[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, January 22, episode of Jeopardy!]
It has come to the part of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, where the Celebrity Jeopardy! winner is now competing against civilians. W. Kamau Bell tried to cement his spot in the semi-finals. Did he win?
Comedian Bell, from Oakland, California, played against analyst Alex DeFrank, from Brooklyn, New York, and publicist Ashley Chan, from Lewisville, Texas, on January 22. The game show contestants competed in another low-scoring game after Wednesday’s flop. Who will compete in the second semi-final game against Laura Faddah and Cameron Berry?
DeFrank took an early lead, despite four Triple Stumpers in the first 15 clues. He found the Daily Double on clue 15 and wagered $4,600 on a true Daily Double.
In “Around the Americas,” the clue read, “This Ontario city with a stormy name uses the slogan ‘superior by nature.’” “What is Toronto?” DeFrank answered.
“Sorry, no. Thunder Bay on Lake Superior,” host Ken Jennings said. DeFrank dropped down to $0 and tied with Bell by the first commercial break. Chan had $1,200.
DeFrank, however, had a redemption arc in the second half of the game, answering practically every clue correctly. Despite four Triple Stumpers, he came out on top with $5,000. Bell and Chan had -$200.
Double Jeopardy was filled with 10 Triple Stumpers. DeFrank still led the round despite two incorrect DDs from him. He found the first one on clue 20. He had $11,800 and wagered $3,000 in “5-Syllable Words.” The clue was “This adjective describes something worldwide in extent, or means representing every church.”
“What is Unitarian?” he answered after being prompted by Jennings. That was incorrect, and he dropped to $8,300. The correct response was ecumenical.
On the next clue, DeFrank found the last DD. He wagered $3,000 from his $8,800. In “Chemistry,” the clue read, “S, P, D & T are used to designate the shapes of these, the regions around an atom’s nucleus where its electrons tend to be found.”
“What is valence? Valences?”DeFrank answered incorrectly. The correct response was the orbitals, and he dropped down to $6,800.
At the end of the round, he ended with $6,400. Chan had $5,400. Bell ended with $2,600.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “18th Century Arts.” The clue read, “A ‘word book’ for the London premiere of this work began with the quote Majora Canamus, ‘Let us sing of greater things.’” The clue was a Triple Stumper with the correct response being Messiah.
Bell answered, “What is 3 people who have nev?” Hw wagered $0 and ended with $2,600. Chan’s response was “What is I was glad?” She wagered $1,002, giving her a final total of $4,398. DeFrank’s answer was, “What is water music?” He wagered $4,401, giving him $1,999.
Chan won the game and is moving on to the semi-finals. Bell did not take home the victory, but Lisa Ann Walter, who won Season 2 of Celebrity Jeopardy! will have the chance to redeem the celebrity winners next week when she plays in her Quarterfinal game.
Fans commented on the game on Reddit. “Well, this has certainly been an interesting TOC,” one said.
“Actual tragic result for Alex, he outplayed his opponents by a mile and lost because of all the wagering clues 😭😭,” another wrote.
“Having seen the difficulty of the boards so far, Alex wagering anything more than $999 was an error, and it cost him,” a third added.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
