“Jeopardy!” promised “something crazy” would happen during Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” And the game show didn’t disappoint.
Friday’s episode of “Jeopardy!” ended in a rare two-way tie between contestants Jack Weller and Brian Chang, the returning three-day champion.
“In all the years I’ve watched #Jeopardy, I don’t remember ever seeing a tie,” tweeted user @meghansmith55.
Both contestants went into Final Jeopardy with $18,800.
“A lot hinges on this final category… a very pivotal ‘Final Jeopardy’ coming up in the category of ‘statues,'” said Ken Jennings, the guest host who took over the helm following Alex Trebek’s November death at 80 of pancreatic cancer.
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The question: “Statues honoring this man who was killed in 1779 can be found in Waimea, Kauai & In Whitby, England.”
Weller and Chang both correctly guessed, “Who is Cook?” And both contestants wagered everything they had, resulting in $37,600 and a tie.
To determine a champion, both contestants faced off during a winner-take-all, one-question tie breaker round on “History”: “In October 1961, Stalin’s body was removed from display in this other man’s tomb.”
Chang buzzed in with the correct answer of “Lenin” first.
“Brian Chang, you just won $37,600, and you are our four-time ‘Jeopardy!’ Champion with a total of $88,102,” Jennings said. “What a fantastic game.”
Weller won a $2,000 consolation prize for his second-place finish.
Viewer @EmersonLotzia referred to the tiebreaker as “one of the most rare and intense spectacles of competition.” A tiebreaker last happened during a regular, non-tournament game on March 1, 2018.
