All Episodes Discussion: The Daily Double

[Rhondinella]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Athena
Updating Topic Info

[sugarbaker design]

The new champ and the guy on her left seemed to have a great time on last night's episode.  How refreshing!

[M. Darcy]

That was a great game last night - all three were so close going in to FJ.  And, honestly, I had no clue about FJ.  Ketchup didn't even occur to me. 

[sugarbaker design]

I took the totally wrong track, like the outgoing champ and went for Cheez Whiz!

[Gilmel]

I also guessed Cheez Whiz or Ready Whip, but my husband was on the money. He got Heinz ketchup.

[ali59]

For last night's fj answer, I wasn't even in the ball park.  I answered Jack-in-the-box.

[harrie]

I got the Heinz, too.  Seeing all those "Anticipation" commercials in my youth paid off.

[Etta Place]

I got the Heinz one, but sort of wondered if you had to be "of a certain age" (it was the "Anticipation" commercials for me as well).  Don't know what that age is, exactly, though, because my younger husband got it too.

[sugarbaker design]

The FJ on the episode that aired on April 10, 2014 is probably the easiest FJ in recent memory.  Too easy for the teen tournament in fact.

[rereader2]

Oh, they've had easier ones. (Not that it wasn't easy!)

[Prevailing Wind]

I missed it.  I was sick & asleep.

 

ETA: The show, not the answer/question.  I missed the whole show.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Prevailing Wind

[M. Darcy]

Julia has now set the record for the most wins by a female contestant. 

[sugarbaker design]

Wow, had no idea.  She does seem unstoppable.

[M. Darcy]

I also love that the last three Jeopardy champs have been women. 

 

She's on twitter at @JeopardyJulia and has been live tweeting her episodes. 

[rereader2]

Yay, Juila, another win! (AND I got FJ right. :))

[rubaco]

Was it just a guess, rereader2? Because I thought that was really tough to come up with in 30 seconds. 

[rereader2]

I was mentally going through the list of high scoring Scrabble letters--that made it much faster to figure out!

Edited May 2, 2014 by rereader2

[Gilmel]

Haha, rereader2, that's what I did, too! 

[Bastet]

I used my Scrabble experience to come up with FJ, too.  Z came to me right away without any strategy, and then thinking of Z and Q (from the clue) brought to mind high-value Scrabble tiles and I took it from there -- I first thought of X, then realized that appeared in two states, and moved onto J.  So it was fairly quick and easy for me.

[sugarbaker design]

Z and X for me, totally forgot about New Mexico!

[Prevailing Wind]

I forgot about Texas.  Got J, but blew the other letter.

[M. Darcy]

One more win and Julia ties Arthur Chu as the record for the 3rd most wins. I really hate we have to wait 2 weeks. 

[sugarbaker design]

I really hate we have to wait 2 weeks.

 

 

Same here, I can't wait for Julia to smash that record to little bits.

[M. Darcy]

It really does emphasize just how many games Ken won -  that 74 is the all time record but the 3rd most number of games is  11 games.

[M. Darcy]

That was a stressful game but Julia has now tied Arthur for 3rd place.  Heh, its much easier to watch a game when I don't care so much about who wins (or loses in Arthur's case).

[sugarbaker design]

Would love to see Julia shatter Arthur's record.

 

Got half of FJ.  Damn you Marvin Gardens!

[bybrandy]

I got the monopoly question right off, I thought it was super easy, and then I thought clearly not everybody grew up with my big brother who was obsessed with Monopoly.   

Castle Rock, however?  Not a clue and I have read and Lord of the Flies, twice.  

[ottoDbusdriver]

That was disappointing -- despite being relatively close together at the start of the Double Jeopardy round, it was almost like Sirena and Lanar just gave up trying to win.  What was with Sirena with that $200 Daily Double bet ?

[chessiegal]

I noticed Lara never clapped when someone else hit a Daily Double.

 

I got FJ! I hardly ever do. As soon as I saw the clue, I turned to my husband (lawyer, who had no idea) and said, "What is The Royal Society?" He looked impressed, but he shouldn't have been. I'm a chemist who spent years working in research.

[Phebemarie]

Julia looked a little nervous last night before she pulled ahead in the second round.  After she said, "Let's make it a true daily double" and missed, she seemed rattled.  I like her a lot as champion.  

[sugarbaker design]

What was with Sirena with that $200 Daily Double bet ?

 

 

Wise decision considering she didn't get it.

[Etta Place]

But bets aren't made based on hindsight. Sirena had no chance of winning unless she bet big and got it right. Betting small and getting it wrong didn't improve her situation at all; betting small and getting it right wouldn't have improved it either.

 

Betting big and getting it wrong would have left her in precisely the same position she started in - 3rd place with no chance to win. You've gotta play to win, not to not lose. Second and third are the same thing - not the winner.

[ottoDbusdriver]

But bets aren't made based on hindsight. Sirena had no chance of winning unless she bet big and got it right. Betting small and getting it wrong didn't improve her situation at all; betting small and getting it right wouldn't have improved it either.

 

Betting big and getting it wrong would have left her in precisely the same position she started in - 3rd place with no chance to win. You've gotta play to win, not to not lose. Second and third are the same thing - not the winner.

 

Etta Place beat me to it -- by placing that $200 wager, Serena had already given up and was playing for 2nd place, making FJ basically a formailty.  That's just not enjoyable for people to watch, especially after everything people have to go through just to get on the show, and then to throw in the towel so easily.  It's disappointing.

