Spring is right around the corner, and I wanted to start the month of March writing about a show I love that premiered this time last year: Bestemming X. It's an original Belgian format that’s best pitched as “GeoGuessr IRL”—with a twist. The concept is compelling enough on paper that it convinced Sam Devriendt, then editor of De Mol, to leave Flemish media giant Woestijnvis for scrappy new production house Geronimo. It also has two of the best reality TV ingredients possible, in my mind: a cast made up of everyday people, and a creative team that deliberately misleads them at every turn.
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| Emanuel Vanderjeugd (left) and Sam Devriendt (right) abord the "X-Bus" |
The premise is simple: 10 players set off on a trip around Europe without ever being told where they are; they must each drop a pin on a virtual map at the end of each episode, and whoever's pin is farthest from their actual location is kicked out. Between eliminations, they take part in challenges and compete for valuable advantages and hints. It's basically like competitive GeoGuessr, but players are physically present rather than exploring the world vicariously through Google Street View, and without a phone in sight they can only rely on their own wits and geocultural awareness. There is, however, a catch.
The big twist of Bestemming X is that not only are players deprived of visual clues—they travel in a blacked out bus, and wear AR goggles that often act as blindfolds—but the few glimpses they do get of the outside world can never be trusted. Producers use every trick up their sleeve to deceive the cast and audience, deploying live actors, fake road signs, and even sound effects to create pan-European confusion among players. Oh, you thought this was Spain because we're eating tapas in a vineyard right now? That's cute.
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| Bestemming X players wearing a high-tech blindfold called the "X-Bril" |
The excellent casting, and the fact that everyone is travelling together in such unusual circumstances and tight living quarters, means the atmosphere is friendly and it's easy to fall in love with the group. With its gorgeous cinematography and challenges involving local culture, Bestemming X is also a subtle celebration of Europe, without the colonial vibes of a show like Survivor. This isn't purely because it's EU citizens travelling through their own continent, but also because the game itself humiliates—and ultimately punishes—the players who are most ignorant of their neighbours. In many ways, it feels like this is a format can't quite be reproduced in other parts of the world, where transportation infrastructure is typically more scarce and the borders are further apart, which initially made me worry about how well the series might grow over the coming years. You can only mistake Slovenia for Switzerland so many times before the joke gets old.
My concerns about the longevity of the format were luckily assuaged by Destination X : Sauront-ils se repérer ?, the French version of the show produced by M6. It plays out like a trippy remix of the first Flemish season, starting off in the South of France rather than in Belgium, but otherwise reusing many of its locations and puzzles. Knowing most of the deceptions thankfully didn't ruin the experience for me; you can't fool me twice with a Colosseum clone in Croatia, but a new roster of players will always be full of surprises. This adaptation also introduced a handful of inspired gameplay twists, encouraging contestants to take risks and sabotage missions (and you know I love sabotage).
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| "They look like Czech cows." — An actual line from Bestemming X |
Something special about Bestemming X, and which in my opinion is the marker of a promising reality game concept, is that its participants can excel for reasons that are personal to them and their life experience. Whether they've trained as a rescue diver or honeymooned in Venice, everyone shines in their own way. Age diversity is also a major factor, with the original lineup including a girl scout leader, a backpacking influencer and a retired firefighter. The cast of Destination X is just as charmingly eclectic; there's the sweet B&B owner Franck, nicknamed "the druid" because of his tendency to use the sun to determine his whereabouts, psychologist Angie who is obsessed with flags for some reason, and ex-paratrooper Salomé who looks like a jacked up Charli XCX.
If you're sold on the concept, you should also know Bestemming X and its French counterpart filmed making-of videos for each episode, letting the audience in on the deception. While this spin-off miniseries only seems to be available online, I'd argue it's an essential part of the viewing experience if you're interested in how a TV show like this comes together. I read in Geronimo's PR copy that their motto is “no balls, no glory,” and this DIY spirit comes across so clearly in the original Flemish videos (the French ones not so much, but they do get a GeoGuessr TikTok guy to play along from his bedroom, which is goofy and fun). As a designer and superfan who enjoys thinking about the creative process of reality TV, being able to peek behind the curtain like this is a treat.
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| Bestemming X: Het Complot — IYKYK |
Keep an eye out for talk of Destination X, because the BBC has picked it up for an NBC co-production, in a deal similar to the one that brought us The Traitors. I also expect they'll be working with Studio Lambert again, given that team's travel show experience with Race Across the World. In the meantime, I'll be here blogging about the existing versions, and theorizing about the possible mutations of the format yet to come.
