‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After ‘Brutal’ & ‘Chaotic’ Game: ‘What the Heck Happened?’

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This might have been one of the wildest Final Jeopardy questions in the history of Jeopardy!. The contestant won with only $600 in their bank after the reigning champion made an intrepid bid and a spelling mistake.

Jacob Hale, from Anchorage, Alaska, returned for his second game on Thursday, June 19, after a close game on Wednesday, where he had a one-day total of $4,800. He played against Bevin Blaber, from Schenectady, New York, and Vivek Upadhyay, from Princeton, New Jersey.

The first round opened with balanced gameplay. Upadhyay, a physician, took a quick lead, however, with eight correct responses.

Hale, a nonprofit finance director, tried to take the lead when he found the first Daily Double of the game. With $1,800 in his bank, he wagered $1,200. In “Let’s Go To Coney Island,” the clue read, “In the 1978 film The Wiz, Dorothy finds the Tin Man under this iconic (& aptly named) Coney Island roller coaster.” The correct response was “The Cyclone,” which Hale answered, improving him to $3,000. However, that still wasn’t enough to give him the lead by the end of the round.

He was in third by the end with $3,200. Upadhyay was in the lead with $4,400. Blaber, a writer, had $4,000. It was still anybody’s game going into Double Jeopardy.

In Double Jeopardy, Upadhyay dominated when he answered the majority of questions in “6-Syllable Medical Words.” In a tie for the lead with Blaber at $9,200, Hale found the first DD of the round.

He wagered $2,000 in “Worldwide Party Types.” The clue read, “Wiesn is another name for this celebration held during autumn; check the online barometer to see when it’s not so crazy to visit.” Hale answered, “What is Oktoberfest?” adding $2,000 to his total, giving him the lead with $11,200.

One clue later, clue 18, Hale found the last DD. He wagered $2,000 once again. Hale would either remain in the lead or go back to a tie with Blaber, depending on how he answered. In “Lesser-Known Black Americans,” the clue was ” Last name of Automotive Hall of Fame member Alma, who with her husband Victor put out a guide for Black travelers.” He correctly answered “What is Green?” putting him in the lead with $13,200.

However, Blaber gave him a run for his money because by the end of the round, they were tied again with $13,200. Upadhyay fell to third with $12,000. With a game that close, any of the three game show contestants could have taken home the win, but what happened next, no one suspected.

The Final Jeopardy clue in “U.S. National Parks” was not a Triple Stumper, but one spelling mistake caused the reigning champion to lose. “Much of this 73-square-mile national park is located beneath the Chihuahuan Desert” was the clue. “What is Carlsbad Caverns?” was the answer.

Upadhyay answered incorrectly with “What is Arches?” He wagered $11,998, leaving him with $2. Blaber wrote “What is Carlsbad?” which was only half of the answer. However, host Ken Jennings said it wasn’t the name of the national park, so she dropped down to $600 after wagering $13,000.

Hale seemed to be in a great position and almost had the right answer, but Jeopardy! didn’t accept it. He wrote, “What is Carlsbad Cavrans?”

“Because the ‘R’ is before the vowel, it changes the pronunciation,” Ken Jennings said. “We can’t accept that either. Caverns with an ‘ER’, we would have taken. It is Carlsbad Cavern.”

Hale wagered all of his money, dropping him down to $0. This made Blaber the night’s winner. The audience gasped, and Blaber covered her mouth in shock and pumped her fist. She turned to Hale and said, “I’m sorry!” before giving him a hug.

“Wow. What a finish,” Jennings said. Blaber will be back on Friday, June 20, for game two against two new opponents.

Fans called the Final Jeopardy round “chaotic” and “brutal.” “That was the most chaotic game of non-celebrity Jeopardy! I’ve ever seen,” wrote one Reddit user.

“Most painful Final I’ve seen all year,” said another.

“Really fun, close game, but man that final Jeopardy was an absolutely brutal way to lose. You’ve got to feel bad for Jacob,” commented a third.

“Oh my God. What a brutal ending,” said another.

“Um, holy s**t. That was maybe the most chaotic final jeopardy I’ve ever seen,” one fan commented.

“What the heck happened on that final? I feel like both of their responses should’ve been accepted,” another asked.

Others were upset that Hale’s answer wasn’t accepted, saying others have spelled words wrong and still got it right.

“I should’ve seen that coming, but at the same time, I didn’t expect it to actually happen,” one last fan said.

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