JEOPARDY! contestant Hannah Wilson has earned a towering two-day total of $71K and instant attention from fans after Thursday's episode.
The internet - and even Amy Schneider - ruled she was one to watch after putting on a powerhouse performance.
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The returning champ has become one to watch after arriving on Jeopardy! screens just yesterday.
Tonight she faced Marie Claude Dussault, a translator and editor from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Warren Grace, a croupier from Lanham, Maryland.
Hannah - who revealed she's the 18th ranked crossword puzzle solver in the U.S. and second in the midwest behind a man named "Eric" - is a data scientist from Chicago, Illinois.
Her potential super-streak took shape tonight as she simply inked out the competition and put on a clinic.
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Hannah found and converted on all three Daily Doubles, the first for $3,000, and the others for $5,000 and $6,000 apiece.
With more than 30 clues correct and 3 incorrect, Hannah had a sizable lead at every commercial break.
Entering Final Jeopardy she had $35,200, Marie Claire had $5,600, and Warren with $4600.
'GOING TO BEAT KEN'S SCORE!?'
Final Jeopardy! under "Bodies of Water" read:"Formed some 10,000-15,000 years ago & with an average depth of only about 150 feet, it’s named for a man who sailed through it in 1728."
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Hannah and Marie Claude were correct with "Bering Strait," and Hannah wasn't floating away with even a moderate payday.
She added $10,000 and won $45,200 for a massively impressive two-day total.
The newcomer bounced up and down grinning as the huge figure was displayed, even Mayim Bialik sounded impressed announcing it.
Viewers flooded internet forums thinking big things for Hannah after such a big payday.
"Hannah is unflappable! Not a moment of doubt, tension, nerves, insecurity," one Twitter user wrote.
"Go Hannah! Are you going to beat Ken’s score!? Lots of luck!" wrote another, though she's still 73 wins away from doing so.
A third fan agreed that this could be a long streak and wrote: "I’m settling in. It’s gonna be another person who goes on forever. Hannah loves to go in for the kill."
A fourth wrote on Reddit: "Very impressive performance by Hannah! She clearly has a broad base of knowledge, and I'm looking forward to seeing her go on a run."
A fifth remarked: "If Hannah had bet $23,999 in Final Jeopardy (max she could bet and still be guaranteed a win), she'd have a higher two day total than James Holhzauer."
"Regardless, it'll be interesting if Hannah survives long enough to encounter Ben Chan on May 15th."
AMY SCHNEIDER IS A FAN
Jeopardy! fans aren't the only ones geeking out, as some of the show's most major stars took to Twitter telling any haters to buzz off.
Amy Schneider tweeted: Huge congratulations to Hannah Wilson!!! Welcome to the Guild of Jeopardy Champion Trans Women, one of us will be in contact shortly to explain the secret handshake and so forth."
Mattea Roach also clapped back on Twitter at anyone trying to give new star Hannah a hard time, they wrote: "lots of people hating from outside the club…"
Hannah has found five of six daily doubles so far and only missed 3 clues in two games.
PROMISING PLAYER!
Hannah's $71,200 in two games is not to be taken lightly - it's the second-highest two-game total this season.
That, and it's been a quiet few months on the game show- there hasn't been a four-plus day streak since March nor a $200K-plus winner since Troy Meyer in February.
In terms of that total, 21-day winner Cris Pannulo's first two wins amounted to $63,379, while 6-day quiz whiz Troy Meyer's added up to $62.6K - both less.
Only the infamous 3-day winner Yogesh Raut has outdone her this season with $74K, before going out on a blaze on game four.
Meanwhile, September's 2023 Tournament of Champions - which consists of 4+ day winners from the current season - as it currently stands, is only male contestants, all of which adds up to right place, right time for Hannah.
MAY-IM, JUNE, JULY...
Meanwhile, actress Mayim returned as host this week for the first time on regularly airingJeopardy! in quite some time.
It had been 10 months barring a recent teen tournament that she's hosted, and she opened Monday's show admitting it's been a while.
“I'm thrilled to be back on the Alex Trebek stage," Mayim said before launching into her first game back.
GOAT champion Ken is off the board until next fall as Mayim is hosting the remaining four months of the season.
His hiatus is not going over well with everyone as one fan wrote on Twitter this week: "Took five minutes before I started to miss Ken."
Another wrote: "I love Jeopardy but can't stand thosepausesshe does. She's probably a really nice person but damn she's annoying with the pauses."
And a third tweeted tonight: "I don’t understand this. Respectfully, I thought Mayim was only going to be hosting 'special' tournaments. I don’t get it."
Ken will not be helming regularly airing episodes until next September.
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When Ken returns he will kick Season 40 off with the Tournament of Champions, which will be the start of the season.
Ken will be hosting the three-week-long$500K Jeopardy! Masterstournament in primetime on ABC starting May 8, but otherwise, the largely preferred74-time winner-turned-hostwill not be seen until then.
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