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Who won ‘Jeopardy!’ tonight? Peter McFerrin locks in massive 5th win despite wagering chaos

Peter McFerrin faces off against Seth McElroy and Jackie Goncalves in Saturday's episode of ‘Jeopardy!’.

Season 42 of 'Jeopardy!' has featured a long string of lovable champions. Peter McFerrin is a sure-shot addition to the list, especially with Ken Jennings' revelations during the Introduction segment. The host declared that McFerrin wants to use his prize money to help local cat shelters in his area. Besides this, he will also repay some of his debt and buy a car for his teenage daughter. On Friday's episode, McFerrin faced off against Seth McElroy, from Charlottesville, Virginia, and Jackie Goncalves, from Brooklyn, New York. This game was crucial for McFerrin, as a win would solidify his position in the upcoming Tournament of Champions. 

Unlike many of his previous games, McFerrin put his best foot forward right from the start. By the time the first commercial break arrived, the returning champion was at the top of the table with $6,400. McElroy took over the second spot with $800, while Goncalves was at the bottom with $400. The first Daily Double (DD) came the way of McElroy on clue number 21. At this point, the registered nurse had $2,400 to his name, and he went all in. The DD belonged to the category 'That's Egregious,' and its clue read,  "Unbearable, like the acts that in part asked for restitution for the Boston Tea Party." McElroy chimed in with the wrong answer, "What are the Stamp Acts?" The correct response was "What are the Intolerable Acts?" which dwindled his winnings to $0. 

The first round ended with McFerrin in the lead with $7,800. Goncalves was far behind with $2,800, and the DD blow had relegated McElroy to $400. The registered nurse was again blessed with a DD on the 'Double Jeopardy's' first clue. Per the rules, McElroy could wager up to $2,000, and he did so on this DD. The DD was from the category, 'World Cities,' and its clue read, "This Middle Eastern city, alphabetically first in national capitals, was once a pearl-fishing port." He answered, "What is Amman?" which was deemed incorrect. This loss meant he was now in the negatives. The last DD of the game also fell on McElroy's lap. 

The last DD came on clue number 17, belonging to the category, 'Coining Some Words.' The clue read, "On a 1995 German coin, this man's name appears above a big 'X' & 2 images of a hand, one showing just the bone." At this point, McElroy had $3,600, and he went in with a bet of $2,000. Again, McElroy buzzed in with the wrong answer. He wrote, "Who is… Pius?" when it should have been "Who is Röntgen?" The mistake dropped McElroy to $1,600. While the registered nurse was taking one DD blow after another, McFerrin was racing ahead with one correct response after another. The second round finished with McFerrin having $23,000, Goncalves with $9,600, and McElroy dead last with $4,400. These points meant that McFerrin had a runaway lead, going into 'Final Jeopardy' (FJ). 

The FJ belonged to the category, 'Military History,' and its clue read, "At the U.S. Naval Academy, a 19th c. memorial inscribed 'Commerce laments their fall' honors heroes of this conflict." The correct answer was the Barbary Wars (Tripolitan War). To everyone's surprise, the round ended with a triple stumper. After the DD mayhem throughout the episode, McElroy went in with a non-risky bet of $47 and ended with $4,353. Goncalves wagered $600, which pulled her down to $9,000. McFerrin put in $3,799, so he walked away with $19,201. This elevated his five-day total to $116,198, pushing it beyond the $100,000 mark. McFerrin will return to defend his title on Monday. 'Jeopardy!' is a syndicated programme that streams on Hulu and Peacock.