‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After Dramatic High-Scoring Game

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, February 24, episode of Jeopardy!]

Trey Hart returned to the Jeopardy! stage to try and get his third win. The February 24 episode had fans reacting after it was a dramatic, high-scoring game. Did Hart advance?

The reigning champion, from Petaluma, California, played against James Hirsch, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Christ Fidel, from Wellington, Florida, on Tuesday. Hart had a two-day total of $34,300.

Hirsch, a lawyer, had the lead of $1,400 when he found the Daily Double on clue four. He made it a true Daily Double in “Who Wants Gum?” The clue read, “In 1926, the former Weeghman Park was named this in honor of a chewing gum magnate.” “What is Wrigley Field?” Hirsch answered correctly, giving him $2,800.

Hart, a grant writer, took the lead by the first half of the round with $4,000. Hirsch was only $200 behind him. For the rest of the round, it was a battle for first place between the two of them.

Hirsh pulled into the lead on the last clue with $5,600. Hart had $5,400. Fidel, a musician, was in third place with $4,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Hart was $200 off the lead when he found the first DD on clue 14. He had $11,000 and wagered $4,000. In “I’m All Lost,” the clue read, “The location of the 1909 jeweled Alexander III Commemorative Imperial one of these has yet to be cracked.”

“What is a Fabergé egg?” he answered correctly. That put him in the lead with $15,000.

Hirsh found the last DD on clue 22. He was in third place with $8,800 and wagered $8,000. In “World Cities,” the clue was: “Like his famous grandfather, portrait artist Lucian Freud died at home in this city.”

“What is London?” Hirsh responded correctly. This gave him $16,800, moving him into second place. Hart had $17,400. After that, Hirsch quickly took the lead.

He ended with $20,400. Hart had $16,200. Fidel ended with $15,600.

“Look at these scores,” host Ken Jennings said. “Great game!”

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Short Stories.” The clue read, “Encountering one that snarls at him in an 1819 work, this title character exclaims, ‘my very dog…has forgotten me!’” All three game show contestants had the correct answer of “Who is Rip Van Winkle?” so it all came down to wagers.

Fidel wagered $0, leaving her with $15,600. Hart wagered $8,000, making his final total $24,200. Hirsh wagered $12,018, giving him $32,418. Hirsh became the new winner, ending Hart’s streak. He will be back on Wednesday for game two.

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Fans reacted to the game and praised all three of the contestants. “Great game, Christa, James, and Trey!” one Reddit user said.

“Yes, all three did so well!” a fan replied.

“What a game. Trey for Champions Wildcard and Christa for Second Chance if James ends up making the TOC,” another wrote.

“This might be just me, but I feel like I enjoy viewing these games the most where all 3 contestants seemed about the same in terms of skill. At all 3 of the “commercial break breakpoints” in the game, the scores between them were always so tight that I wasn’t going to be surprised if any of them had won today. Runaway victories must be thrilling for a contestant… but not my favorite cup of tea as a viewer unfortunately,” one commented.

“Excellent game,” one last fan said.

Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock

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