Suvechha Sarkar
It is another brilliant night on Fox’s ‘The 1% Club,’ and guiding the audience through this rollercoaster is none other than Joel McHale. Episode 5, titled ‘A Rabbi, a Mascot and a Psychic Walk Into a Bar,’ delivers its signature blend of brain-teasing puzzles and unexpected personalities, much like the title. As usual, 100 contestants face questions that the country has previously faced. The game is set to begin with the hardest question and ends with the one that only 1% of the people can answer. Ultimately, each hopes to outsmart the pack and walk away with the $100,000 prize.
With Just a Handful of Early Eliminations, the Game Gets Off to a Smooth Start
The episode begins with Joel getting right into business by announcing the night’s 90% question along with two images as the options. The question is as follows: At airport security, Jim and Pablo both put their shoes, belt, wallet, and keys in trays. Who put their items in alphabetical order? As the time ticks away, it turns out that the question has eliminated only one contestant, leaving 99 of them in the game. It turns out that the correct option is B- Pablo, who has put belt, keys, shoes, and wallet in alphabetical order. The host turns his attention to Taquiba, who has gotten the answer wrong, and explains that the nerves got the best of her. When Joel asks, she says she feels unique about being the only one to go out in the first round. The host then moves on to David, who has correctly responded.
David reveals that he is a Professor of Music and Minister of Music. On Joel’s request, he quickly tunes up a melody for the show. With the Prize Pot standing at $1,000, it is now time for the 80% question. It puts forth the symbols (i) % (ii) ! (iii) & (iv) =, from which the contestants have to pick the only one that can be drawn by hand without lifting one’s pen. This time as well, only one player has put forth the wrong answer, leaving 98 of them in the competition. After announcing the correct answer as the second symbol, Joel focuses on Mike, who has given the right response. It turns out that he is a Mascot by profession, and upon questioning, he expresses that he is probably going to spend the prize money on pizza and groceries. Right beside him is Debra, who is a Chef, a Reiki Healer, and a Psychic.
With that being said, Joel reveals the Prize Pot amount to be $2,000. The game moves on to the 70% question, where the players have to answer what animal is represented by combining the two images of a bun and a knee shown on the screen. In this question, the game has lost five contestants, leaving just 93 players behind. Joel announces that the correct response is “Bunny,” and questions one of the female contestants who has answered it incorrectly. She reveals she answered ‘bread-knee,’ prompting the host to joke that such an animal doesn’t exist. Jackie has also answered it incorrectly as “hammert”, but she had initially thought of hamster. Another person who got it wrong is Taylor C., who just wrote “BM.” By the end of this question, the Prize Pot now amounts to $7,000.
The Pressure Rises as the Questions Grow Difficult and Mind-Twisting
For the 60% question, the competitors have been given four options of different shapes and another picture containing paper scraps. They have to answer if a shape was cut out of an ordinary piece of copy paper, leaving behind the aforementioned pictorial scraps of paper, what shape was cut out? Unfortunately, 13 of the players responded incorrectly to this question, bringing the number of contestants to 80. After Joel declares that option B, with the gingerbread man structure, is the correct answer. Nick has got the answer correct and discloses that he is playing alongside his wife, Katrina. What intrigues everyone’s attention more is another player, Taylor, who works for Nick. Both of them are attorneys for a sports team, and it is revealed that the former had actually called in sick for the day. By the end, the Prize Pot has amounted to $20,000.
Joel informs everyone that the contestants who have made it this far can use their allotted $1,000 for the following 10 questions. They can use it to pass and move forward to the following question, but can only use it once. He then presents an image on the screen and announces the 50% question: The first group of images (a cat, the letter D, and an ant) here represents the seven-letter word Pendant. What letter can you put in the empty box in the middle of the second set of images (a cat and a log on either side) to read another seven-letter word? As the clock ticks away, it is revealed that the question has knocked out 10 more contestants, leaving only 70 behind. After announcing that 17 of them have used their passes, Joel reveals the answer to be “A,” making the word, Catalog. Cheri has put forth the wrong response of “Pussytre.”
Following the previous question, the Prize Pot amount has gone up to $47,000. It is now time for the 45% question: “Brandy makes a gimlet. Margarita makes a great Manhattan. Cosmo can make the best Julep. By that logic, what drink is Jameson good at making?” There are a total of three options for this question: 1. Martini, 2. Mudslide, and 3. Screwdriver. By the end of the time, the question has eliminated a total of 18 contestants, bringing the pool down to just 52 players. Furthermore, he informs everyone that 23 of them have used their passes, and the correct answer is the first option. With that being said, he turns his attention to Mike, who sadly has given the wrong response. As the Prize Pot reaches $78,000, the game moves on to the 40% question, where the players are shown an image with several items kept in a sequence.
A Series of Tricky Logic Puzzles Continues to Eliminate the Contestants
Joel then announces the question in which the contestants have to select which food logically comes next in the sequence from the options: 1. Rhubarb, 2. Donut, 3. Blueberries, and 4. Lemon. As time passes, it comes to light that 11 contestants have provided the wrong response, and six among the 41 remaining players have utilized their passes. After informing everyone that the correct answer is Rhubarb, he discloses that Tony, who is a Wedding Videographer, has gotten the answer correct. He then proceeds to announce that the Prize Pot money now amounts to $85,000. It is now time for the 35% question, which is based on an image of multiple labeled boxes. The competitors have to identify the item inside the box that is touching three boxes of clothes based on how the moving boxes are labeled in the image.
