‘Jeopardy!’: Ken Jennings Reveals Unwanted Record After Dramatic Game

[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, June 30, episode of Jeopardy!]

When a contestant is on Jeopardy!, they want to be remembered for the amount of money they won or how many games in a row they conquered. They hardly ever want to be remembered as only winning one game.

But June has been filled with one-game champions, back-to-back-to-back. Can July give the game show a fresh start? Host Ken Jennings revealed a record at the end of another new champion game.

Klay Frappier, from McHenry, North Dakota, returned for his second game on Monday, June 30, after taking home $20,001. He played against Dave McBride, from Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, and Eileen Darragh, from Cincinnati, Ohio.

“On Friday, after he became our 11th new champion in as many games, I asked Klay Frappier if he was hoping to come back this week and break the one-day curse,” Ken Jennings said. “His answer: ‘I’d like to be the guy to break the streak, but I’ve also enjoyed everyone backstage and I wouldn’t mind seeing them experience a win like I did.’ That’s the camaraderie we love here at Jeopardy!”

Frappier, an accountant, led throughout the whole round. He found the first Daily Double towards the end. With $6,400 in his bank, he wagered $2,000, which would have still given him the lead no matter the outcome. In “Chinese History,” the clue read, “Like events 70 years later, in 1919, student demonstrators took control of this plaza to protest government actions.” He was correct with his response of Tiananmen Square, giving him $8,400. Frappier was then $5,000 ahead of Darragh, a teacher.

At the end of the round, Frappier had $9,200. Darragh was in second with $2,200. McBride, a compliance consultant, had $1,400.

Double Jeopardy had more Triple Stumpers than the first round. McBride found the first DD of the round. He moved up to second place with $6,600. McBride wagered $3,600. If he got it wrong, he’d still be in second place. If he got it right, he would be $200 ahead of Frappier. In “Science Stuff,” the clue was “Immunoglobulins is another word for these, produced in the body to fight foreign invaders.” “What are white blood cells?” he answered, which was incorrect. He dropped down to $3,000. The correct response was antibodies.

Halfway through the round, Darragh found the last DD and wagered it all. She was in third with $1,800 and made it a true Daily Double. The clue in “No Man’s Land” read, “Westernmost of the prairie provinces, it was named for the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, a Canadian governor general.” She answered with Victoria, but the correct response was Alberta. Darragh dropped down to $0.

For the rest of the round, it was a fight for first place between McBride and Frappier. Frappier was only $600 behind McBride before the last question. However, McBride correctly answered the last clue, giving him a total of $12,200 and the lead. Frappier had $11,200. Darragh’s total was $800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “The Supreme Court.” The clue was, “In this case, ‘our consideration is limited to the present circumstances’ about ‘equal protection in election processes.'” The question was not a Triple Stumper this time around, with one of the contestants getting it right and one coming close.

The correct response was “What is Bush. V Gore?” Darragh wrote, “What is Gore. v Bush?” Even though she had the right names, it wasn’t the name of the case, so it was wrong. She wagered $799, ending with $1. Frappier, the reigning champion, did not give a response. He wagered $1,001, ending with $10,199. McBride got it right, wagering $10,201. This gave him a total of $22,401.

That made McBride the night’s winner, cementing the 12th straight one-day winner this month. “We could tie the record tomorrow — 13 one-game champs in a row,” Ken Jennings said to end the show. The last run happened from July to September 2002.

Jeopardy!, Weeknights, check local listings