S07.E03: The Greek Islands

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Life on the Greek islands, home to a fiercely independent and proud population, is relatively secluded, steeped in tradition, and revolves around local food, wine, close friends and family. On the island of Naxos, Bourdain heads offshore to dive to a sunken ship wreck, drink raki with the local residents, and sample cuisine fresh from the fishing boat, including octopus salad, salatouri (skate), and rofos (grouper) with olive oil and lemon. While exploring the island, he meets with politically outspoken musical group, The Stray Bitches, and travels to the mountainous village of Apeiranthos where he attends a traditional celebration in the town square.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Bourdain's blog about Naxos

[Snarklepuss]

I came away feeling like this episode was filler.  Or like Tony wanted a "working vacation".  It was basically a rehashing of the same questions to the same people multiple times.  Not up to his usual standard for sure.  I almost thought at first that there had to be a gratuitous mud wrestling scene to explain why he went there, but thankfully, no.  I almost fell asleep a couple of times and I NEVER do that with Bourdain.  Definitely one of his least inspiring episodes.  Naxos does have a lot going for it, though.  I did not hate what I saw at all, I just thought there wasn't enough of interest or that Tony was not in the mood to be creative.  Whatever.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It was basically a rehashing of the same questions to the same people multiple times.

I agree and it wasn't the first time he's done that before either. He thinks of one question and then asks that same question to anyone within earshot, sometimes more than once if he doesn't get the answer he's looking for. I remember him doing that in Okinawa last season.

Naxos looks beautiful though.

[Athena]

Yeah, I also zoned out a few times this episode. It was underwhelming. The locations were beautiful and the food looked good as usual. I liked seeing Tony cook for a bit as well. I've always wanted to go to the Greek islands myself, but if I were Tony, I wouldn't want to be "working" either. It makes for lack luster TV though. I do not think they knew where they wanted to go with the episode either. There was a bit on the economic crisis, but they also did say that the islands are almost isolated from that given the robust tourism. Not one of the most memorable episodes, but we're still early in this season.

[captain1]

I enjoyed this episode - I could have soaked up that gorgeous scenery all day.

[Scott]

On May 11, 2016 at 7:56 PM, Snarklepuss said:

I came away feeling like this episode was filler.

I've been feeling that way a lot this whole season.  Neither of the last two (Naxos and Montana) have really held my attention at all.  And while I enjoyed Manila, it really felt like it should have been a half-hour, with a lot of filler shots thrown in.