It's been an emotional day today, ok? Because, yup, I cried at the end of tonight's D.C. episode. I spent the day watching Martin Luther King's speeches and making plans to watch Tuesday's inauguration festivities with friends; change is coming, indeed. Too bad that most of Bourdain's trip to D.C. in the nation's capital made for some underwhelming tv.

Granted, it was all filmed before the general elections, but it seems there was a real tamping down of any enthusiasm toward a new administration. I understand that a travel show needs to be basically nonpartisan, but the show did not in any way harness the political energy and excitement of this election season. Considering that they're showing this episode the night before the inauguration, it was odd how removed it felt from this momentous occasion. They kept it simple and straightforwardly patriotic, a waving American flag as the only graphic marker.

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Got to throw in the tough guy moment, which tonight came from the CIA spook, a gentleman who looked more like your friend's dotty uncle than a spy negotiator. Though I guess George Pelecanos also brings a dose of masculinity (especially for all the Wire fans out there, of which Tony is obviously one!). Wait—lots of manly-man eating in this episode actually, with the gnarly chunks of raw meat at the Ethiopian restaurant (an establishment run by a man who was once kidnapped by the KGB?!).

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Neither the roasted Peruvian chicken or the half-smoke chili dog looked particularly appetizing. Is it just me? Jose Andres appears to be one of the more annoying humans on the planet, so I won't even go deeper into that interaction, since Bourdain looked as if he was about to walk out at any moment, exhausted from Andres's hyper-spaz personality and his ongoing conversations with tomatoes. It's so frustrating when the produce won't let you get a word in edgewise.

At the D.C. Central Kitchen I felt the show took a turn for the better. Beau, a supervisor in the food bank's kitchen, was a lively subject and a genuine guy with a tough story of jail and redemption. It was the scene with his son calling him silly names on the ride home from school where I started to tear up. I love that that kid will get to watch Obama's inauguration tomorrow, in Washington D.C., that he will grow up in this new era and likely fulfill his father's dreams. It's extraordinary. See, I'm crying again.

What do you think?