‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Admits to Scenario that ‘Sunk Him’ Against Champ

Darian Lusk November 1, 2024, 7:30 pm

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, November 1 episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy! players all have knowledge gaps, but they can usually skirt by without facing them on arrival. On Friday’s (November 1) episode, as the reigning champ finally broke the one-day winner curse, a fierce competitor learned that blind spots do surface — the hard way.

Greg Jolin, a system specialist & accountant from Raymond, New Hampshire, entered with a one-day total of $24,001. Looking to do what no one else has this week and win a second game, he faced Sam Cameron, a finance manager from Fargo, North Dakota, and Julie Phillips, an attorney from Alexandria, Virginia.

In the Jeopardy! round, Jolin got off to a hot start with $7,800 (including a $2000 Daily Double), while Cameron had $4,400 and Phillips had $3,000. In Double Jeopardy, things quickly became a race between the two long-haired lads, as Cameron got off to a hot start this time.

Cameron went on a tear when he found the second Daily Double with a momentary lead over Jolin, boasting $12,400 to his $11,800. “You’re having a great round, Sam,” Ken Jennings remarked. He wagered $5,000, and the “Prime Numbers on TV” clue was, “Her real name turns out to be Jane Ives, & she developed powers due to involvement in the government’s MK-Ultra program.” He incorrectly guessed “Seven,” and Jennings lamented that he was on the right track, “No, I’m sorry, it sounds like you were thinking of Stranger Things, but her name is which was ‘Eleven.'” Darn you, Stranger Things!

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After the tough blow with the last Daily Double looming, Phillips selected a top-row clue; in doing so, she allowed Jolin the opening to find the last Daily Double. He gained an even more whopping $6,000, acing the “On The Map” clue as “Yemen.”

That said, it was still a toss-up going into Final Jeopardy, as Jolin had $23,000, Cameron was in contention with $13,000, and Phillips was out of the running with a respectable $6,600. For the second time, pop culture would prove critical.

The “History & The Movies” clue was, “This 1935 Best Picture Oscar winner tells of a 1789 event near the isolated Pacific volcano of Tofua.” Only Jolin correctly responded with Mutiny on The Boundary, adding $3,001 to win with $26,001 for a two-day total of $50,002.

Fans flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, where they applauded Jolin for breaking the week-long one-day champ curse, but felt for Cameron after such an impressive second-place showing.

“This is the first time somebody has won more than one game all week,” one Redditor wrote. “It’s honestly kind of awesome because it shows that we’ve had a lot of good contestants recently.”

“Good game!” wrote another. “42,200 combined Coryat, with Greg and Sam neck and neck at 17,600 and 18,000 Coryats, respectively.”

Cameron buzzed in to the thread to discuss his performance, writing: “Howdy folks! This is Sam from today’s game. Things may not have shaken out quite how I’d hoped, but I’m endlessly grateful to have had the opportunity to appear on my favorite show.”

“After finishing, Ken said something about how one of the responses he was most impressed with had been the tuatara one and asked how I’d known it, which felt pretty cool! Oh man, I’m super jealous that Greg got to the buzzer first on the Agatha Christie question, haha!”

Cameron went on to admit that movies and TV are a weakness for him, and those unfortunately happened to be the Daily Double and final clues that did him in.

“About the two big ones I missed: movies and TV are definitely weak areas for me, so I’m not surprised they were what sunk me in the end! I’ve actually never seen Stranger Things and was just guessing a random prime number, but it was nice of Ken to assume I was on the right track :) Also, I studied Best Picture Winners but didn’t have them all memorized, so my final response was the only one I could think of that I knew was old but had no idea at all about the setting. I thought for a second when Julie answered the same thing I might have somehow lucked into the right answer, but no dice!”

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Jolin replied, backing his opponent for Second Chance, admitting the game hinged on the wagering clues: “I know people say this just about every game, but I really hope you get selected for the Second Chance Competition! I think you had really good stats and this game just turned on the wagering clues.”

“Oh, and I had never even heard of the tuatara, I was just as impressed as Ken was! And sorry, but I’m also a big Agatha Christie fan. That’s probably the kind of clue you figured you would be the only one to know!”

Jeopardy! Fans Call Out Writers Over Misuse of 'Alliteration'

Alicia Buffa from the previous match wrote: “Sam! I snuck into the audience to watch the three of you play. You were great out there! My heart sank for you on that Stranger Things miss, but you hung in there and never gave up. That kind of resilience is a gift, and you should absolutely be proud of your performance up there.”

What do you think, should Sam Cameron join the increasingly not-so-shortlist of deserving Second Chancers? And can Greg Jolin keep it up? Did you get Final Jeopardy? Let us know in the comments section!