(Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the June 14, 2023 episode of Danger!)
of Suresh Krishnan Danger! the streak is over. Holly Hassel became the show’s new champion during the episode on Wednesday, June 14, ending Suresh’s six-day winning streak.
Holly, an English teacher from Fargo, North Dakota, dominated most of the game, with Neilay Amin, a psychiatrist from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pulling ahead by just $200 in the second round.
A Daily Double win helped Holly gain an early lead. By the first break, she was in the lead at $2,600. Suresh was second at $0 and Neilay was third at -$800. Going into the second round, the trailing players had redeemed themselves, but Suresh had yet to take the lead. The scores were Holly with $5,200, Suresh with $2,000 and Neilay with $800.
Neilay found his second Daily Double, which helped him climb to the top spot. By the time he found it, his competitors were in first place by $6,800 each. Neilay increased his score to $9,600 thanks to his true Daily Double bet. Just a few moments and a few more correct answers later, Neilay had $14,000 in winnings when he found his third Daily Double. His incorrect answer dropped him to $10,000, but he was still in the lead. Suresh was in second place at this point with a score of $7,200 and Holly was close behind in third place at $6,800.
The “Latino Actors and Actresses” category helped Holly reach second place in the final moments of Double Jeopardy. She and Neilay dominated the category, ending the round with $12,000 and $12,400 respectively. Suresh entered Final Jeopardy with $5,200. He still had a chance to win, but he needed a smart bet and a correct final answer to do so.
Once again, no one answered correctly in this Final Jeopardy. The category was “TV and Movie Characters”. Clue: “Debuted on television in 1967; the show’s creator wanted someone behind the Iron Curtain to be on “our side”. The correct answer was “Who is Chekov?” Suresh had no idea what the answer was. Instead, he sent a love message to his family for the final answer and bet $0. Neilay didn’t know either, with his final answer just a question mark; bet $11,601.
Holly gave the only answer, “Who is Kojak?” but it was incorrect. Her $1,500 bet left her with $10,500. With Neilay at $799 and Suresh at $5,200, Holly became the new Danger! champion. Suresh’s previous earnings were $96,595. His winnings on June 14 ($5,200 plus an additional $2,000 for second place) bring him to a grand total of $103,795, and he will be seen again in Tournament of Champions.
On Danger! Reddit page, one user congratulated Holly on her win. “It looked almost from the start that Suresh might not get a win this time,” they wrote. “For a minute, it looked like Dr. (Neilay) was going to come from behind based on the medical category. Congratulations to Suresh for making it to OCD and to Holly for the win.”
Suresh himself came on board to celebrate his competitors. “Yes. Neilay totally surprised me in some of my favorite categories. I had a hunch when I competed on the first clue,” he replied with two laughing emojis. “Holly was amazing and got a lot of stuff which I had no idea about. He had a well-deserved win!”
He even responded to a fan who was happy to see his streak end. The user commented, “Honestly glad to see Suresh go. I know the whole point of being on Jeopardy is to win, and how you get that win shouldn’t take away from your moment of glory (except, of course, by cheating and other unethical means), but even as viewer i just don’t enjoy seeing someone constantly shouting just wins due to luck in FJ. I’ll wish the guy the best of luck in TOC, but I have a feeling that, like Courtney Shah and other players who’ve gotten more wins in this mode, he’ll be blown away there.”
Suresh’s reply read, “Thank you! I totally see your point. I heard two types of comments. Some of them love tight games and come from behind wins, and others (like yours truly) are looking for more dominant players. We will see about the ToC. I have no idea how things will go there. I think a lot depends on the categories and if I can improve my very poor buzzer skills.” The user wished him well in response.
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