Destination X Season 1 Episode 1 Recap and Eliminations

The premiere episode of NBC’s new reality competition show, Destination X, launched with suspense and strategic gameplay as ten contestants embarked on an adventurous journey through Europe, all vying for a $250,000 cash prize. Hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the core challenge for the competitors is to determine their precise location with the question: “where the X am I?”
The game ignited quickly with personal dynamics coming into play. Contestant Ally Bross was seen interacting flirtatiously with fellow player Josh Martinez, humorously noting in a confessional, “Every guy I meet, I tend to think is my husband… I’m just a lover girl.” However, friendly Cchats were short-lived as the first challenge, the Suitcase Challenge, was introduced. Jeffrey Dean Morgan explained that contestants had to grab one of 50 identical suitcases, each tagged with a European country, collect the tag, and throw it into the correct luggage cart. The winner would receive the first clue and the ability to share it with another player.
Alliances began to form immediately. Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald teamed up, agreeing to share any winnings. Mack revealed a cunning strategy in her confessional, aiming to ally with “the dumbest person” to feed them information, gain trust, and then “sacrifice them” later. Ally demonstrated her own competitive streak by quickly scooping up a luggage tag dropped by Rick Szabo. While Biggy Bailey managed to correctly match six tags on his own, the alliance of Ally and Mack secured the win with a combined seven correct tags.
Following the challenge, the contestants were led to the Destination X bus, their home for the game, featuring blacked-out windows to obscure their travel routes. As they journeyed to their first unknown destination, players got to know each other. Josh Martinez revealed his previous reality TV experience, having “made it pretty far” on Big Brother. Meanwhile, Tai Lowry, Mack, and Ally identified Josh and Biggy as potential threats. The male contestants discussed Mack and Ally’s swift alliance and the incident with Rick’s dropped tag.
For their first clue, winners Ally and Mack were blindfolded and taken to the ruins of Volterra. Ally observed, “This just looks so Roman,” leading them to suspect they were in Italy. However, upon returning to the bus, they misled the other players, claiming to be “really confused” and only seeing “tourists” and “people with cameras.” They later chose to share the true nature of what they saw with Rick.
The second challenge, the Wishing Well Challenge, took place “eight stories underground” in a medieval well. Contestants were tasked with finding five missing coins hidden in the town above. Each coin found would grant their team one “wish” – the power to send a player from the opposing team to the map room, where eliminations occur. Mack and Ally captained opposing teams, with Biggy and Mack designated as “searchers.” While the searchers were above ground, the remaining contestants sorted through coins and solved riddles in the well.
In the first round of the Wishing Well Challenge, Biggy was released first and solved his riddle leading to a shop with Pinocchio dolls, but Mack, following shortly after, found the coin in one of the dolls' pockets. The second round saw Biggy find a coin near an olive tree after both initially thought the answer was “tea,” evening the score at one coin each. Mack then secured a significant advantage in the third round by correctly guessing the Roman numerals for 154, earning her team three additional coins.
With Mack's team earning a total of four coins, they held considerable power for the first elimination. Jeffrey Dean Morgan explained that five contestants would enter the map room to place an 'X' marking their guessed location, and the player whose 'X' was furthest from the actual spot would be eliminated. Mack chose Tai Lowry, Josh Martinez, Biggy Bailey, and Shayne Cureton from her winnings, while Ally, with one choice, sent Rachel Rossette to the map room.
Josh Martinez, a winner of Big Brother 19 and a participant in several seasons of The Challenge, initially believed they were in Rome. However, just before he placed his X, Rick Szabo approached him, stating he was “pretty sure” they were in Milan, Italy. Despite his initial conviction, Josh decided to trust Rick's last-minute advice and placed his X on Milan. This decision proved fatal to his game, as his X was the furthest from their actual destination, leading to his elimination.
Before departing the Destination X bus, Josh Martinez offered a stern warning to the remaining contestants about Rick: “Be careful, trust your gut. Whatever you do, do not trust a single word that Rick is saying. Rick is a snake. Watch your back with him.” Viewers can follow the unfolding drama on Destination X on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, with episodes available for streaming the next day on Peacock.
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