'The Chase' Season 2: Competition puts up strong fight but Ken Jennings 'schools them'

If you enjoy a good trivia show, no one does it quite like 'The Chase'. With a team of three people going up against a chaser — a seasoned quizmaster, it is up to the team to make as much as they can and then outsmart the chaser to cash in what is hopefully a sizeable cheque.

This season, the show sees the return of chasers Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter with UK chaser Mark Andrew Labbett, often known as 'The Beast'. With the chasers all set and raring to go, the season premiere proved to be as exciting as ever! 

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For the first episode of Season 2, the show saw a team of three go up against chaser Ken Jennings. Clayton, Tabitha and Ryan were all set to take on Jennings and each with varying expertise was feeling rather confident about the team's skill. The first contestant to go up against Jennings was Clayton, who managed to score a solid $60,000 and secured it in the bank without being caught by Jennings.

Up next was Tabitha, who managed to score an impressive $25,000 without getting caught and secured the amount as well. Finally, the last person to go up against Jennings was Ryan, who managed to secure to highest winnings in the group at a whopping $90,000. It's here that Jennings made Ryan an offer — he could either move one step closer to the bank and play for $40,000, or move one step higher and risk being caught for $300,000. After consulting his team, Ryan decided to play for his original $90,000.

He managed to outrun Jennings and secured the amount in the bank, bringing the team's total to $175,000 dollars. The team then moved on to the final chase — which happens to be their last attempt to secure the cash and walk away as winners. In this round, the team is required to answer as many questions as they can to create as big a gap between them and the chaser.

If the chaser can close in on the gap before the buzzer goes off, the team effectively loses all the money they've won. Ryan, Tabitha and Clayton started strong, and with 17 correct answers, they found themselves 20 steps ahead of Jennings. When it came to his chance to catch up, Jennings came after the team at a break-neck speed, however, he did fumble with one question, giving the team a chance to widen the gap.

Jennings failed to answer the following — 'What eyewear company took its name from the journals of John Kerouac?' Ryan, who answered 'Warby Parker' correctly, help give the team a fighting chance. However, that one hiccup wasn't alone to keep Jennings at bay, who soon caught up the team before the buzzer could go off, snatching away their chance at winning $175,000.

While the team lost, the fans were thrilled to see just how strong a fight they put up, including the impressive 20 step lead they managed. "So this'll be interesting. The team has 20 steps. Sarah asked 20 in 2 minutes. So Ken's going to have to play perfect or go *insanely* fast to even have a chance. #TheChase" tweeted a fan. 

"That's why this show is so damn popular in the UK. When done right, it's incredible. #TheChase" added another. "Ken definitely schooled them. #TheChase" agreed a user. "AANNND Game... A near perfect performance from Ken. And it was pretty close. Good game. But #TheChase is over. $0." added another. 

Who are you hoping to see as the chaser on the next episode? Be sure to tune in to find out!

Catch season 2 of 'The Chase' on Sundays, at 9/8c on ABC.