Matt’s $18,800 and Randall’s $3,000.

The Final Jeopardy clue in State Capitals read, “The 2 closest state capitals, at about 40 miles apart; one was founded by someone no longer allowed in the other.” The correct answer was “What are Boston and Providence?”

Related

Mayim Bialik Reacts to 'Jeopardy!' Emmy Win After Her Firing

Only Matt got it correct, and he’d bet everything, for a second game total of $37,600. Michael, however, had wagered $12,000 (and wrote down Carson City and Salt Lake City), dropping him to $17,200. Matt’s two-game total was $47,600, while Michael’s was $23,800. Matt advanced to Champions Wildcard.

“A nail-biter till the very end. Matt obviously had a huge leg-up in FJ since he is from Providence,” one fan wrote on the thread for this Jeopardy! episode on Reddit. “Didn’t want either of those two to lose but wow what a fun game,” another shared.

One fan called out Matt’s “consistently strong play” and also noted that Michael’s wager on that Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy round was “the second largest so far this season, behind Juveria’s $15,200 Opera DD. Sadly, he never got an FJ clue correct. Still, he was a very strong SJ and DJ player.”

And while it was obviously between Michael and Matt, one viewer wrote, “I was glad to see Randall get back on the plus side late in DJ. It would suck to do the walk of shame in a two-day contest.” He did, however, wager everything for Final Jeopardy, which he got wrong.

What did you think of the latest Second Chance game? Who did you want to win?

Jeopardy!, Weekdays, check local listings