That attitude proves a welcome counterweight to Baer’s consummate, enthusiastic tourist. He totes a still camera, is caught in b-roll footage placing himself in the middle of everyday experiences (like kids playing soccer) to take photos, and gives wide-eyed “can you believe this tiny cab!” looks to the camera. Sure, he is a tourist, and this show, it seems, is for people who would likely be disgorged into the city from one of those white-elephant cruise ship clogging Havana’s harbor. But Baer’s infectious affability, normally an asset, feels wrong here. Havana is not a normal destination; it requires a more delicate touch that Baer either misses or doesn’t have.

To be fair, he acknowledges his insight and experience are limited after spending only four days in Cuba’s capital. And while presenting a more measured view of the city might have been outside the scope of what he wanted to (or could) accomplish, it does sneak in. In the program’s last moments, Baer looks out over the city from a rooftop jazz gig and reflects on the “paradox” of contemporary Havana: emerging-middle-class Cubans listen to jazz as an ocean liner chugs into view while poorer residents are stuffed into crumbling and overcrowded buildings below. But Weekend in Havana isn’t framed around that paradox. Rather, it’s a conclusion, of sorts, that feels superficial. There are some allusions throughout about the realities of everyday Cubans, but Baer is so invested in hitting Havana’s high points that he gives those very real issues — food shortages, climate-change-related sea-level rise, government repression — only passing glances. (There is no mention that the influx of American tourists might be exacerbating those problems.)

Context is important in any meaningful engagement with a place. That’s especially true for Cuba, where the population still struggles under the Communist regime. Yet this reality plays a far too limited role in Weekend in Havana, which undercuts Baer’s goals for his Cuban dispatch. But, worse, the omission does little to encourage Americans to be better, more conscientious visitors and not just one more tourist simply passing through.