Three-time champ Erica Doornek, a federal employee originally from Glasgow, Montana, returns to Jeopardy! to defend her title as she attempts to secure a spot in the Tournament of Champions. With three wins and $52,201 already under her belt, a fourth victory would put her one step closer to earning a coveted spot in the annual competition. But first, she’ll have to take on two new challengers looking to put an end to her winning streak.
Doornek will have to defend her title against Alexandra Field, a public health program associate from Atlanta, Georgia, and David Fang-Yen, an attorney from Portland, Oregon. Will she win? Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Wednesday, November 4 episode of Jeopardy!
The game started off with the category “Mascots” for $600 and the clue: “The U.S. Forest Service has Smokey Bear talk about wildfire prevention; this bird tells you how to lend a hand & care for the land.” With the answer Woodsy Owl as a triple stumper, is this a dubious sign of things to come?
The first Daily Double was found by Fang-Yen in the category of “Medieval Times” for $600. Wagering $1,000, he got the clue, “Per one historian, this activity over time became less about knocking your opponent off his horse & more of a points-based sport.” With the correct answer of jousting, he added to his tally.
At the end of the first round, Doornek led with $8,600, followed by Field with $3,800 and Fang-Yen with $1,800.
In Double Jeopardy, Doornek found the second Daily Double under “A Destructive Force of Nature” for $1,200. On the clue, “This 1883 event had the force of a 200-megaton bomb & cooled Earth’s temperature by about a degree for months,” Doornek answered correctly, “What is Krakatoa?” and added $1,600 to her tally.
The third and final Daily Double was found by Field under “2-Word Palindromes” for $1,600. With a sizable wager of $5,000 on the clue, “To earn total revenue of thirty with expenses of twenty,” Field’s correct answer of “What is net ten?” blocked Doornek’s chances of a runaway win.
Going into Final Jeopardy, Doornek is in the lead with $20,200 while Field was in second with $14,400. Fang-Yen was in third with $1,000.
Final Jeopardy was in the category of “Shakespeare,” with the clue: “In Act III, Scene I of a play, ‘exeunt King Claudius’ & another man; then there’s an entrance & these 6 words are spoken.”
Heading into Final Jeopardy, Erica led with $20,200, followed by Field with $14,400 and Fang-Yen with $1,000. Both challengers correctly answered “What is ‘To be or not to be?’” from Hamlet, bringing Fang-Yen’s total to $1,067 and Field’s to $16,395.
Erica, however, didn’t wager a dime and instead wrote “Go Griz Go Scotties,” a shoutout to her Montana roots.
However, despite not getting the correct answer, her zero wager allowed her to keep her lead, and she walked away with her fourth consecutive win and $20,200, bringing her four-day total to $72,401.
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