‘King of the Nerds’ season 2 finale review: Jack, Kayla, Brian, Xander face off; who won?
“King of the Nerds” has long had a season surrounded in epicness and great moments, but in the end, the dust does have to eventually settle. Tonight, that happened courtesy of an hour-long finale that was far superior than the conclusion to season 1. As a matter of fact, let’s pretend that popularity contestant just never happened, shall we?
The weakest part of the episode was the part of this that was strictly trivia-based, mostly because that is so random in many ways and based in part on luck. Jack, for example, completely guessed on one of his five answers in a “first one to five wins” sort of situation between him, Xander, Kayla, and Brian. We would much prefer either more of a “Jeopardy!” scoring system, or something that was not based on multiple choice.
The final challenge, the Nerdliminator, was at least much more interesting … even if there are a few parts of this that felt somewhat like the producers just bought a word search and other stationary from the store. The contraption containing all of the little tests was at least pretty cool-looking (plus, Pac-Man!), and we liked the idea of each nerd having to earn the allegiance of their former contestants for help like a gauntlet version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” with lifelines. Even if you didn’t use the help, this was an important way to show that friends do matter. The only real surprise in team-building was Nicole flip-flopping from Midas Touch Attack and siding with Kayla. (We weren’t shocked about Kelsey, given the events of the first episode.)
When Jack and Kayla, who were a great final two, arrived at this challenge, there was instantly a great sense of drama and tension. Zack’s head looked like it was about to explode while he waited for Jack to call on him for help, and then there was Chris. For a second we thought that he was saying no to helping Kayla, but it turns out the mad scientist had one final piece of strategy under his sleeve.
Both parties had elements of this task that they struggled with. When it comes to Jack, it was his inability to solve Sudoku (and the same goes for Josh, who helped him). We also have a feeling that Kayla is never going to play Pac-Man ever again. It doesn’t really matter, though, because she is the winner! She managed to pull it off despite her struggles at the arcade, and gave us a worthy, competitive winner who represents nerdiness at its finest. Massive congratulations are in order!
This episode was a ton of fun overall, just like the season. It may have only been eight episodes, but what a fun journey this was! We’re going to miss this celebration into all things nerd, and now we have to descend into our nerd-cave and hope for a season 3. Grade: B+.
What was your take on the “King of the Nerds” finale? Be sure to share your thoughts below! Also, be sure to follow the link here if you want to see some more news related to the show. That includes our recent contestant rankings, our weekly podcast (which there will be another episode of soon), and also exclusive interviews with the contestants. You can also sign up now to get weekly updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter on everything we cover.
Photo: TBC
rrmin
April 24, 2014 @ 2:07 pm
I didn’t like the way that the last round was implemented in both seasons and felt that the truer nerds came in second… is this going to be another American idol? They push the fact that nerds don’t have alot of friends and poor friendship skills and then rely on this as being a deciding factor…
It was not hard to tell that if it was Jack vs Kayla… he would have won. Her friends finished 3 of her puzzles. And Jack didn’t know sudoku… We already know his math skills were excellent. Jack didn’t have the pop culture, but I personally feel that added to his nerd factor. Anyone can remember movie and media facts…
Just like Season 1 if it was Genivieve vs Celeste in a technical challenge, Genivieve probably would have won.
Just like Idol, Just like Survivor, etc. Time to take out the luck and popularity and add back the skills to our game shows…
madmaxrerisen .
March 16, 2014 @ 9:30 am
Was a good final but Kayla coasted through on a good team and I Do not think being a fan of star trek makes you a nerd. I like star wars and star trek and it does not make me a nerd. Zach and Jack had the qualities of nerd and were battling a team of non nerds. Kayla socially was very normal. A nerd would fail to use a team properly and be socially embarrassing. She did neither.
Josh Weikel
March 14, 2014 @ 9:12 pm
I didn’t really have any strong feelings for anyone left in the final four. Jack bumbled his way through most challenges. Most of the time, it felt like he got where he was through others’ oversight or personal failures. I didn’t really like Kayla either though, even if you could somewhat objectively argue she’s the more well-rounded (no pun intended) nerd. I think I’d rather have seen Brian versus Kayla in the final two – that would have shaken up alliances!
MDK
March 14, 2014 @ 3:36 am
The show should be changed to Queen of the Nerds!
Effinjeff
March 14, 2014 @ 3:15 am
Zach was king hands down. How do you have a competition based on being thee best nerd and not have the master nerd as a finalist? Even the other Nerds disliked him.
Has anyone watched Big Bang Theory?
Who is the biggest nerd on that show?
Zach, I mean Sheldon?
Next time let them loose in a high school and whoever gets beaten up the most during 8 weeks is Champion.
Wedgies, swirlies and getting their books dumped also counts!
KT
March 14, 2014 @ 3:06 am
Not a fan of hers. Just seemed like she coasted by the whole season behind her teammates and never really had to worry about being eliminated. She’s a smart woman which helped her, but it seemed as though jack had to work that much harder to make it to the finals. Jack failed in not using his teammate sooner in the final challenge to allow him more time to solve more of the problems.