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Watch the Emotional First Clip from the Final Season of 'Parts Unknown'

W. Kamau Bell remembers his unforgettable trip to Kenya in our first look at the show since Bourdain's death.
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US
Screengrab via CNN

After Anthony Bourdain died in the midst of filming Parts Unknown, CNN announced it would still air its final season, making do with the footage it had before the star's tragic suicide. Now, ahead of the season premiere on Sunday, we finally have a first emotional look at what's to come.

The brief clip gives us a glimpse at the show's first episode, in which Bourdain takes United Shades of America host W. Kamau Bell on a trip to Nairobi, Kenya. But rather than a teaser of their trip together, the clip focuses on Bell as he reflects on what it was like to work with a man who "made some of the best television in the history of television." It's also accompanied by footage from their time speaking with locals, ambling through a street market, and of course, drinking.

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It's the only episode Bourdain recorded voiceovers for—the remaining five will reportedly rely on narration from the show's directors and producers, potentially paired with dialogue the host recorded on location. And while this clip offers a bit of Bourdain's last monologue, it also captures one particularly powerful unscripted exchange the two had while looking out at a few wild giraffes—a painful reminder of how much the host loved what he did.

"As soon as the cameras turn off, the crew will be sitting around, we’ll be having a cocktail—I fucking pinch myself," Bourdain says to Bell. "I cannot fucking believe that I get to do this."

The final season of Parts Unknown premieres September 23 at 9 PM ET on CNN, with an upcoming documentary slated to follow sometime in 2019.

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