TVSquad

(Part 2 of 7) "You gotta respect the pajama." - Sgt. Brad Colbert

At the end of this episode, I find myself less enthralled with the battle scenes we finally witnessed and more anxious to just hear what these "devil dogs" will say next. Seeing Colbert and the rest of Bravo Company get "lit up" as they rolled through Al Gharraf was impressive, yet it was still nothing new. War is in the movies and it's on TV and this was standard fare.

Thus far, Simon and Burns have stayed very true to Wright's account, and for those that have read the book, the battle descriptions hold nothing to Colbert and Person's banter. Sadly, we know war. What we don't know is the people who are fighting it. Now we do. And apparently, they think that patriotic, "I love America" songs are "straight homosexual, country music, Special Olympic gay."

Gallery: Generation Kill

The authentic language is clearly what makes this mini-series worth watching. It makes you laugh. It makes you gag. A lot of it's offensive. It's crude, jaw-dropping, and unexpected. That's why it's great.

However, it makes you stop and think too. Look at some of these guys. Espera, who makes a hugely convincing argument about his dislike for the white man. Person, who psycho-analyzes everyone about why they ended up joining the Marines in the first place. Colbert, and his anti-marriage stance. Doc Bryan and his compassion. And Godfather, with his cautious fears of his superior, Maj. Gen. James Mattis. These, and many of the other men, are smart guys. Put simply, they know their shit.

Then, they're forced to deal with complete and utter fools. Cpt. America and his stolen AK-47. Encino Man and his poor directional sense. Sixta and his complete obsession with the grooming standard. It's no surprise that Marines like Colbert and Person have turned to humor. If these guys weren't bantering about completely pointless shit, if they weren't singing re-purposed lyrics to songs like "Boys in tha Hood" and "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor," if they weren't obsessed with just getting one kill -- they'd probably go nuts under this leadership. It's a way to stay sane.

For Wright to have been embedded in a unit that was characterized by flip-flops on orders that were never followed through in the first place must have been supremely annoying. Indeed, at one point in this episode, he expressed his dislike for the situation he was in once it was realized that "We'll leave before dawn" actually means "We'll leave after the sun has risen" and "We're going around the town" actually means "We're driving straight through it." I distinctly remember, while reading the book, "why aren't more of these guys getting killed?" Granted, Wright may have sugar-coated this dismal tale for all we know (I don't think he did), but the same feeling is expressed here. How are there not more casualties yet?

For instance, how lucky were they that the narrow bridge Encino Man led them down didn't get hit? He called out a wrong turn thanks to his top-notch cartography skills and could have gotten the entire unit killed. Then he blamed Brad for leading them astray! What held true in The Wire, holds true here: shit rolls downhill.

More thoughts...

• Pappy and Reyes on the sniper and scope - very cool to watch.
• Classic quotes: "Semper Gumby - always flexible" and "Don't pet a burning dog."
• Baptista speaks Portuguese; not Spanish. Hilarious.
• I loved when Person cleaned himself up for the "Hadji hotties" by taking off his helmet and putting on the Elvis shades.
• Combat shits!
• Wright bought his own vest on eBay. Considering the fact that they're short on things as obvious as batteries, that was probably a genius move.
• As much of a tool as Lilley is, only being concerned with what good camcorder footage he can shoot, I was glad to see him turn it off as they rolled by the little girl with her feet blown off. There are some things that don't need to be remembered.
• Wars have traffic jams. Of course.
• Encino Man's moustache logic: there was fear of Iraqi unit infiltration, so Marines growing moustaches was a way of immediate recognition of a friendly. Now that they've been ordered to shave them off, anyone with a moustache could be an Iraqi... but you don't need to shave them off tonight. What?? Huh? Again... how are people surviving with guys like that in charge? Fick's face after that bit was priceless.
• "Put your cock to the ground as the tanks roll by! It's feels f*ckin' great!" Person is awesome.

As the episode ended, Person and Colbert were tasked with a search and rescue mission. Out there, in the dark, some officer had gone out for a relaxing combat dump and got lost. Knowing that we're still fighting a war, led by people who can't go and take a crap in the middle of night and find the way back to their tent, scares the hell outta me.