Four people responded inaccurately in the end, while only one of the 37 remaining players used their pass. The correct answer to the question is Puzzles, and luckily, James E., a Micro Computer Specialist, has gotten it correct. Upon questioning, he opens up that with the prize money, he wants to make a man cave in his backyard, a section for his two little sons, and a way to keep his wife out of the abode. Following this, the Prize Pot now stands at $87,000, and 13 contestants still have their passes left. Joel announces that now the competitors can either keep going and hope to make it to the 1% question and win upto $100,000, or they can take a guaranteed $1,000 right now and leave the show. After the decision time gets over, it turns out that only Jakoya has decided to leave with her $1,000.
Jakoya honestly admits that she doesn’t want to leave with nothing. Moreover, it is a delightful time for her since she just had a baby and got married. After congratulating her, the host announces the 30% question for the remaining 36 players. It is as follows: What one word in this question uses the greatest number of unique letters that aren’t repeated in that same word? After the time ends, Joel informs everyone that six people have been knocked out in this question, and only 1 of the 30 remaining contestants has used their pass. It turns out that the correct response is “Question,” and Davis has used his pass in the last 2 seconds left. The player jokingly mentions that he gives the credit for this saving him in this question to God.
As the Game Intensifies, the Confident Players Begin to Shine
On the other hand, Taylor J. has got the answer correctly in 9 seconds, and he adds that he still has his pass, which he wants to use for a harder question. When Joel asks him if he has always been this confident, he replies that he is a Basketball Coach and his team wins a lot of games. After wishing him the best of luck, Joel reveals the Prize Pot amount to be $90,000. He then puts forth the 25% question with four options: (a) 1-5-6-19, (b) 19-1-6-5, (c) 6-1-19-5, (d) 5-6-19-1, from which the players have to select the one that is logically the safe combination that is shown on the screen. The correct response proves to be hard and thereby eliminates nine competitors. Among the 21 remaining contestants, only four people have utilized their pass. The correct answer is the second option, and the question has taken the Prize Pot amount to $94,000.
Unfortunately, Debra has given the wrong answer, but she feels she is in the contest to help raise vibration on the planet since everyone is going through a big change right now. David is also eliminated, and he explains that he was not listening, which led to the wrong response. Right after, Joel announces that the competitors who make it furthest in the game are going to win a share of $10,000, or they can risk the money and face the 1% question to win everything in the Prize Pot. He also states that the five contestants who still have their passes left have only got four questions left to utilize them. He then proceeds with the 20% question, which is presented alongside a picture. The contestants have to find the six-letter word from the picture, which the road crew mistakenly painted on the street.
As the time comes to an end, the question sends three people home, leaving behind just 18 players. Two among them have used their passes, and the answer is revealed to be “Behind.” Joshua has accurately responded to the question, and the fact that he is an eight-generation Rabbi intrigues Joel. Since he is sitting next to the Mascot and the Healer, the host jokes by stating, “A Rabbi, a Mascot, and a Psychic Walk Into a Bar.” Joshua confidently mentions that he thinks he has a chance at winning. Right after, Joel declares the 15% the competitors have to guess the number of the correct lever from the ones present in the image presented, which is topped by a shape with an even number of sides, and that shape is not the same color as another shape. The question eliminates four more players, leaving only 14 to play the game.
Although Joshua and Taylor Make it to the 1% Question, They Leave Empty-Handed
Joel reveals that the last three players who had their passes left have finally used them and mentions that the correct response to the question is “2.” Kevin has answered it correctly and proudly adds that he is the “beast” and he always wins everything. With the Prize Pot now having reached $99,000, it is now time to face the 10% question. The players are present with an image of a woman’s hands getting the words “Hollywood Divorce” tattooed. Looking at that, they have to answer that if she keeps going with the pattern and leaves no space between two words, what word is going to be spelled out on her pinky finger? The difficulty of the question becomes evident as five more contestants are eliminated, leaving only nine behind. The correct answer is “Love,” which is precisely what Rob has presented.
Rob discloses that although he lives in Baltimore, Maryland, his family originally moved from Taiwan to the middle of Mississippi. He further adds that he is competitive and feels he will win this contest. The Prize Amount has remained the same since everyone has already used their passes. Joel next announces the 5% question: You walk five miles north, turn east and walk seven miles, then you turn south and walk 12 miles. You turn west and walk another 13 miles, turning north, you walk eight miles before turning east, and walking six miles. How many miles away from where you started are you? Gradually, the ticking time reveals that the question has knocked out seven contestants, with only the remaining two of them having provided the correct response of “Zero.” To their delight, only Joshua and Taylor have moved forward to face the 1% question.
Joel elaborately explains that if Joshua and Taylor both provide the correct answer, they can equally split the $99,000 between them, and if only one of them wins, he takes the entire prize money. However, they have to decide if they want to leave the show tonight with an equal share of their $5,000 each or keep playing. Since they both decide to move forward, Joel announces the 1% question: What common word can be made with the three letters of the alphabet not used in the sentence, “Zeke’s mighty quick jambalaya recipe is unviewed.” After their answers are locked in, Taylor admits he answered ‘Oft,’ knowing it’s incorrect. Joshua likewise answers ‘Fog,’ which he also acknowledges is wrong. Ultimately, Joel announces that the correct answer is “Fox.” Hence, neither Joshua nor Taylor is the winner, leading the grand prize to slip away from both.
Read More: The 1% Club Episode 4 Recap: Farmer Wants a Wife… and $100,000
