[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, January 16 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy!’s Season 39 Champions Wildcard competition begins today with the first quarterfinalist match featuring Sharon Stone, an early childhood intervention manager from Round Rock, Texas; Katie Palumbo, a museum membership specialist from Amawalk, N.Y.; and Andy Tirrell, a political science and international relations professor from San Diego, Calif.
However, one of these returning fan favorites got eliminated before reaching Final Jeopardy, much to the surprise of online fans.
Before the first break, we got an impressive Macho Man Randy Savage impression from host Ken Jennings, thanks to the Pro ‘80s Wrestling category, as well as an early lead for Andy with $5000. However, once the mid-game interview ended, Katie raised her score from $2,800 to $5,400, especially after scoring a true Daily Double beforehand. However, Andy remained in the lead with $6,400, Katie at $5,400, and Sharon at $600.
Going into Double Jeopardy, Sharon added 1,500 after grabbing the second Daily Double, and Andy 5,000 after scoring the third Daily Double. We also got another impression of Jennings as a wrestler, this time Hulk Hogan. Unfortunately, at this point in the game, Katie was negative $1,000 and was unable to move on to Final Jeopardy. Several phrasing and timing issues kept her score plummeting, and Andy was behind her to pick up the clues for himself.
Jeopardy! Inc.
As a result, neither Andy nor Sharon, with 21,800 and 6,100, respectively, had to wager much in Final Jeopardy. However, Andy successfully answered the Final Jeopardy clue, betting $1,800 to advance with $23,600.
“1st time that a player is eliminated before FJ since Aaron Craig last Nov. 8 but the first time finished in red (negative score) after DJ round since Becky Lynch last Nov. 15 on CJ!,” one savvy Jeopardy Subredditor noted.
“If you’re lurking, Katie, my condolences for this game not working out for you. I was really rooting for you, but sometimes things just end poorly despite one’s best efforts,” another noted before ending, “You’re still a Jeopardy champion who ended the run of a ToC entrant, and that title can’t be taken from you.”
How did you feel about the first quarterfinalist match? Let us know in the comments below.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
