We’ve seen her before! One Jeopardy! contestant got a unique second chance at the game. Two of the contestants spoke out after the close game.
Marissa Klein, from San Francisco, California, played against Noah Hamilton, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and returning champion, Diana Miller, from Richmond, Virginia, on Monday, March 2. If the name Marissa Klein sounds familiar to Jeopardy! fans, it’s because she competed in Season 1 of Pop Culture Jeopardy!, playing on The Wickedly Talented team. The team ended their game with $12,800, but did not win.
Miller, an attorney, went into game two with a one-day total of $16,399. Find out if she became a two-day champion. Warning: Spoilers for the March 2 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!
The beginning of the game did not start out well for Miller. She was in the negatives by clue five. Hamilton, a marketing manager, took a quick lead. However, Klein, a teacher, was tied with Hamilton when she found the Daily Double on clue 12.
Out of $3,200, she wagered all of her money. In “First Name Flowers,” the clue read, “Aurelian or trumpet is one type of this that you might grow in your garden.” She hesitated a long time before saying, “What is an orchid?” The correct response was lily, so she dropped down to $0. Hamilton had the lead with $3,600 by the first 15 clues.
All three game show contestants were on the board by the end of the round. Hamilton was in the lead with $5,400. Miller had $1,800. Klein was in third place with $1,200.
In Double Jeopardy, Miller was on a roll as she answered numerous clues in a row. She and Hamilton competed for first place.
Klein was in third place when she found the first DD on clue 17. She had $2,400 and wagered all of her money. In “Physics,” the clue was “The Greek letter mu represents the coefficient of this force that resists the motion of surfaces in contact.”
“What is momentum?” Klein answered, unsure. The correct response was friction, so she once again dropped down to $0.
She then found the last DD on clue 23. In third place with $4,000, she made it another true Daily Double. The clue in “On the Lamb” was: “In a novel by this man, a psychiatrist asks the protagonist, ‘Will you let me know if ever the lambs stop screaming?’”
“Who is King?” Klein once again answered incorrectly. Thomas Harris was the correct response, so she was at $0 again.
“I admire the wagers in every case,” host Ken Jennings said.
“I’ll be Jeopardy! famous,” Klein replied.
Miller ended the round in the lead with $12,200. Hamilton had $8,600. Klein ended in third place with $2,000.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Ranks & Titles.” The clue read, “Still in use today, this title may come from the idea that Roman priests made bridges between men & the gods.” Only one contestant got the correct response, which changed the results of the game.
Klein’s response was “What is deacon?” which was wrong. She wagered $0, giving her $2,000. Hamilton’s response of “What is pontifex?” was correct. He wagered $$1,390, making his final total $9,990. Miller’s answer was “What is father?” She wagered $5,001, giving her a final total of $7,199.
Hamilton was the night’s winner and will play game two on Tuesday, March 3. On Reddit, the champion joked, “Hey, I forgot to set my TiVo for this. How did it go?” Fans said it went pretty well.
Klein made another thread and promised a “unique game” in the history of the game show, referring to her three failed true Daily Doubles.
Hamilton replied, “A true stalwart of the Alex Trebek stage!”
Klein replied, “An A+ response!”
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