 

That's what I liked about Roger Craig in the Tournament of Champions -- he knew that with the competition he was up against that he had to build a big lead and sustain it in order to put pressure on Brad and Ken.  So even though he went 0 for 2 on TDD, he at least tried and it made for a really good game.  If he had made that first TDD on Day 1, it would have been an entirely different game on Day 2.

Edited May 22, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[sugarbaker design]

Your mileage may vary, but I see nothing wrong with placing a $200 wager in a category you know is not your strong suit.

[proserpina65]

 

Second and third are the same thing - not the winner.

 

True, but it is the difference between taking home $1000 and $2000.  I'd rather watch everyone play all out, but I don't blame someone who figures they have no realistic chance of winning for betting small with the aim of ending up second rather than third.  And I say that as someone who did go through the process and got on the show, but bet too much on the FJ and came in last when I could've been safe and finished second.  I do get that it's not as exciting or interesting to watch, but that late in the match, I can understand why someone would do that.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Had to feel for Steve in tonight's game -- his level of frustration at not being able to ring in was visible.

And then when he finally was able to ring in first, he went on a tear in one category and was finally able to build up some money.  But it didn't last -- Julia's game experience was really killing these guys plus she nailed all 3 Daily Doubles (they were pretty easy to boot).

 

Not sure where they found Brandon -- he rarely rang in, and when he did he was usually wrong on some pretty simple questions.  I'm still looking for the mysterious Rhode Island Red cardinal flitting through the woods of New England.

 

Plus I couldn't believe that the Rhode Island Red question was a TS.

[sugarbaker design]

Had to feel for Steve in tonight's game

 

 

And on a purely shallow level, what a good looking guy!

[ottoDbusdriver]

Seriously how did Dylan not know what the Hajj was ?  You know you're going on Jeopardy, there are some pretty basic things you need to know including basic knowledge of the major world religions. Plus, there were a couple of really easy TS tonight.

 

This show was basically over at the first break -- Julia already had over $10000.

 

They need to get some better challengers to make these games against Julia at least interesting for the viewers. Runaways day after day are going to get old soon.

[chessiegal]

They have a qualified pool to draw from to play against Julia. Maybe it's possible she's just among the best? As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter to me if it's a runaway. She's fun to watch. Team Julia all the way! I follow her on Twitter, and she has a great sense of humor.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I agree -- Julia is fun to watch.  But i just find the recent crop of challengers to be underwhelming.

[Gilmel]

I enjoy Julia immensely. I'm relieved when it's a runaway at FJ every night so I don't have to worry she may lose. I want her to win win win. If I'm counting right, she only needs three more wins and she'll be the #2 all-time winner.

[rereader2]

I think that's right, Gilmel--didn't Alex say tomorrow she'd tie for 2nd?

 

(And I did not get FJ today--I don't know much about opera, I'm afraid.)

[ottoDbusdriver]

Now that was a really good game -- the two challengers made it interesting.  Julia was in 2nd place going into DJ and pulled out the runaway win with the last correct answer she gave on the DD (which by the look on her face was a complete guess).  Well done Julia !!!

[Lola16]

Did Julia say: I have a BA in Art History and an Engineering degree so I'm pretty much open to anything when asked about what she wanted to do career wise?

It's a good thing she's winning a lot of money.  Companies don't tend to spend time trying to figure out what potential employees might be good at or what they might want to do.  Julia may want to invest in a career coach and figure it out.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I was confused by that too -- they have kept introducing her as a supply chain professional, but it sounds more like she is currently unemployed.

 

She actually said she had a B.A. in Art History and a Masters in Engineering -- how does that work exactly, because I'm pretty sure none of her Art History courses would be prerequisites for any kind of Engineering studies ?

[rereader2]

She may have minored--or even had a second, undeclared, major--in engineering, or been close enough that a summer semester, or some night courses, would have brought her up to engineering school requirements. Grad schools tend to appreciate someone who has done well in more than one field.

 

And a person can have a job and still be open to career possibilities elsewhere--it's always easiest to find a new job if you are already employed.

[Gilmel]

Julia's engineering degree is also from MIT. I don't think she'll be on the disadvantaged end of looking for jobs in that or a related field if she decides to.

[possibilities]

I loved knowing she's got degrees in both art history and engineering. What a great combination! I don't remember the exact wording of Alex's question to her, but I didn't get the feeling she was necessarily unemployed, but more that she was thinking about her life ambitions in the long view. She's won a crapload of money and can probably do whatever she wants for a while, and looking ahead, she can really choose to either stay with whatever she's doing or change direction.

[Trey]

It looked like we were going to have a real game tonight but then the challengers fizzled out.  Too many guesses that turned out to be wrong.

 

I liked the category On the Old Map. 

 

That question about the title of O. Henry's book being the population of New York was a FJ some years ago - funny what sticks in your head:)

 

I thought tonight's FJ was very easy and obvious; it was an instaget for me so I was surprised that two people got it wrong.  "Pear"  seemed a very odd answer from Julia.

[chessiegal]

Julia tweeted that when Alex said FJ was easy if you remembered what a bromeliad looks like, and joked, "remember?" She just flat out didn't know it. Alex asked her "why pears" and she told him "because they're delicious".

I about had a heart attack at the beginning of the game. I was finishing cooking dinner, and couldn't believe she was so far behind. I was afraid of the "Thursday curse". She sure doesn't panic when she's behind.

Julia for 20 wins!