Yep, James was hoist with his own petard. His usual method of winning was to poach all the big $ questions where the Daily Doubles reside, leaving the two challengers scraping for the small money leftovers. This time it happened to James. While I was kind of sad to see James go before he could clear $3 mil, I was rooting for Emma. I, too was getting tired of watching James win so effortlessly. FWIW, Emma has a similar cold-blooded/no personality style like James. She may stay for awhile.
You nailed it.
The dirty secret about Jeopardy! is that everyone who gets on the show is smart enough to know 80-90% of all the questions. They’ve passed all the tests - they’re all smart and knowledgeable.
The difference between winning and looking like a fool is your speed/timing on the button, who gets the DDs and when, and whether you get tripped up by a wonky category or answer you don’t know in Final Jeopardy.
James had an over 90% correct response rate and was fearless with wagering and looked for the DDs right away. That’s a recipe for big money and staying power.