'Danger!' Champ says he 'ran out of steam' and explains his mistake to 'surprised' fans

(Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, November 7 episode of Danger!)

Greg Jolin has dominated Danger! this week, but fans were stunned by the end of his five-day winning streak. Known for a perfect Final Jeopardy record, at the professional level Magic: the meeting The player shocked viewers by using what some called an “easy” clue.

On Thursday, November 7, the systems specialist and accountant from Raymond, New Hampshire, came in with a five-day total of $135,002 and a guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of champions. He faced Sammy Sanchez, a bartender and tutor from Kansas City, Missouri, and Susan Stumme, a journalist from Arlington, Virginia.

In danger! In the round, Jolin was shakier than usual and, after several incorrect answers, moved into the lead with $5,800. Sanchez (who said his friends once faked his death on Facebook and got a $1,000 Daily Double) had $3,200, while Stumme (who showed her Danger! dance ritual) followed with $600.

In Double Jeopardy, Jolin continued to appear on the ropes while Sanchez got the second Daily Double and earned $2000 for knowing the ‘Tough Rhyming Pairs’ clue was ‘medium and boring’. Stumme took the remaining Daily Double, earning $3,000 on the ‘Pure Bed-lam’ clue in search of ‘Divan’. In the same category, Jolin confused ‘melanin’ with ‘melatonin’, which was painful to see.

The lead fluctuated between Sanchez and Jolin, with the former narrowly coming out on top in Final Jeopardy with $12,400, while Jolin had $12,200 and Stumme $9,600. “Great game from all three of you,” Ken Jennings noted. On what promised to be a neck-and-neck third act, he added: “We’ll see which category of Final Jeopardy will settle this matter.”

The nail-biting game revolved around “1960s INVENTIONS” and the clue: “Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide was first invented to strengthen radial tires, but the life-saving polymer, aka this, would have many uses.”

Stumme revealed that she correctly answered “Kevlar” to a somewhat surprised Jennings, bringing her to $12,600. Now she had the “narrowest of leads,” he noted. Jolin was wrong with ‘styrofoam’, bringing his streak to an abrupt halt at $5,199. Sanchez was also wrong when he said “WD40” dropped to $399. In a major twist, Stumme emerged from third place as the new champion and beamed as the crowd erupted. “What a great match,” concluded Jennings. “Like I say, anything can happen Danger!”

Fans flooded the episode’s Reddit thread, excited about Strumme and her come-from-behind victory in an extremely competitive game, but saddened by Jolin’s defeat, especially after a Final Jeopardy miss.

“Rip Greg, fatigue must have set in,” wrote one Redditor, theorizing what went wrong.

“Yes, he had more mistakes than normal, and I’m really surprised he missed that FJ, that seemed obvious to me. But a great run,” wrote another.

“Surprised FJ wasn’t a triple get,” wrote a third.

‘I really thought at least two of the participants would prove FJ right. But I’m pleasantly surprised, congratulations Susan on her come-from-behind victory!” echoed a fourth.

“Yay Susan!” wrote a fifth. “A come-from-behind win and a smart bet. I like to see it.”

“Goddamn man, what a game! Wow! Insanely close game and crazy FJ! Sad to see Greg go!” wrote a sixth.

‘I miss you, Greg. See you at the Tournament of Champions,” wrote a seventh.

Jolin chimed in on the thread to give his thoughts on the game, sharing how he “ran out of steam” and where he stumbled with Final Jeopardy.

“As for me, yes, I ran out of steam a bit here. The bad guesses finally came true, and then my mouth said “melanin” even though my brain said “melatonin.” Then on Final Jeopardy I focused excessively on the long science word, instead of catching the “life-saving” hint. To be honest, I’m not sure I would have gone to Kevlar anyway,” he wrote in part.

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One fan replied: “Congratulations on making it this far, Greg! Too bad you’re leaving, but you can be proud.”

Jolin, who arrived on his 40th birthday, has plenty to be proud of, and plenty of money to rely on with his wife at home. He previously won a $10,000 Daily Double, has the second highest average Coryat over the past year, and will be back for the 2025 ToC at the end of January, along with the likes of Adriana Harmeyer And Isaac Hirsch.

What did you think of the dramatic streak-ending game? Were you surprised that Greg Jolin didn’t get Final Jeopardy? Did you know “Kevlar?” Let us know in the comment section below!

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