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"It&amp;#039;s been an emotional day today, ok? Because, yup, I cried at the end of tonight&amp;#039;s D.C. episode. I spent the day watching Martin Luther King&amp;#039;s speeches and making plans to watch Tuesday&amp;#039;s inauguration festivities with friends; change is coming, indeed. Too bad that most of Bourdain&amp;#039;s trip to D.C. in the nation&amp;#039;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&amp;#039;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.  Got to throw in the tough guy moment, which tonight came from the CIA spook, a gentleman who looked more like your friend&amp;#039;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\u2014lots 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?!). 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&amp;#039;t even go deeper into that interaction, since Bourdain looked as if he was about to walk out at any moment, exhausted from Andres&amp;#039;s hyper-spaz personality and his ongoing conversations with tomatoes. It&amp;#039;s so frustrating when the produce won&amp;#039;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&amp;#039;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&amp;#039;s inauguration tomorrow, in Washington D.C., that he will grow up in this new era and likely fulfill his father&amp;#039;s dreams. It&amp;#039;s extraordinary. See, I&amp;#039;m crying again. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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