Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown premiered its twelfth and final season at the Tribeca TV Festival on Saturday night, and as Variety reports, it was humorous, poignant, and, of course, emotional. The episode featured one of Bourdain’s last voice-overs as he traveled to Kenya with comedian W. Kamau Bell. “As soon as the cameras turn off,†Bourdain narrates in the season premiere, “I fucking pinch myself. I can’t believe I get to do this.†But later, in a post-credits sequence, Bourdain’s narration strikes a different tone, “I do my best,†the late host says of his travels. “I look, I listen. But in the end, I know it’s my story. Not Kamau’s, not Kenya’s. Those stories have yet to be heard.â€
“We didn’t have any idea what the fuck he was talking about,†director Morgan Fallon said of the line. “But what he wrote was uncanny after everything that’s happened.†According to Deadline, the episode revealed some of “the toll of the nearly two decades of intense work and travel.†According to executive producer Lydia Tenaglia, “He had been on the road at this point for almost 20 years, so he had traveled everywhere and had seen everything, really. Traveling with someone else gave him the opportunity to almost see that place again through someone else’s perspective,†she said. “After traveling for so long, he was always craving that experience.â€