‘Jeopardy’: Contestant’s 20-Year Quest to Get on Show Comes True

Spoiler Alert

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[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Wednesday, April 2, episode of Jeopardy!]

A Jeopardy! contestant finally lived out their wish of getting on the game show. But was their passion for the show enough for them to win in front of host Ken Jennings, who has one of the greatest records of all time?

Bryce Wargin, from Kansas City, Missouri, returned for his third game on Wednesday, April 2, against Lee Henry, from Arab, Alabama, and Brina Ratangee, from Nashville, Tennessee. The post-market surveillance coordinator’s two-day total is $39,200, after beating six-day champion Josh Weikert.

Despite only answering three clues correctly, Ratangee led after 15 clues because she found the first Daily Double of the game. The clue read, “On New Year’s Day in 1994, this Western Hemisphere trade pact came into effect.” “What is NAFTA?” she answered, adding $1,000 to her bank.

At the first commercial break, the scores were Wargin with $2,400, Herny with $1,200, and Ratangee with $2,800. Wargin had answered seven clues correctly and one incorrectly but still couldn’t manage the lead.

During the interview round, the contestants revealed interesting facts about themselves. Ratangee ran into the US Olympic bobsled team at a History Bee event. Wargin’s wife finished her doctorate three years ago. Henry has been in the contestant pool for Jeopardy! since Jennings was a contestant, making it nearly 20 years since he got to be on the show. Jennings’ first run was in 2004.

Things weren’t looking good for the current champion as Ratangee still led by the end of the first round. She had $3,800, but Wargin was only $200 behind with $3,600. Henry was not far behind with $2,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Wargin found the first DD, which doubled his score and gave him the lead. The clue read, “The Grand Est region of France includes this hyphenated region that was briefly ceded to Germany in the 1940s.” He answered, “What is Alsace-Lorraine?” and doubled up to $8,800.

It took the contestants a long time to find the second DD, but when they did, it was Ratangee who snatched it up. The clue read, “Where Americans say, ‘You’re not going, period’, Brits say, ‘You’re not going,’ these 2 words.” “What is ‘full stop’?” she answered, adding $916 to her bank.

The scores going into the final were completely different from the first round. Wargin was in the lead with $15,600. Henry bumped up to second with $10,000. Ratangee only had $2,316.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “21st Century Television.” The question was, “The creator of this series that premiered in 2018 pitched it as ‘the Godfather in Montana.’” They all answered with “What is Yellowstone?” which was correct. Wargin wagered $4,600, making his final total $20,200. Henry wagered $9,999, ending with $19,999. Ratangee wagered $1,600, and took home $3,916.

This makes Wargin the night’s winner and a three-day champion with a three-day total of $59,400. He will be back on Thursday to face two new opponents to try and win his fourth game.

Reddit users were impressed with the gameplay today and commented on it on the platform. “We’ve had a lot of strong contestants lately … regular play this season has been,” one user said.

“Wow, great game from Brina, Bryce, and Lee!” said another.

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