‘Jeopardy!’ Season 40 Finale: New Champ Emerges With Huge Gamble

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the July 26, 2024 episode of Jeopardy!]

That’s a wrap on Jeopardy! Season 40. The game show’s last episode of the season featured the unseating of the returning champ thanks to a big bet in the final round.

Playing in the July 26 episode were returning champ Davey Morrison, an actor and screenwriter originally from Provo, Utah; Steve Babish, a marketing content strategist from San Jose, California; and Rachel Bradley, an ESL instructor from Greenbelt, Maryland. Davey was a two-day champ with a total winnings of $29,012. While Davey had a large lead by the first break (he had $2,400 vs. $400 for Steve and $600 for Rachel), Rachel staged a serious comeback by the end of round one.

The scores going into Double Jeopardy were Davey with $4,000, Steve with $2,400, and Rachel with $3,800. And then it was Steve who dominated round two. A Daily Double helped increase his lead to $7,100. He lost $2,000 on the next Daily Double, but was still in the lead with $10,100. Davey, the returning champ, was in last place by the time of Final Jeopardy and Steve had lost his lead after a serious back-and-forth with Rachel.

The scores were Rachel with $11,800, Steve with $11,500, and Davey with $6,400. Rachel and Steve would have to bet smart if they wanted to widen that narrow gap between their scores. The category was “Ancient Animals,” and the clue was, “The first fossils of these creatures with an elongated 4th digit were described in 1784 by naturalist Cosimo Collini.” The answer: “What is pterodactyl?”

Only Rachel answered correctly, and she almost doubled her score with a big bet. Her final score was $23,597. Steve didn’t wager nearly as much, ending in second with $10,100. And Davey ended in third with $999.

Unfortunately, this means fans will have to wait until Season 41 premieres to see Rachel play her first game as a returning champion. Thankfully, the Jeopardy! Season 41 premiere isn’t too far away. New episodes begin on September 9, 2024 and the season will run through July 25, 2025.

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