Was Destination X Too Confusing to Follow? Grade the NBC Competition Hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Though he's fought off zombies for years, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is now facing something even more frightening: a group of globe-trotting reality-TV contestants on NBC's Destination X. But did the series miss the mark? Let's recap.
Tuesday's premiere takes us on a winding journey as the Walking Dead vet turns Europe into a real-life game board. Here's how it works: Each week, players will traverse the continent in a blacked-out bus with the goal of figuring out where they are. After competing in challenges at unique tourist attractions, contestants will head to the Map Room where they must guess their exact current location. The player with the guess farthest away from the bus' actual destination has to leave the game, and loses the chance to win $250,000.
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But for a casual viewer, the game can be confusing. To start, you'll see contestants donning high-tech goggles from time to time, but they aren't virtual reality headsets. The eyewear functions only as a fancy blindfold — there is no VR component in this game.
Next, hints are not necessarily directly tied to the destination. For example, Episode 1 grants two contestants an exclusive clue: access to an outdoor theater. The players stand in front of the ruins, which viewers learn are the ruins of Volterra in Italy. But this place is not Destination X. We're told it sits 200 miles away from the actual location — which remains unknown to viewers. The only hint the clue offers is it looks Italian, but that offers no help in deducing the city — especially since the ruins aren't even located in Destination X anyway.
The bus continues on a journey to its official location, stopping for a team challenge, where players solve riddles to collect hidden coins offering secret clues. Morgan says the challenge takes place in Orvieto and features nods to the city's cathedral, rich olive oil and St. Patrick's well — all of which are meant to serve as additional clues for Destination X. The group didn't pick up on the hints, but even if they had, how does identifying Orvieto help anyone deduce where the final location will be? Viewers are told Orvieto is still 90 miles away from Destination X.
In the end, the team that loses the challenge must enter the Map Room, risking elimination. After all the guesses are in, it's Big Brother vet Josh Martinez who places his guess farthest from the location, placing his 'X' on Milan. On his way out, we finally learn this week's official Destination X: Rome. (Though the group had spent no actual time there.) Apparently, the prior challenge's coins had featured clues hinting at the city's gladiators and the Vatican's Swiss Guard.
What did you think of s debut? Will you stay along for the ride, or are you ending your trip early? Vote in the polls below and hit the comments with your thoughts!
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