Jeopardy Season 41 Second Chance Recap Conclusion: Week 3 Finals

 

Ryan Sharpe vs Abigail Arnold vs Dondi DeMarco

Game 1

 

Practically from the start of the Jeopardy round to the end of Double Jeopardy Game 1 was all Ryan. He got off to a fast start in the Jeopardy round, finding the Daily Double on the fourth clue in GEOGRAPHIC NICKNAMES. Already in the lead, he wagered the $1200 he had:

"Where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet and form the regular Nile, you'll find this triangular capital." He knew it was Khartoum and doubled his score. He finished the round with $7200 to Abagail's $5600 and Dondi's $1600.

In Double Jeopardy Ryan turned on the afterburner. After responding correctly on four consecutive clues he found the first Daily Double in VENUES. Already with twice as much money as his nearest opponent he nevertheless decided to bet the $13,600 he had, stunning Ken and bringing applause from the crowd:

"This storied opera house started its 200^th season in 1977 with Don Carlos by Verdi, who had a long association with it." It took him a moment to come up with La Scala and he had an incredible $27,200.

He'd gotten to $32,800 when he found the other Daily Double in TALK ABOUT A CELLULOID DEMISE! Ken said nothing would surprise him at this point so naturally he said it was his second guess when Ryan wagered $4096. In this case it was the smart move:

"Tony Montana screams "You want to play rough?! OK!" then these 6 words; he has a bit more to say, until a final shotgun blast."

This time Ryan couldn't come up with at all, guessing: "What is 'are you gonna make my day?" Not only had he misquoted Dirty Harry he had the wrong movie. This was Scarface and the line is "Say hello to my little friend".

This made the math a bit tougher but needless to say neither Abagail nor Dondi could close the gap. Indeed Dondi ended Double Jeopardy with no money at all unable to compete against Ryan's 30 correct responses and only two incorrect ones (including that Daily Double). He finished with $33,104 to Abagail's $15,600.

The Final Jeopardy category was vague. IT HAPPENED IN THE US. "Trinitite is the name of a glass-like metal that came to be after a historic event in this state."

Abagail knew the correct state: "What is New Mexico?" (The state where the atomic bomb was tested.) She went relatively big betting $8000, giving her $23,600.

Ryan also knew it was New Mexico but bet very conservatively: $336. At the end of Game 1 Ryan had $33,440 to Abigail's $23,600. Ryan's lead at the end of Double Jeopardy of Game 1 had been cut almost in half. Hell of a way to ring in the New Year.

 

Game 2

Dondi knew going in that he was going to have to do everything possible to come out the winner of the final. So when he got to the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round he wagered the $1600 he had. It was a category I hadn't seen on Jeopardy before. FLIP AROUND THE COMPOUND (WORDS) and it was suitably tough:

"A verb meaning to distract or divert & area right next to the rail yard or the horse race."

Few could blame Dondi for being stumped; I was at home. The words were sidetrack and trackside. He dropped to zero.

The rest of the Jeopardy round was a back and forth between Abigail and Ryan with Abigail taking the lead and holding it by the halfway point. She finished with $7000 to Ryan's $4800 and Dondi's $1400.

Early in Double Jeopardy Ryan took command again when he found the first Daily Double in THAT PLACE SOUNDS FISHY. Just as in Game 1 he bet everything he had, this time $8000:

"A town on the Naknek River in Alaska is named for this 'regal' fish, the largest of its 5 Pacific species." Again Ryan struggled but came up with the king salmon and jumped into the lead with $16,000.

Dondi got redemption of a sort when he found the other Daily Double two clues later in FILMS ABOUT WRITERS. He had $2600 so he bet $2500 of it:

"In Only Lovers Left Alive John Hurt is this poet/dramatist, really a vampire, who gives his work to an illiterate Shakespeare." Having not seen the film I struggled with it and so did Dondi before guessing: "Who is Marlowe?" And it was Marlowe and he moved up to $5100.

But despite the noble efforts of both he and Abigail neither could do much to challenge Ryan's lead. He played a dominant game with 25 correct answers and only four incorrect ones. He would finish with $24,800 to Abigail's $12,600 and Dondi's $6700. He'd locked up the tournament by the end of Double Jeopardy (the numbers told us as much) so it would have been forgivable had all three players decided merely to go through the motions. To their credit none did even though the final was a tough one.

The category was BRITISH ROYAL TITLES. "This title named for a county of coastal England had lapsed by 1843 but was revived in 2018 when Elizabeth gave it to a family member."

Dondi tried but couldn't come up with anything. His wager was $6699. He had $1 for two days work; his luck had run out again.

Abigail wrote down: "What is the Duchess of Sussex?" That's what I wrote down as well; like Abigail I was thinking of Meghan Markle. But Ken told her: "That is not a title that existed in the 19^th century. She wagered $11,639, leaving her with $961 and a two day total $24,561.

Ryan came last. He wrote down: "What is the Duke of Sussex?"  And that was the 19^th century title given to Prince Harry when he married Meghan in 2018. He wagered just $42, putting him at $24,842 with a very impressive $58,282 as his two day total. It's almost a shame it got bumped down to the $35,000 he received for winning the Second Chance Tournament but he'll have a chance to earn more in Champions Wild Card which starts next week.

With that we now have the complete roster of the fifteen players who will be competing in Champions Wild Card starting Monday. Here it is as a refresher course in alphabetical order:

 

Geoff Barnes, 3 wins $44,601

Cameron Berry, $24,600 (one win)

Dave Bond, two wins, $51,400

James Corson, two wins, $70,800

Jonathan Hugendubler, two wins,  $63,601

Pete Johnston Second Chance Winner Week 1

Bill McKinney 3 Wins $46,800

Ian Morrison, one win, $22,009

Ryan Sharpe Second Chance Winner Week 3

Harvey Silkowitz, $23,600

Jason Singer, two wins,  $48,801

Vickie Talvola, one win, $26,407

Stella Trout,  one win, $28,800

Michelle Tsai,  Second Chance Winner Week 2

Dargan Ware, two wins, $47,801

 

I'm not the kind of person who has favorites for these kinds of tournaments (they're relatively knew) but my personal preference would be for Jonathan. It's not just he's the second highest money winner of this group but its how he got here and that's by winning over Scott Riccardi. Jason has a better motivation: he was defeated by Scott. Ryan and Cameron have similar motivations in regard to Paolo Pasco; they were both beaten by him in his original run.

We will see how it plays out next week and I'll be back Friday with my recap of the quarterfinals.