ÉPISODE: Along with the rest of the First Marine Division, Bravo busts north towards Nasiriyah, where their sister company Alpha gets its first taste of combat in a skirmish with Iraqi forces at a bridge outside the city. Prompted by an anxious Major General Mattis, Ferrando orders Bravo to cross the Euphrates the next night, but they end up entering Nasiriyah by day, driving through the city with minimal gunfire, save for an AK-47 assault by Platoon 3 leader "Captain America" McGraw on an empty car. Heading north to Mesopotamia -the "Cradle of Civilization"- "Bravo continues to lag behind other companies, partly because of a wrong turn ordered by its commander, Cpt. "Encino Man" Schwetje, who blames it on Colbert. Chomping at the bit while others are carrying the fight, the platoon finally gets "lit up" in a violent but successful skirmish in Al Gharraf, during which Trombley scores his first kill. Elated and relatively unscathed, the platoon celebrates its triumph, despite Sgt. Maj. Sixta's refrain to "maintain the grooming standard" and shave off all mustaches. Reflecting on the day's successes, Ferrando admits his biggest fear isn't fighting the Iraqis, but doing something his general won't like. For one night, he'll have no such fear.

Generation Kill follows the highly trained Marines of First Recon Battalion through the first 40 days of the Iraq war. The seven-part miniseries portrays the true story of the young Marines' experience at the tip of the spear of the American invasion, as they contend with equipment shortages, incompetent commanding officers, ever evolving Rules of Engagement and an unclear strategy. 'Generation Kill' is based on the award-winning book by Evan Wright, who was embedded with First Recon and originally reported the story in a series of articles for Rolling Stone. The series also benefited greatly from the presence of two of the real-life Marines it depicts - Sgt. Eric Kocher and Cpl. Jeffrey Carisalez - who served as consultants. A third First Recon Marine, Sgt. Rudy Reyes, appears in the miniseries, portraying himself.

Alexander Skarsgård

Sgt. Brad "Iceman" Colbert

James Ransone

Cpl. Josh Ray Person

Lee Tergesen

Evan "Scribe" Wright

Stark Sands

Lt. Nathaniel Fick

Pawel Szajda

Cpl. Walt Hasser

Kellan Lutz

Cpl. Jason Lilley

Eric Ladin

Cpl. James Chaffin

Neal Jones

Sgt. Maj. John Sixta

Michael Kelly

Captain Bryan Patterson

Owain Yeoman

Sgt. Eric Kocher