JEOPARDY! champ Andrew He has revealed he “fantasizes” about host Ken Jennings during Thursday’s episode.
Legend Amy Schneider then nabbed a second win, inching closer to the Tournament of Champions crown.
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Starting last month, Ken, 48, began presiding over 21 (now three) game show greats from the past year back for more – on Monday, the finals kicked off.
40-time champ Amy is facing 6-time champ Andrew He and fan-favorite professor, Sam Buttrey, each with their skills and setbacks.
The first player to win three matches gets the $250K grand prize – so after tonight, Amy (along with Andrew) is one away from the title.
But there was no question as to who won the episode’s most unforgettable Q&A exchange.
‘I WOULDN’T CALL IT A FANTASY…’
The host said to Andrew: “I’m told, and I don’t know where this is going to go, you have a very specific fantasy mental image of me.”
Andrew immediately buzzed back: “Uh, I wouldn’t call it a fantasy.”
Ken laughed and said: “Well Andrew, please I’m right here! Flatter me.”
Andrew admitted: “For the past couple of nights, I needed some motivational visualization, so in my hotel room I put on the theme song from the movie Whiplash on repeat.
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“But instead of J.K. Simmons throwing chairs at me, demanding excellence, it’s you throwing cue cards and Daily Doubles.”
The crowd bust out laughing as Ken just lost it.
He said he “doesn’t get mad at anybody” and hoped to be more “mild-mannered than ‘Whiplash guy'” – appropriately moving on.
From there, the game picked up in tempo.
BIG BETS
Going into Double Jeopardy, Amy had $10,200, Andrew $4,000, and Sam $2,400.
The beloved professor’s tournament winner then shocked everyone and played what’s been his opponent Andrew’s game – going “all in” on a Daily Double.
Sam bet the “maximum amount permitted by law” on a “Daily Double” clue with his $6K.
Getting it correct resulted in a huge applause break, and Amy then got the last randomly placed “Daily Double” and bet a big $5K too.
Without the randomly selected clues that have gotten Andrew his two finals wins, he was marched to the side.
‘WTF SAM!’
Going into Final Jeopardy, Amy had $25,000, Sam $20,000 and Andrew $6,800.
It read: “Ridley Scott’s first feature film, ‘The Duellists’, was based on a story by this author to whom Scott’s film ‘Alien’ also pays tribute.”
None of them got it correct with “Joseph Conrad” – but surprisingly, Sam bet it all at a time he perhaps shouldn’t have.
Amy only wagered $6,000, winning with $19,000 and looking thrilled in her new blue specs.
Fans were frustrated that Sam went big on the Final Jeopardy clue – but were thrilled to see both him and the second-highest winning Jeopardy! player ever betting bigger tonight.
One Reddit user lamented: “DAMN IT SAM WTAF??? This was the perfect time to bet 0.”
Another agreed: “Was rooting for Sam! If only he wagered nothing. Oh well, let’s see tomorrow!”
A third wrote: “Great game by both Sam and Amy, showing just how important those Daily Doubles are. Still hoping Sam can at least win tomorrow though!”
And a fourth: “I love Amy as an all-round player, Andrew for his modern and gutsy playing style, but nobody has given me as much joy watching them play as Sam has.
He absolutely deserves at least one win before this tournament comes to a close.”
One more admitted: “Much more enjoyable than yesterday’s mess – Amy got some real toughies and Sam’s getting the hang of Daily Double hunting.”
The randomly placed clues allow players to be however much they have from their earnings – underdog Andrew used the move to beat Mattea Roach.
‘YESTERDAY’S MESS’
Last night Andrew took the game on a technicality after a deeply divisive, religious Final Jeopardy “robbed” Sam, fans cried out.
Under the category “The New Testament” it read: “Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotations.”
According to CNN after being covered by The U.S. Sun upon airing: “The statement isn’t controversial because it’s about the Bible.
“That’s not an uncommon topic on the trivia show. But the correct answer is still a subject of debate, even among Biblical scholars.”
Amy answered “Who are the Hebrews,” and was deemed correct by host Ken.
Sam answered “Who are the Romans,” and was deemed incorrect.
Andrew said “Philippiaes,” likely in reference to the Philippians, which was also incorrect – but he had enough to win.
Per CNN: “All of the answers refer to books in the Bible that are collections of epistles, or letters, ostensibly from Jesus’ apostle Paul to different groups in the formative days of the Christian church.
“However, experts have varying opinions on whether Paul actually wrote the letter to the Hebrews – and thus, whether the answer was actually correct.
“In fact, there are bitter divisions among different schools of Christian thought regarding Paul’s Biblical influence and authorship.”
Many viewers thought Buttrey’s answer should have acccpeted, as per CNN, scholars generally agree Paul was the author of the book of Romans.”
“I’m sorry but Sam should have won today and now I don’t care who wins thanks to this BS Final Jeopardy.” one fan fumed in a Reddit thread with 400 angry responses.
“Way to go writers you have just screwed up the biggest TOC in years,” wrote another. “Sam was correct. This should be overturned.”
If either Amy or Andrew gets one more win tomorrow, reigning Jeopardy! ace Cris Pannullo will return on Monday.
But if beloved boomer Sam wins tomorrow – as many are hoping since it would make things quite interesting – the finals of the biggest Tournament of Champions ever will drum on into next week.
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