'Jeopardy!' Contestant's Major Misstep During Final Inspires Sympathy from Viewers
Ken Jennings on Jeopardy
The latest episode of Jeopardy!, which aired on Jan 2, proved exactly why it’s important to read the questions carefully and thoroughly.
During the Final Jeopardy focusing on the category "Landmarks," the clue read, "During Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to Los Angeles, pranksters covered up this letter in a local landmark."
The correct answer was the letter “L”—as host Ken Jennings explained that the Los Angeles Hollywood sign temporarily read “Holywood” for that day only—a question that contestant Sharon got correct, with her final winnings totaling $6,800 after she wagered $1,000.
Things didn’t fare so well for Sophia, however. The contestant was in second place with a total of $14,600, but though she guessed the landmark correctly, “the Hollywood Sign” wasn’t an acceptable answer.
Related: 'Jeopardy!' Fans Blast 'Misheard Lyrics' Category That Stumped All Contestants
"You got the right landmark but didn't tell us the letter, I'm afraid," Kennings explained, as Sophie realized the error of her ways and shrugged her shoulders in disappointment before she could be heard uttering a devastating, “No.”
Since she wagered $14, 201—most of her winnings—she was knocked down to a mere $399 and a spot in third place.
Michael, who was in first place, also offered an incorrect guess with the letter “O,” but it didn’t affect him much as he only wagered $500, bringing him down to a total of $28,300, which advanced him to the finals.
Jeopardy fans couldn’t help but feel for Sophia following the brutal loss, calling it “unfortunate” and a “tough break” for her.
“This might be the easiest final jeopardy of all time,” someone else wrote, adding salt to the wound.
But the sympathy kept pouring in for Sophia on a Jeopardy Reddit thread, with one user noting, “That was almost too painful for me to watch!” as another added, “Oh my God nooooo Sophia. :/ that was so sad, she could have won.”
“Brutal watching her reaction. Ouch,” another user wrote, as someone responded, “You could see the full pain and range of emotions in her face as she saw L be called the right answer, realize her mistake, hope they’d maybe take her answer anyway, and the realization they would not.”
“I almost cried for her. She went through all 5 stages of grief in about 15 seconds,” another viewer quipped.
Another person who claimed to be in the audience with their husband noted, “Sophia definitely knew the answer- just misread the clue,” adding, “She couldn’t believe she had made that mistake.”
“Ken said if she had circled or had an arrow pointing to the L they could have accepted it. Bad break,” the user further elaborated, which somehow makes us feel even worse about the turn of events.
Others simply took aim at the fact that there were two Landmark Final Jeopardy’s in a row, which the show addressed on the Youtube clip, stating, “Landmarks! A FJ! category so nice, we did it twice!”
Turns out, they weren’t so nice after all.
