‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to Champ’s ‘Crazy’ Double Jeopardy Downfall & ‘Weird’ Ruling

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, November 25 episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy! fans witnessed a twist of biblical proportions on Monday, November 25, as returning champ Adam Hersch went from dominating half the game to doom in the other half—losing to a rap-savvy priest (after multiple tricky calls against him). Some viewers on social media called it the “craziest reversal” in memory.

Hersch, an attorney from Brooklyn, New York, entered with a one-day total of $29,000 after a huge upset win in the last episode. He faced Carolyn Gramling, a science writer from Washington, D.C., and Kevin Laskowski, an Episcopal priest from Falls Church, Virginia (wearing his clerical collar, as per unofficial Jeopardy! rules as of late).

In the Jeopardy! round, Hersch came out swinging with multiple correct responses before his opponents even signaled in. It looked like he would sweep going into the commercial break. Finally, Laskowski got a $400 clue and then the Daily Double, knowing the “Time For a Cocktail?” clue was “Bloody Mary.” By the break, Hersch led with $4,400, Laskowski had $2,000, and Gramling $400. After the break, Hersch picked up around six more clues to extend his lead, finishing with $5,800, Laskowski with $2,800, and Gramling $1,200. It was his game to lose and he knew it.

In Double Jeopardy, the momentum shift began when Hersch found the second Daily Double. Wagering $3,000 from the lead, he missed the “Animal Quotes” clue, seeking “[Black] Panther.” The second blow to Hersch came on a series of close calls including a denial of a constellation response and the response of “Can’t Touch This,” leaving out “U” from the beginning on an otherwise right $1,200 answer. He was left visibly flustered and Laskowski got the rebound on it and took control from there, nearly sweeping the rest of the rap category, which was fun to see.

Laskowski increased his sudden lead on the last Daily Double knowing the “Bod-E” clue was “Endocrine” for another $3,000. In a shocking turnaround, Laskowski finished with a runaway at $20,200, Hersch with $7,200, and Gramling with $5,600.

Ken Jennings unveiled the “19th Century Novels” clue which was, “The mention of a new railway section between Rothal and Allahabad in India leads to an argument and then a bet in this novel.”

Only Hersch was correct with “Around the World in 80 Days,” clearly frustrated as he would have still won had Laskowski been able to be caught. The latter dropped $5,000 to win instead and become the new champ with $15,200.

Fans flooded the Reddit thread for the episode talking about the shocker 180 results, the tough rulings that didn’t go his way and the new champ.

“That was one of the craziest reversals I can recall seeing,” one Redditor wrote. “Adam seemed to be firmly in control through the entire J! round and the beginning of DJ, but when he dropped $3,000 on DD2 and then got dinged $1,200 several clues later for leaving the “U” off of “U Can’t Touch This”, Kevin got the rebound to take the lead, and then only 5 clues later Kevin had quickly doubled up on Adam (10,000 to 4,400), and from there just kept climbing. Carolyn meanwhile snagged 2 bottom-row clues (worth 4,000) late in the game, which helped ensure Kevin’s runaway lead going into FJ. Add to that the fact that only Adam got FJ right, so he would have won if he’d been able to prevent the runaway.”

“Agreed, although Kevin’s Coryat ended up being almost twice Adam’s,” pointed out another.

“Was hoping for Adam to keep going, but those negs were nasty,” wrote a third.

“The “U Can’t Touch This” miss is almost the exact same as the “You Shook Me All Night Long” miss from last week,” wrote a fourth referring to a similar call on a music clue. “Gotta be real careful on those. It might have been nice if the writers dropped an additional hint.”

A fifth wrote, “Really weird that they didn’t take constellations instead of the big dipper, didn’t feel like they wanted the specific one, but maybe my TV was quiet and I didn’t hear it properly.”

One more surmised, “Huge props to Kevin for breaking Jeopardy’s recent rap curse and a great game overall!”

What did you think of the memorable match? Will Kevin Laskowski be more of a David Sibley than a Father Steve and win a few more with the Tournament of Champions cutoff fast approaching? Let us know in the comments section below!

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