Right, one-post recap. I actually watched it this time, so no complaints that I didn't.
Corinne ticks all boxes. Odd system? Check. Delusionary optimism? Check. That's why she's here! She looks
just about old enough to be a don't-care-gambler a lá Joe. Incidentally, that's one for the product placement file there.
Nasty opener, but she's shrugging it off because the jackpot box is there. The producer is going to give her serious offers as he does believe she might really be that reckless; ten grand isn't far short of dealable on that board, would you believe. 'Unprecedented?' Doubt it, I'd fancy there's been more generous in early 2007.
Now, how much do 'straight 8' Bentleys really cost? All-blue makes this look a lot better, good chance of a £20k-odd win for the average player here. £15k at this point is again unusually generous, and Corinne is speeding away, with Noel doing absolutely nothing to stop her.
A bit more dangerous after that round, and Corinne's a bit pedantic about the material she's got in her hand. Which rapidly leads into desperate innuendo. Noel is wildly talking this up; One Rock is by no means unprecedented on this board and I don't even think it would take me out. Was that a brief reality check? Only a very brief one. Noel didn't thank her for that one, which is a clear indicator; he is dead excited though.
Ten grand, we can take. Corinne is fiscally careful, charity shopper, not a splurger, she's only got one dream. "Money isn't everything" says Noel, which of course in this case is used to justify not caring at all about losing it. Dangerous? Right, a break. How much for a Bentley?
Jennifer's winnings get you a 2006 12-cylinder Continental, new models
all cost between £120k and £250k, so if this really is all she's interested in, we have an utterly bizarre utility function that actually spikes up in a territory where most will level off almost completely.
Right, we're back. Oh I forgot it's a classic car in which case the prices could be anything. No, Noel, she isn't necessarily going to win the £250k, there's an 89% chance it's on the wings. OK make that 87.5%, my point stands. The Banker concedes he might as well not be here, so he's just here to fill in with offers other people can consider. Starting with the recurring motif of £26,000, which wouldn't quite be enough for me. Corinne's not interested in the offers.
Hang on, a thought just hit me. On day one of the Copenhagen summit we're meant to root for a player with a dream of buying a massively polluting car? I'm on safer grouind to point out she's six boxes away from the game end, not seven, when we're at seven-box. £35,000 goes, a blow for anyone with a normal utility function, but not much of one. £75,000, that be damaging. "I'm certain it's in there, and I hope I'm right." 80% chance you're wrong. Regular offer would have been £13,000, which I'd turn down; the gasp-inducing offer is the inverse, £31,000, which I'd take. The tipping point there (adjustable by Banker guarantee on the £250k-high finish) is probably about twenty grand, and no I am not a targetist. REALITY CHECK FROM NOEL! Missed the exact quote, but it was beautiful, especially from him. I've not seen him actually shaking his head at a gamble since 2007.
"If you don't reach for the dream, you never get it." The audience and Noel approve of that, even in this context. Every box, I'm willing to see the jackpot, because I don't want this setting an example to the nation - Corinne's dream means nothing to me anyway. Not in the first one... there we go, Noel gets it right by saying at four-box we're three away... hushed tones and desperate filling for time... nope, that's the orange... Noel mentions Alice, tempting fate perhaps... Corinne says 22 hasn't killed games lately, anyone with evidence either way?... Alice finish it is!
Now what? Apparently the dream was to leave the 1p. "You are a masochist of the most enormous proportions." We have someone who literally couldn't give a monkey's about the money. Noel says this might be the nightmare for some; for me, it's closer to the dream, but it's all about what the offer is for me. I'd want the Banker to just throw in something massive to end it. That, folks, is that something massive. And hushed silence. Noel gives us a massive, yet jestful, reality check; actually, let's not call it that. It was a remark to put this in perspective for the home viewers. £88,000 is enough for the car in kit form, so that has got to be more than halfway up her utility curve, surely. Oh she's 74. We fill in for time in comedy style. Long, long pause. Oh good grief she actually meant it.
Demonstrably an irrational decision in light of the reveal from earlier. It's the first time someone has rejected all offers with the £250k in play since, erm, Laura (Alice, of course, dealt at eight-box). Oh the swap is an actual decision. 19 means something to her. "I think things happen for a reason," so that's a No Swap then.
25 1p winners up to this point. Reminder no men have won the top prize. "The stats mean nothing. Nothing at all." And utter shock fills the audience at the Big Reveal. Noel has no words, Corinne does. It would've been so much easier if she'd just taken it out earlier. She goes away with a pendant, and Noel's ringing praise for dismissing the value of money ringing in her ears.
A second post, discussing the fallout from this game, is coming later, after I watch Miljoenenjacht, where the stakes are so high that chasing a Bentley makes you a mildly aggressive targetist. I've read the comments, and they will be accounted for. An extraordinary game demands an extraordinary response.