nice final episode.

Not what I was expecting, but that was a fantastic last episode. Man, David Simon can write.

Enjoyed the voice-over during the credits. Anyone know the context?

Great show. Easily in my top five of all-time (and tons better than Band of Brothers, IMO). Hope the DVD packs in some worthwhile extras.

Highlights of this ep:

When Patterson decks Encino Man

The sniper sequence and Scribe explaining his "maneuver"

Pretty much every scene James Ransome (driver "Ray") was in (in the entire season, in fact...of all the great acting on the show, his was best, IMO).

Pretty much every scene John Huertas (Espera) was in...glad he got the bulk of great dialogue in this ep.

Pretty much every scene the Doc, Fick and Trombley characters were in.

Loved too that Ferrando wasn't painted in stereotypical strokes. The moment at the end with Scribe was brilliant in illustrating "Godfather's" "tolerance" of Capt. America by comparing his actions with Fick's. Credit to Tergesen (who was oddly underused, I think) for pulling off that look of recognition...sort of an"Oh, yeah, that makes sense" look.

Brilliant, brilliant show. If I taught U.S. History instead of English, I'd spend a week showing Generation Kill to my students. Nothing better out there on the war in Iraq or what life in the military is like in a combat zone.

I stopped reading after that...Generation Kill was not even close to the level of Band of Brothers. It was good - but they are on completely different levels with BoB on top by a mile.

Great last episode.

What's next for David Simon/Ed Burns?

You stopped reading my critique of the last ep. because I expressed an opinion that GK is better than BoB?

Anyway, I enjoyed BoB, but it lacked grittiness to me. It looked a little too polished, too Hollywood-backlot at times. And Colin Hanks just ruined the illusion for me whenever he was on screen.

IMO, GK's dialogue was sharper, the themes better illustrated, the horrors of combat better and more realistically depicted.

And while I did enjoy Damian Lewis's depiction of Winters in BoB, I wasn't as captivated by his performance as I was with Skarsgard's and Sands'.

i believe that HBO has them tapped to do a series based on the film of "the departed"

Tygan, just curious why you feel BoB is so much better?

I think both series are absolutely amazing in the writing, directing, cinematography and acting.

Credit to Evan Wright for giving Simon & Burns such amazing material to work with. Credit to Simon & Burns for delivering such a quality product and doing Evan's work such justice. I can't wait to see what they give us next. Those guys could do a series on paint drying and I'd watch.

Update:
From Wikipedia (also listed in his IMDB):
"Simon is collaborating with Eric Overmyer again on Treme,[47] a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans.[34] Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans and Simon believes his experience will be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories.[34] Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series.[48] The show will focus on a working class neighborhood and will be smaller in scope than The Wire.[43][34] HBO have commissioned a pilot episode of the series but it has not received a "green-light".[43]

Treme is named after a particular New Orleans neighborhood that is home to many of the city's musicians.[47] Simon expects to film the pilot episode of the series in 2008 and if the series is green lighted it will continue filming in 2009.[49] Simon has stated that the series will explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.[49] One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant.[48] The series will film on location and would potentially provide a boost to the New Orleans economy.[49] Simon expects that casting will mirror that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible.[48] The Wire star Wendell Pierce is attached to star in the series.[50]

Simon has written a teleplay about bluesman Muddy Waters that has not been produced.[4] He has mentioned plans to write another book; potentially about the rise of drug use in the 1950s and 1970s.[5] Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that someday he plans to write another book.[6] "At some point I'm going to put down this crack pipe of television and go back and do another book or something," says Simon.[6] Simon continues to work as a freelance journalist and author, writing for The Washington Post, The New Republic, and Details magazine.[28]"

I enjoyed BoB more for the following reasons -

1 - the interviews with the actual individuals from the Airborne division added more credibility to the series and really made it hit home that these guys experienced it all first hand. While Generation Kill had Reyes playing himself - the whole thing was based off the writings of a guy who works for Rolling Stone magazine....I liked the perspective from the lower ranks of the military - but would have liked to have more insight into the meetings with the higher ranking officers...who were generally portrayed as moronic throughout GK. Fick was the only officer who was supposedly competent in all of First Recon, which I find difficult to believe.

2 - Just a personal preference on time period....the guys in BoB signed up because they wanted to serve their country and came from all walks of life. As demonstrated in this final episode, many of the guys in First Recon joined the marines for much different reasons.

And as for the complaint about Colin Hanks...he was in only one episode of BoB.

That sums up my assessment of the show. I liked how it ended just like The Wire, left wide open and showing that life goes on no matter what you do.

As for comparing to BoB, I thought BoB was a little glossy, too shiny as it were. GK was much grittier and more raw. I also feel my opinion is slanted a bit, since I know Marines just like these guys and can identify with it and them in that sense. BoB appeals more to my father and a generation before him, and he knew a lot of WWII guys (even though he was born in 1957, he knew a lot of guys, due to his military career and a lot of people he worked with in the lawn mower industry), so he identifies more with them then this bunch. This is by far, in my opinion, the second best overall mini-series HBO has done (The Corner, also by Simon & Burns, being #1) and the best military based mini-series. I would love to see more, but all good things must come to an end.

Wanted to bump this one, since the DVD was announced by HBO for December 16th.

My apologies if this was mentioned up-thread.

The book One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer has been on my Amazon wishlist for about a year. Noticed it on clearance at Broders today for $4.99, snatched it up, then soon discovered that it's written by Nate Fick. Nice surprise considering how much I enjoyed how he was portrayed on the show.

In store or online? My local Borders was still regular price and I don't find it online for that price either. Nice deal -- for you, anyway!!

I didn't realize until this episode's credits that (Fruity) Rudy was playing himself in this miniseries. I was a little surprised when I first saw him that they found somebody who looked so much like the real Rudy (based on the pictures in the book). Guess that explains it.

I was really impressed at how well Simon/Burns adapted the book. There were a few scenes in the mini series that I had deja vu while watching, thinking I'd seen them in a previous episode. Turns out it was so well done I was just remember the scene from the book and it was exactly how I had pictured it.

In store at their Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., location.

I agree that the dialogue in GK was much better than BB. I love how there would be full conversations going on in the background about race, stereotypes, putting people down. Gave the feeling you were there.

TimeandTide is the book good?

Ready this right now, and I gotta say it's brilliant! Got Generation Kill waiting on the bookshelf for when I have finished this.

Thanks to a gift card from pops, I also have it on my book self waiting for me. I also got recommended Slaughterhouse Five when I put Generation Kill in the cart, so I got that too.

Watched the last episode and was kinda glad that it ended rather low-key but also wanted them to have one last huge battle.
I was trying to think where they filmed this and then say the credits and it said it was filmed in South Africa and surrounding areas. Kinda surprising.
Just got to bit in "One Bullet Away" where he first meets Brad Colbert and Rudy Reyes.
In regards to Reyes, really good that he is playing himself in the show and that he made it out alright.

Haven't read it yet, but it got a lot of great buzz upon its release. Slogging through books for work right now so no time for the fun stuff.

I'm a huge fan of the Wire, so I DVR'd this show, and have been catching up. I'm two episodes from the end, and I think it's a fantastic show.

I haven't read this entire thread so that I can avoid spoilers, but have a question.

What's the deal with avoiding the Charms candy, and only eating the Skittles?

I haven't read the book, but Wright goes into this in the Rolling Stone short stories on the unit. Here's a passage from the first set of articles (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...killer_elite):