JEOPARDY! contestant Jessica Stephens was left speechless as she won Friday's special episode hosted by Ken Jennings.
In doing so, she went from never winning a regular game to a Tournament of Champions contender.
The Nashville, Tennessee-based research specialist faced James Frazer - a California-based naval aviator wonderfully dressed in his uniform - faced Molly Karol - an Austin, Texas CPA.
The never-before-done Second Chance Tournament is being hosted by Ken, 48, and now airing instead of the regular show.
Final Jeopardy read: "This character from an 1859 novel symbolizes the fates, who in mythology spin the web of life, measure it & cut it off."
No player correctly guessed: "Who is Madame Defarge?" but with the highest amount of $5,300 (and a 2-day total of $33,900) Jessica emerged victorious.
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The screen flashed: "Advancing to the Tournament of Champions" and Jessica just smiled at a loss for words.
Each week, one returning player has to win a semi-final, and then the two-part finals which concluded tonight.
Their scores from last night and tonight (they had to do extremely well in both) were combined.
She also won $35K, James $20K and Molly $10K for good measure.
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The special spans two weeks - the winner each week will go to the star-studded winner's tournament airing October 31st, and Jessica looked beside herself when she was declared one of them.
'I WAS ROOTING FOR HER!'
One fan gushed on YouTube: "Woohoo! Good job! I was rooting for her, congrats!!"
Another wrote: "Yay I was hoping Jessica would make it."
A third wrote: "Wow. What an ending. Good on James for going all in on his Daily Double, it was the right move even if he flubbed the answer."
Earlier in the match, James landed on a Daily Double - where players can choose how much to wager.
It read: "Last name of Milton, who moved to Philadelphia in 1876 to start a candy company; that one ended in bankruptcy but another did not."
James had bet all he had ($6800) and it couldn't have felt sweet when he missed "What is: Hershey."
Insult to injury, the category poked fun at the premise of the special showdown and was called "So You Blew It The First Time."
JESSICA'S SECOND CHANCE
Starting on Monday, 18 former losers, for lack of a better word, scored something quite rare - they were invited back after losing their first games last year.
It's quite an amazing opportunity because when a player loses their first game, they never get another shot at the game show and have to just live with it, until now.
After losing, the countries' smartest citizens in general knowledge go home with either $1K or $2K and assumably overthink their episode for years to come - but not Jessica.
Last night, Jessica swept a category of phobias that included "fear of German people" and "fear of nudity" - wearing terrific fish earrings no less.
FOOL THEM ONCE
On Monday, the slate will be wiped clean and nine more snubbed contestants from the past year will return for three semifinal games and a two-day finale.
The victor of that week’s tournament bracket will also score the one remaining slot in the Tournament of Champions which airs directly afterward.
There, they can beat super-champs like Amy Schenider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach and Ryan Long - or the legends they lost to - in the following two-week prestigious playoffs, which are worth $250K.
Jessica's original game aired in 2021 and she put up a tough fight against Matt Amodio and Jonathan Fischer - theoretically, they could now face off again in the ToC.
When both conclude, regular episodes and reigning ace Cris Pannullo will return in a month.
Other contestants fans will see soon include fan-favorite Sadie Goldberger - whose shock loss to Megan Wachpress on June 20th came down to a controversial ruling from the judges.
Hundreds felt Sadie was "robbed" as she would have won had the show ruled in her favor during Final Jeopardy.
The show has stood by that her otherwise correct Final Jeopardy response of "Harriet Tubman" was "incomplete" with but an "n" missing - hundreds were left upset calling it the season's "most painful loss".
Both tournaments will be hosted by Ken and will air at the usual time of 7 p.m. on ABC.
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Ken will step aside from the iconic game show in January so that co-host Mayim Bialik - now handling Celebrity Jeopardy! - can take the reins.
Over the summer, he and actress Mayim were officially announced as the permanent replacements for the late, great Alex Trebek.
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