‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After James Bond Controversy & Shocking Result

Spoiler Alert

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[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, September 19, episode of Jeopardy!]

The September 19 episode of Jeopardy! was met with some controversy over a ruling on a James Bond clue. Continue reading to find out the results of the game and see if Paolo Pasco won for the eighth time.

Pasco, from San Diego, California, played against Hebah Uddin, from Long Island, New York, and Steven Olson, from Princeton, Illinois. The reigning champion had a seven-day total of $195,717.

Puzzle writer Pasco had the lead for the first 15 clues. Olson, a band director, found the Daily Double right before the first commercial break. He had $800 and wagered the allotted $1,000. In “Quick Chem,” the clue was “Atomic number 27, it’s used in EV batteries & when mixed with alumina, it’s a brilliant blue.” He answered correctly with “What is cobalt?”, bringing him to $1,800. Olson still maintained third place.

In the second half of the round, Pasco answered the clue “From an N64 game: ‘Recover the pirate helicopter & get to the bottom of this. You are licensed to kill’” in “From the Video Game Manual.” He said, “What is GoldenEye?”

Host Ken Jennings asked him to be more specific, and Pasco said, “James Bond: GoldenEye?” He was wrong.

Olsen then buzzed in and said, “What is 007 GoldenEye?”

“It pains me to say this because you were so close,” Ken Jennings said. “GoldenEye is the movie, GoldenEye 007 is the game.” They both lost $1,000 on that response.

“Terrible ruling,” a Reddit user said.

“GoldenEye absolutely should have been accepted, and “007 GoldenEye” probably should have been too. On the box art, the way the logo is stylized doesn’t clearly indicate whether the 007 is supposed to come before or after GoldenEye, and on the title screen, there’s no 007 at all; the in-game name of the game is just GoldenEye. The very first page of the manual before the table of contents, does say “Thank you for selecting the GOLDENEYE 007 Game Pak”, but the page that they got the quote in the clue from is titled THE GOLDENEYE STORY,” another commented.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous that neither Paolo’s nor Steven’s responses were accepted,” a third wrote.

By the end of the round, only $400 separated first and second place. Pasco had $4,000. Olson moved to second with $3,600. Uddin, a social media moderator and Ph.D. candidate, had $2,200.

Olson found the first DD in Double Jeopardy. He had the lead with $7,800 and wagered $4,000. In “Let’s Go To The Park,” the clue read, “The world’s tallest animal is so common there that Nyerere National Park has been nicknamed this, punning on a dino-franchise.” “What is Giraffic Park?” was the correct response. Olson improved to $11,800.

He continued to dominate the round, surpassing Pasco by a lot. Olson then found the last DD. With $13,400 in his bank, he wagered $2,000. In “Your Prime Number’s Up,” the clue was “The highest 2-digit prime, it needs 4 syllables in French & 5 letters in Roman numerals.” At the last second, he guessed, “What is 97?” and moved to $15,400.

Olson led with $17,400 by the end of the round. Pasco had $9,800. Uddin was in last place with $4,600. Could Final Jeopardy be Pasco’s saving grace?

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Slogans.” “After adopting ‘Very Nice’ in tourism ads, an official of this country said its people, ‘jokes to the contrary, are some of the nicest,’” was the clue. The correct response was Kazakhstan, a reference from the movie, Borat.

Uddin wrote, “What is Canada?” She was wrong and dropped down to $2,600 after wagering $2,000. Pasco wrote, “What is Kazakhstan? (I liiiiike!)).” He was right and wagered $7,601, giving him $17,401, $1 more than Olson’s current total. However, Olson also got the answer right and wagered $2,202, giving him a final total of $19,602. He became the new winner, taking down Pasco. Olson will return on Monday, September 22.

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