‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After Contestants Wows in Wildcard

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, January 13, episode of Jeopardy!]

The Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard crowned its second finalist during the next round of semifinals on January 13. Fans were wowed by one of the contestants’ games after Cameron Berry secured his spot in the finals on Monday.

Tuesday’s game brought adjunct professor and trivia host, Jonathan Hugendubler, from Baltimore, Maryland, against tutor Michelle Tsai, from Honolulu, Hawaii, and hospitality executive Bill McKinney, from San Diego, California.

Hugendubler took the lead during the first round, answering three clues in a row correctly. He maintained the lead at $4,000 when Tsai found the Daily Double on clue 10.

She was in second place with $1,600 and made it a true Daily Double. In “Our Love’s In Jeopardy,” the clue read, “Vronsky loves Kitty, thinks this title woman, ‘but me he thinks of with hatred, and is sorry he had anything to do with me.’” “Who is Anna Karenina?” she answered correctly, giving her $3,200, and making Hugendubler’s lead less.

Hugendubler kept the lead at $5,000 by the first commercial break, but Tsai wasn’t too far behind with $4,800. McKinney had $1,200.

Tsai and Hugendubler fought for first place throughout the rest of the round. Hugendubler came out on top with $6,800. Tsai was not too far behind with $6,600. McKinney had $1,600.

In Double Jeopardy, Tsai pulled into the lead after only one clue. But Hugendubler found the first DD on clue three and had the lead at $8,800. He made it a true Daily Double in “Notable American Women.” The clue read, “Her other works about South Seas cultures included Growing Up in New Guinea & Balinese Character.” “Who is (Margaret) Mead?” Hugendubler answered correctly. This put him way ahead with $17,600.

Hugendubler then went on to answer five more clues correctly, with a Triple Stumper in between, to make his lead even wider. Hugendubler and Tsai sped through the clues, each getting them correct. McKinney buzzed in for two, but got them wrong, bringing him down to the negatives.

Hugendubler found the second DD on clue 20. With $26,000 in his bank, he wagered $5,000, which would still give him a lead of $10,000 if he got it wrong. In “Ferry Thee Well,” the clue was “This city’s ferry system is the world’s largest, serving 2 continents & 100 million people annually, a ferry large number.” “What is Istanbul?” Hugendubler answered correctly, giving him $31,000.

“Wow,” host Ken Jennings said.

McKinney got back on the board after correctly answering three clues. He ended the round with $1,200. Hugendubler had the lead with $30,600. Tsai was in second place with $13,400.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “New Testament Greek.” The clue read, “A famous passage in Matthew 6 refers to Kleptai, meaning them.” Only one of the game show contestants got it right.

McKinney answered, “Who are the three wisemen?” That was wrong. He wagered $0, ending with $1,200. Tsai wrote “Who are tax collectors?” which was also wrong. She wagered $31, ending her with $13,369. Hugendubler had the right response of “Who is the thief?” He wagered $0, ending him with a total of $30,600.

Hugendubler joins Berry in the finals. One more champion will be crowned on Wednesday night to make up the three-person, two-night final on Thursday and Friday.

Fans discussed Hugendubler’s massive win on Reddit. “What a runaway! Player with the longest name wins!! Will miss Michelle’s knitted tops,” one wrote.

“Jonathan was LOCKED IN today. Wow. And despite that, Michelle still nearly prevented the runaway. I initially thought 5k was too much for Jonathan to wager on DD3, but he was absolutely right to do so. Great game,” said another.

“Jonathan really pulled away with his DDs. Congrats!” a third added.

“Scott Riccardi sweating right now,” one last fan said. Hugendubler took down Scott Riccardi after he was on a 16-game winning streak. If Hugendubler wins this tournament, he may face off against Riccardi in the Tournament of Champions.