No Reservations episodes come in three varieties: 1) The kind where Tony is sad and apologetic about a war-torn or poverty-stricken nation and it's heartbreaking (Laos, for example), 2) The kind where Tony hates where he is and is hilariously miserable the entire time (Romania, Uzbekistan), and 3) The kind where attention is paid to cruelty and poverty where it's due, but overall the episode is joyous and Tony is passionate, playful, and truly in love with where he is and the experience he's having. Last night's episode was of the third variety, for the following reasons:

-- "It's never too early to get drunk, are you kidding me?" -- Carlos, executive chef at Les Halles, Bourdain bestie and all-around endearing Mexico tour guide.
-- The crazy-doll-heads-strung-up-in-a-tree guy. Not just because crazy doll heads strung up in a tree is an insane thing to see, but because I love when Bourdain tries so hard to maintain his respectful visitor voice when you know he's just dying to call the guy batshit outright. This was one of those delightful instances.
-- Bourdain compared pulque to "Ryan Seacrest's love juice." Then he drank it anyway.
-- So much of it, in fact, that by the end of his trip to the pulqueria, I think he was possibly the most clearly plastered I've ever seen him. It was at least in the top 10.
-- The luchador part was entertaining because luchadors are really entertaining, and seeing Bourdain get tossed around like a 6'4" rag doll is amazing television. It wasn't as cool as that time he did wire stunts and made an amateur kung fu movie, but then again, nobody had a cool mask that time.
-- Bourdain's friend who was a pint-sized, super happy, mega eating machine. I've never seen anybody put away that much pork with a smile in my entire life. (There's gotta be a better way to phrase that, I'm so sorry.)
-- Speaking of all the pork, holy crap they eat a lot of meat in Mexico. Seeing giant vats of simmering flesh and men swallowing entire animals in one sitting all episode had me craving even the vegetables I hate, which was probably a good thing considering I ate like three whole pies over the holidays (well, it's how I honor our lord).
-- And, most importantly, after watching a rerun of the Uzbekistan episode over the weekend, it was just nice to see Tony really happy about the food, people and city he's visiting. Except for that bull-fighting part, of course. Which was horrifying. Here's to a great season!

Would you drink something that looked like Ryan Seacrest's love juice? Discuss.