I Wasn’t Loving Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Destination X. Then I Got The Final Riddle Wrong And I’m All In

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Be cautious if you haven’t watched the first episode of the new series Destination X, now streaming on NBC. You can access it with a Peacock subscription.

This version maintains the original meaning but is rephrased in a more conversational and reader-friendly manner.

2025 TV programming has ushered in summertime, leading NBC to replace the finale of Season 27 of “The Voice” with the premiere of Season 20 of “America’s Got Talent” and the debut of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s new show, “Destination X,” for Tuesday evenings. Although he is currently renowned for his role as Negan in the cast of “The Walking Dead,” he now serves as the host of this fresh unscripted travel competition series, where contestants journey through Europe in search of a $250,000 prize.

Initially, I must confess that I didn’t find myself fully engaged during the first episode for a majority of its duration. Interestingly, however, discovering that my strong prediction turned out to be incorrect has piqued my interest enough to consider watching the next one.

Why I Wasn’t Loving Destination X

It seemed that after two hours of watching America’s Got Talent, Destination X appeared overly complex at first glance. Instead of individual performances, the show started with ten participants crammed into a bus, which could be distressing for people suffering from claustrophobia. They were taken on a journey through an unknown country, solving riddles to find out what “Destination X” represented. Unfortunately, some competitors had to go to the Map Room at the end to place a pin near where they believed they were located.

There were goggles resembling luxury models yet functioning like blindfolds, coins adorned with emblems, and a pursuit reminiscent of the TV show ‘The Amazing Race’ occurred for me through a rural town. However, what puzzled me was that all the locations utilized as hints were significantly distant from Rome, which was supposed to be our final destination (Destination X). Instead, they visited various places within Italy, but never set foot in Rome until they had already made their guesses about its location.

To put it frankly, during much of the opening act, I found myself wishing that the figurine store in question was merely set up for the show, as the competing racers seemed to be wreaking havoc searching for the right Pinocchio figurine. And let’s not beat around the bush – I’m usually not very good at guessing on competition shows. Truth be told, I struggle with The Masked Singer. On the other hand, Jeopardy? That’s my turf. Destination X? Not really feeling it. My victory in the grade school geography bee is ancient history.

What Hooked Me

It might seem like my frequent mistakes on “The Masked Singer” would make me annoyed by how far off my guess was about Destination X during the premiere, but that’s not true at all. Actually, I had faith that the first Destination X wouldn’t be as apparent as Rome. The coin with a “J” inside a heart, which one team interpreted as a clue related to William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” led me to believe I knew where the contestants were… at least for the remainder of the episode.

For a brief moment, let’s delve into some geeky details. Instead of immediately connecting the “Romeo and Juliet” clue with Rome itself, as suggested by the title’s first syllable, I was reminded of the opening lines from the play written by Shakespeare himself:

“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”

This passage refers not to the city of Rome but to Verona.

“Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”

It turns out that Jeffrey Dean Morgan deceived viewers into believing Destination X was Rome, when in fact it was Verona! I was so certain about this that I even ignored other hints suggesting the real capital of Italy, and ended up assuming that the show was intentionally being more mysterious than it needed to be.

Did you know? I found joy in making mistakes, and oh boy, I was so wrong that I could chuckle at my own blunders and anxiously await the next episode! To top it off, former Big Brother participant Josh Martinez seized his moment as the first eliminated contestant by warning the others, “Rick is a sneaky snake,” advising them to be cautious around him.

As a movie enthusiast, I must say that Mack’s cunningness throughout the series had been unparalleled. However, Josh’s revelation about Rick being the one to mislead him was quite a shocking twist to conclude the episode. Could it be true that Rick, the patriarch of the group, was subtly manipulating Josh to guess Milan instead of Rome? Frankly, I can’t confirm this, but ever since he identified “Luigi” as one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’ve been keeping a closer eye on him. Whether or not Rick is playing us all like a snake, hats off to the winner of Big Brother for causing quite the stir before departing from the bus.

I’ll be tuning in again for the next episode of Destination X, because honestly – or to quote Biggy, “gosh darn” – I want to solve a riddle and not misinterpret one hint into some sort of Elizabethan intrigue. Is that what Destination X was aiming for in the premiere? Probably not, and I’d wager most viewers correctly identified Rome as the answer instead of revisiting our high school English lessons.

Discover where the upcoming episodes of Destination X will take the remaining competitors, airing every Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC, immediately after America’s Got Talent. Don’t forget to catch up the next day on Peacock!

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2025-05-29 03:41