‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to Player Who ‘Absolutely Wrecked the Competition’
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the June 28, 2023 episode of Jeopardy!]
This season of Jeopardy! has produced some mixed reactions from fans, namely about the structure of clues and low winning scores. They’ve wanted to see a little more challenge and thrill, but they got an entertaining show in the Wednesday, June 28 episode thanks to one player’s runaway game.
Competing in the episode were returning champ Chris Ban (one-day winnings of $13,000), Vic Goel, and Bryan White. And while there were some supposedly easy clues they couldn’t answer in the episode, it was still a night of strong playing that fans were happy to see.
Chris won fans over in the June 28 game after dedicating his win to his late brother. Sadly, he didn’t become a two-day champ in this episode. By the time of the first break, he was in third place with $0. Vic was in second at $400, and Bryan was in the lead with a hefty $4,000. Bryan would hold onto his lead for the rest of the game.
Going into Double Jeopardy, Chris pulled into second place with $1,200, but Bryan was still comfortably ahead with $6,600. Vic had slipped into third with $600. Thanks to a string of correct answers, including some Daily Doubles, Bryan massively increased his winnings in Double Jeopardy.
Entering into the final round, he was sitting pretty with $18,400 vs. Chris’s $4,800 and Vic’s $4,200. As long as he didn’t make an unwise wager, the win was Bryan’s to take. Given that no wager from his competitors would help them match Bryan’s score, it was a runaway game.
Everyone answered the Final Jeopardy clue correctly (another welcome change for fans who have often noted the frequent “triple stumper” Final Jeopardy clues this season). The category was “Medical World.” The clue: “He created a chest drain valve that aided breathing in wounded soldiers in Vietnam but is better known for a lifesaving measure.” The correct answer was, “Who was Heimlich?”
In the end, the scores were Chris with $8,550, Vic with $8,200, and Bryan with $20,130. While some fans felt the clue was too simple for a final test, others on the Jeopardy! Reddit page were more so paying attention to Bryan’s impressive gameplay.
One fan said Bryan “absolutely wrecked the competition.” Another praised his performance while still noting the ease of the final question. “Impressive game by Bryan today! Glad that Chris got a win in before today’s runaway commenced, and at least the FJ was a triple get,” they wrote. “Is it too early to ask which FJ this season was the easiest? Heimlich came to me pretty quickly.”
Chris himself responded to this comment similarly praising his competitor. “He totally SMOKED me on the buzzer. What a champ. I feel more wins coming for him this week. Nice guy, too. Good luck Bryan!!” Chris wrote. In response to Chris’s note, one fan said “Bryan looks to be a strong contender for a [Tournament of Champions] berth.”
What do you think of Bryan’s performance? Does he have the makings of a repeated Jeopardy! winner? Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments below.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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P
When the contestants answer, there is always a pause when Mayim tells us correct or wrong. If she didn't have the cheat sheet she would not know the answer. I agree with 34gunner, Bring back Ken.
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G
The Mayim pause has gotten slightly better over time but it’s still there. I don’t recall any other host having this type of nearly constant delay before confirming-or not- an answer (we got to see many hosts during the tryouts 2 years ago). It’s always made me feel like she’s waiting for a judge’s ruling on the answer- this ruling conveyed via earpiece or some other electronic signal.
Early on in her permanent host run Mayim made fairly regular answer judging errors that required correction and score changes later. Also apparently other errors that were fixed via stopping the tape and doing things over- which costs production money. We never saw those.
In any case it’s not too far fetched to think Jeopardy may have put a signaling protocol in place - so the determination of a correct answer is completely out of her hands. Imho
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O
You don't have to be a chef to critique a restaurant's food.
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C
Jeopardy has been boring lately. I’ll be so happy when Ken returns.
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Ken fans are so boring.
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O
Mayim fans are so weird. Why anyone wld prefer her over Ken is beyond me. She is so horrible at this job.
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R
Stopp announcing their dollar amounts it's annoying
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J
I'm not aware of people being upset about "low winning scores." (Yes, I clicked the link... it was about a single game in which the 3 contestants ended with low scores. Whoopee... one game.)
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O
It seems to me that the boards have been more difficult lately. The categories are more obscure (Hebrew?), and aimed at less than scholarly contestants. And the phrasing of the questions sometimes takes more than a few seconds to comprehend. I normally get 25 correct per board, but recently that is slipping a little. IMO Mike Davies is the worst thing to ever happen to Jeopardy.
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Yes, I agree. I used to be able to answer alot of the questions. Now I feel they are speaking some obscure language. No fun for me anymore! I liked Chris...but he was no match for the winner of Wednesday's show.
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P
These are big nothing articles. I agree though, too many 5+ winners. The questions have become way too easy. I get most of them every night. I've always liked Mayim but I don't think she's a good fit for Jeopardy. Jeopardy is a trivia game, not an academic contest. I think she's too cerebral for the game.
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I'd love to see a face-off game between Ken and Mayim; he'd wipe the floor with her. She strikes me as someone who was taught(tutored) to the test and has no broad knowledge.
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