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

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

Endangered! In the round, Jolin was more shaky than usual and, after multiple incorrect answers, managed to take the lead with $5,800. Sanchez (who shared that his friends once faked his death on Facebook and got a $1,000 diary double) had $3,200, while Stumme (who showed his Danger! dance ritual) followed with $600.

At Double Jeopardy, Jolin continued to appear against the ropes, while Sanchez landed the second Daily Double winning $2,000 upon learning that the clue “Tough Rhyming Pairs” was “medium and tedium.” Stumme took the remaining Daily Double and won $3,000 with the track “Pure Bed-lam” that “Divan” was looking for. In the same category, Jolin confused “melanin” with “melatonin,” which hurts to see.

The lead swung between Sanchez and Jolin, with the former narrowly managing to come out on top in Final Jeopardy with $12,400, while Jolin had $12,200 and Stumme had $9,600. “Great game by you three” Ken Jennings he commented. Of what promised to be a hard-fought third act, he added: “We’ll see which Final Jeopardy category will resolve this.”

The nail-biting game depended on “INVENTIONS of the 1960s” and the clue: “Polyparaphenylene terephthalamide was first invented to reinforce radial tires, but the life-saving polymer, also known as this one, would have many uses.”

Stumme revealed that she correctly answered “Kevlar” to a slightly surprised Jennings, which led to her winning $12,600. Now she had “the narrowest runway,” she said. Jolin was wrong on the “Styrofoam” that stopped his streak with $5,199. Sánchez was also wrong when he said that “WD40” dropped to $399. In a huge twist, Stumme emerged as the new champion from third place and was beaming as the crowd erupted. “What a great game,” Jennings concluded. “As I say, anything can happen in Danger!“

Fans flooded the episode’s Reddit thread, excited for Strumme and his comeback victory in an extremely competitive game, but saddened by Jolin’s loss, especially in a Final Jeopardy fail.

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

“Yeah, he messed up more than usual and I’m really surprised he missed that FJ, it seemed obvious to me. It was a great race though,” wrote another.

“I’m surprised FJ didn’t get the triple,” wrote a third.

“I really thought that at least two of the contestants would understand FJ well. But I am pleasantly surprised, congratulations to Susan on her comeback victory!” -repeated a fourth.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaas Susan!” wrote a fifth. “A comeback victory and a smart bet. I love seeing it.”

“Damn, what a game! Wow! Incredibly 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 jumped into the thread to share her thoughts on the game, sharing that she “ran out of steam” and where she stumbled on Final Jeopardy.

“As for me, yes, I ran out of strength here. The bad assumptions finally came to light, and then my mouth said “melanin” even though my brain said “melatonin.” Then, on Final Jeopardy, I got too hung up on the long word science, instead of getting the suggestion of “saving lives.” “To be fair, I’m not sure I ever got to Kevlar anyway,” he wrote in part.

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One fan responded: “Congratulations on making it this far, Greg! It’s sad to see you go, but you should be proud.”

Arriving on his 40th birthday, Jolin has a lot to be proud of and a lot of cash to count on with his wife at home. He hit a $10,000 Daily Double previously, has the second-highest average Coryat from last year, and will return for the 2025 ToC in late January, along with the likes of Adriana Harmeyer and Isaac Hirsch.

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

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