When the host of the show turns to the camera and says, “We have to toughen this kid up,” you know they’re not meant for a reality competition show. Jonah Evarts, the English teacher from Manhattan, Kansas, was a sweet kid. But on a bus filled with cutthroat gamers, not reaching their level of cunning is a losing strategy. Sadly, Jonah learned that the hard way.

Throughout the two challenges of episode 2 of Destination X, Jonah proved that he was simply clueless about geography once again. For the second week in a row, Jonah’s brilliance in other realms was not enough to play this particular game. So, if you don’t know where you are and others do, then you must figure out a game strategy to better your position and save your spot on the bus. But Jonah was too kind to knock someone down in order to build himself up. It’s not lost that Jonah left the game in the country known for peace.

Jonah Knew Nothing About Europe

Being part of a show’s first season cast comes with a litany of pros and cons. Pros: You get to establish the tone of the game for seasons to come. Cons: You have literally no idea how the game is meant to play. In the very first episode of Destination X, the tone was set when Mack Fitzgerald and Ally Bross hacked the first challenge, formed an alliance, and essentially said if you’re not gaming, you’re going home. Even the ultimate player of the cast, Josh Martinez, realized that too late. Winning Big Brother doesn’t guarantee your spot on the bus. So, seeing how cutthroat the first round was, one would think that Jonah would adjust and adapt to the whim of the game. And in a way, he did. He said that this game was not meant for him.

Maybe this first season’s game board was not optimal for Jonah. As seen in his official bio, he has taught English in Vietnam and thus traveled extensively around Asia, visiting countries such as Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Korea. Well, Europe is very much not Asia. As proven in the first round, Jonah was off the mark as to where in Italy they were. It was very much Milan. The signs were all pointing to Rome, and yet Jonah seemed to select another random city. Italy was an easy start. The game was going to get harder. And it did. Knowing how clueless he was as to where Destination X was, Jonah opted not to scheme and hoped a clue would fall into his lap. Even Mack had an off week, firmly believing they were on the German side of the Alps. Yet she at least had conviction in how wrong she was.

‘Destination X’ Requires Aggressive Strategy

In the second game of the round that would determine which of the five travelers would head to the Map Room, the players would go into the chalet and play a memory game, filled with clues all over the room, bells included. As the players sat outside awaiting their turn, Kim Conner took aim at Jonah by calling him out for being too soft. She may have been right, but her expression of those feelings was ill-conceived. And yet, it’s Jonah who earned a target on his back, because why would you want to align with anyone unwilling to play hard?

When he got to the bell game with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jonah hemmed and hawed about wanting to save himself when swapping out a name to go into the Map Room. Morally, that’s not how this game works. Guilt needs to be left at home. His emotions got to him so hard that he didn’t even take the time to pay attention to the blatant clues in plain sight. The Los Angeles Lakers jersey? Photos of Jennifer Aniston and Eva Longoria? Jonah, Destination X is Lake Geneva! Oblivious to all the hints pointing toward Switzerland, Jonah relied on a passing comment from Ally that the clues were pointing toward Bern, but it was a lie. Sounds like a familiar game movie? Just like with Josh, an episode prior, telling a player the incorrect location was their downfall.

The reality is, it didn’t have to end like this for Jonah. Jonah, a very affable player, could have excelled had he linked up with a strong ally. He didn’t and thus was left to fend for himself. It’s fitting that the player who didn’t want to play a cutthroat game was eliminated in the city of peace, Geneva, Switzerland. Now, while it was an easy way to save yourself by sacrificing the weakest link, it was a bad game move to lose someone who would be notoriously wrong in the Map Room. Why not keep the buffer for when you’re less sure of a location? Future players of this game will certainly learn from the players’ mistakes of ditching Jonah too soon. He may not help you discover your location, but he is an easy layup for his lack of knowledge. Now, the field remains strong. One misstep and you are out. Destination X is a brutally cutthroat game, and some players are learning too late.

Destination X airs Tuesdays at 10:00pm on NBC. All episodes are available to stream on Peacock.