‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to Contestant’s Huge Second Chance Semifinal Loss

Isaac Rouse January 2, 2024, 7:30 pm

Jeopardy January 2, 2024 — Jeopardy! Inc.

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, January 2 episode of Jeopardy!]

As we enter the first semifinal round of Jeopardy! Second Chance, Michael Cavaliere, a consultant from New York, New York; Sharon Bishop, a high school Spanish teacher from Pawtucket, Rhode Island; and Sophia Weng, a senior social studies major at Harvard College from Chevy Chase, Maryland, had an intense match that saw a contestant make a fatal error.

After the first break, Michael earned a substantial lead of $6,400 thanks to his Daily Double wager of $2,600. The lead grew larger when contestants reached Double Jeopardy, with Michael at $10,000, Sharon at $3,400, and Sophia at $2,400. On the first clue of the round, Sophia found the second Daily Double and added $1,400 to her total.

With Sophia now coming in hot, Michael secured the third and last Daily Double, adding another $4,800 to his leading score. By the time the trio reached Final Jeopardy, Michael had 28,800, followed by Sophia with $14,600, and Sharan in last place with $ 5,800.

Host Ken Jennings revealed the category “Landmarks” with the following clue: “During Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Los Angeles, pranksters covered up this letter in a local landmark.”

Sharon was the sole contestant to provide the correct response. Luckily for Michael, Sophia answered with the landmark instead of the required letter (what is L?). This fortunate turn of events allowed Michael to retain his $28,300 score after wagering $500. Unlucky for Sophia, who could have won the game if she hadn’t misread the clue, she answered instead with Hollywood Sign.

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“Oh my God nooooo Sophia. :/ that was so sad, she could have won,” a user on the Jeopardy! Subreddit wrote. “Michael is going to be real tough to beat in the finals, I feel. He was on my shortlist to win the SCC and I feel more confident in that assessment now. He might be a bit too conservative though, we’ll see,” before concluding “as an aside, changing “Hollywood” to “holywood” for the Pope is… pretty hilarious.”

Someone else responded with, “Brutal watching her reaction. Ouch.”

Did you see the fumble? Let us know your thoughts on today’s game in the comments below.