Proving that you can’t please all the people all the time, some Wheel of Fortune viewers have gone from complaining about puzzles being too obscure to now saying the Bonus Round puzzles are becoming “too easy.”
The complaints came after Thursday’s (January 30) episode, which saw a three-way showdown between Marilyn Harrod from Louisville, Kentucky, Shaun Terbeest from Waupun, Wisconsin, and Denise Robinson from Lihue, Hawaii.
All three players got on the board early, but Robinson began to pull away from the competition when she solved the puzzles in the Mystery and Express rounds, giving her a significant lead with $31,898, plus a Collette Alaskan tour.
She continued to rack up money in the Triple Toss Up and Speed Up rounds, giving her a blowout victory with a massive $47,898, compared to Terbeest’s $10,250 and Harrod’s $3,000.
Heading into the Bonus Round, Robinson selected the “Place” category, along with the additional letters “H, D, V, and A.” This left her with a two-word puzzle that read: “_ A N _ / V A _ L T.”
It didn’t take her long to figure out “Bank Vault,” adding an extra $40,000 to her winnings, giving her a huge grand total of $87,898.
While many viewers were happy for Robinson’s win, some felt the Bonus Round was way too easy, with one X user writing, “That was literally the easiest final #WheelOfFortune I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Is it me or are the puzzles getting a lot easier this season after RSTLNE?” added one YouTube commenter.
“That was too easy,” said another.
“With RSTLNE, I knew it was Bank Vault!” another added.
Another wrote, “Literally got it even before the letters she chose were shown!”
“I knew this one just from R-S-T-L-N-E because they’ve used it before, but it was back in the 1980’s,” said one fan.
Others were frustrated with another $40,000 prize, which has come up several times this season.
“What’s the point of the bonus wheel if it’s ALWAYS landing in 40k, well OK maybe not ALWAYS, but it FFELS like it’s consistently landing on 40k,” wrote one YouTube commenter.
“It’s rarely anything other than $40,000, but congratulations!” said another.
Another wrote, “$40,000 are we surprised.”
“Why has it always $40,000 in the bonus round? When was the last time the big prize was more than that?” said one fan.
“We got 104 shows with Still No million dollars, $70,0000 & $75,000 winners on wheel of fortune season 42nd…” added another.
What did you think of Thursday’s episode? Was the Bonus Round puzzle too easy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Wheel of Fortune, Weeknights, Check local listings
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
