Copenhagen Cowboy – Season 1 Episode 2 “Vengeance Is My Name” Recap & Review

Vengeance Is My Name

Episode 2 of Copenhagen Cowboy starts with a sombre mood at the club. Cimona is gone, given we know she’s been choked out, and Andre is not happy. He questions the girls over what happened but none of them seem to know. When Andre threatens to take an axe to one of the girls’ hands, another speaks up and claims Miu is responsible. She blames Miu for putting ideas in her head.

As for Miu, she ends up spying on Rosella’s niece getting friendly with a guy called Dardan at a diner. She promises to keep their fling a secret and not tell Rosella. Back at the house, Miu ascends from the basement and looks set to confront Rosella, who happens to be with her mystic. The pair wear glasses to shield themselves from Miu, whom they liken to a “demon from the basement”.

The mystic goes on to claim Miu doesn’t bring luck and in fact, it’s linked to her blood. Apparently the blood belongs to Miu’s and she eventually calls Miu a blackbird, one that doesn’t bring happiness… but destruction.

Rosella grabs her shotgun and commands Sven to keep an eye on Miu to make sure she doesn’t run away. As for Rosella, she shows up at Andre’s club to offload her. She decides to give Miu to him but he refuses. That is, until Rosella points out that Miu is a virgin. He offers up an 80/20 split.

Andre’s men arrive to pick her up, while Sven is whipped by Rosella on all fours, called a pig and accused of sleeping with Miu. Although he shakes his head vigorously, Rosella doesn’t believe him.

Back at the club, Miu is put in front of a screen and forced into reciting a bunch of statements… until Miu points out that Dardan, is actually seeing Andre’s daughter behind his back. Andre brings his daughter into the club and questions her privately. She doesn’t deny it and in fact, promises to completely mess up Miu next time she sees him. The pair are apparently in love, prompting Andre to bring Dardan into the room. He decides the pair are going to be getting married and Dardan is forced to write a guest list. Oh, and he’s going to pay for it himself too.

The picture of Miu is released and sent out, catching the attention of the man who killed Cimona, Nicklas. As he zooms in on the picture of her, we cut back to the club again where Miu takes a pair of scissors and – alongside several other women – beat down the guard and take their chances to run away.

Miu happens across a Chinese restaurant called Dragon Palace and decides to sit and wait. She doesn’t say much but the owner, Mother Hulda, tells her the kitchen is closed. Arne, an old man by the slot machine, is encouraged to leave. As for Miu, she too is told to leave given they’ve closed. As she exits the place, a pregnant girl comes running up to the front door pleading for Mother Hulda to help. Miu overhears and confronts the owner, who’s in the back feeding her pigs, letting her know that she’s needed.

Miu lurks about as Hulda takes the girl into the back to help her give birth. Given Miu is still there, she’s told to go and fetch some towels. The baby comes out stillborn, Miu holds the babe and blows on her face, holding on to hold its hand. Suddenly, the child springs to life and begins crying. Hulda is shocked.

Miu eventually asks for a place to stay and she’s offered room number 11. In the middle of the night, Miu heads back to see Rosella, tying her wrists to the bed. When Rosella wakes up, Miu claims she was 7 when she was kidnapped by aliens. “In 30 seconds, everything will burn.” Miu says, as she lights a match and burns the house down.

The Episode Review

The slow pace continues, although the ending of this episode seems to hint that things are actually going to pick up a bit now after Miu has burned down Rosella’s house. Whether the aliens referred to here are legitimate extraterrestrials or referring to the dehumanizing term people call immigrants is to be debated.

This dreamy, surreal arthouse project is certainly unique but that doesn’t always translate to a good show. Looking at the plot, we know very little about Miu, she’s largely quiet and the supporting characters are a combination of poor and underdeveloped to largely unlikable.

There’s a lot of scope for this one to improve in the future but we’ll have to wait and see if this one does or not.