Destination X has taken its players on a geographical guessing game around Europe. The unique American edition of the series has been viewers’ latest favorite guessing game that seems easier than it looks. Just ask any of the eliminated players. When the first player eliminated is a previous winner of Big Brother, you know it’s going to be tough.
With the entire cast stuck together on a bus, one of the biggest personalities to emerge was Tai Lowry. The bubbly and effervescent flight attendant came in, forming some solid friendships while maintaining firm footing in the game. But once she was handed an advantage in France, it led to a series of dominoes that led to her untimely and unfortunate exit. As much as we love her, Tai only has herself to blame. She became a victim of one of the most common reality television fatal flaws: the inability to own your lies.
Tai’s Lies Caused Her ‘Destination X’ Goodbye
Prior to the third round of the game, Tai was in good standing. She was friends with everyone. She didn’t seem like an outward threat. But once she and Shayne Cureton won the maze challenge in France, it was the beginning of the end. Per tradition in Destination X, winning the first challenge in the round affords you the opportunity of an advantage. It’s a leg up on the other players. She and Shayne were asked to pick the rose or the cell phone; she selected the latter. She was given the power to save someone from the Map Room. But the twist was that Love Island star JaNa Craig handed her the power. After her elimination, Tai revealed that, having studied international versions of the game, she thought nothing of the fact that JaNa may enter the game later on. So, she decided not to tell the bus about her interaction. The start of the lie avalanche.
Before the round was over, playing “double agent,” as she told me in an interview, she used it to save Shayne, which led Rachel Rosette to her ultimate demise. The next lie, which Tai firmly believed was the truth, was telling Rachel they were in Cannes, which was fitting for her own fate. “I totally ignored the windmill part of my clue. I was like, ‘Well, there’s windmills in Europe. There’s windmills all over the place. Moulin Rouge, Paris, totally over my head.'” But it didn’t matter. Rachel didn’t leave with a blow up. Instead, JaNa boarded the bus, and Tai claimed this was their first time meeting. Another major lie. Not just to JaNa, but the entire bus. The problem with this lie was that Shayne had received his clue from Peter Weber of The Bachelor and The Traitors fame. He and Shayne confirmed they had met, which meant they were all aware of Tai’s lie. And she chose to double down. The rest of the bus made it their mission to test her. And they did.
The lies kept coming from Tai. After winning the eating challenge in the Netherlands, she was tested with a secret between her fellow winners, Biggy Bailey and Rick Szabo. While she was in the restaurant, they were high in the sky and saw the flag of the Netherlands. Instead, they told her they saw a flag featuring red, black, and yellow. They told her that they would have to be in either Germany or Belgium. To earn trust and gain a new ally, she passed on the information to Peter. Of course, it got back to the boys, and no one had any faith in Tai. With everyone no longer trusting her amid her series of lies, she was sent into elimination. She had to go in their eyes. The last challenge of the round was a trust game, the worst possible test for her. Biggy won, earned the VIP room advantage, which told him Destination X was Amsterdam. The twist meant he had to convince another player to place their X in another country or he’d be eliminated. He told Tai they were in Brussels. It paired with the previous flag lie, and Tai was out of the game. It’s fitting that a lie sealed the biggest liar’s fate. It’s a harsh reality, but that’s the beauty of reality television!
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Where blacked-out windows hide trust, lies, and location.
‘Destination X’ Is More Than Knowing Geography
With four straight weeks when players were eliminated because they believed the location based on being told false information, Destination X has displayed that truth and honesty get you absolutely nowhere. Josh Martinez believed it was Milan; it was Rome. Jonah Evarts believed it was Bern; it was Geneva. Rachel believed it was Cannes; it was Paris. Tai believed it was Brussels, Belgium; it was Amsterdam, Holland. But what the game did exceptionally well was pick up on the string of lies and make that part of the game. Biggy’s mission to lie and cause confusion worked out in the end. It’s easily one of the best mid-game twists because it picked up on the momentum of the game at hand. Lies usually get you nowhere. On Destination X, it gets you ahead.
What Tai’s game proved is that you must be careful when you lie and to whom. Even though she could sense the tides turning against her, there was nothing she could do. Never has there been a more confined playing space than living on a bus with nine other players. Word spreads fast. Tai was a brilliant personality, one who should return for another reality show, but it couldn’t save her when she couldn’t own her lies. Had she come clean, perhaps her allies wouldn’t have turned on her. Her elimination has given many players a clean slate, allowing them to move forward without her presence and a smattering of lies overwhelming the bus. On the other hand, her explosive exit will force others to respond to her accusations. Tai left in the best way possible for a reality TV show. She even told me that the edit didn’t even come close to displaying everything! She put everyone’s business on blast. “That moment, when Jeffrey [Dean Morgan] said my name, I thought it was a mistake,” Tai revealed. “I felt so betrayed. I was confused, though. That’s why I came up there with my hand on my hip, I was like, ‘I want answers!'” Get ready, Rick! Tai proved she was a strategist whose downfall was largely self-inflicted.
Destination X airs Tuesdays at 10:00pm on NBC. All episodes are available to stream on Peacock.
