Copenhagen Cowboy – Season 1 Episode 4 “From Mr Chiang With Love” Recap & Review

From Mr Chiang With Love

Episode 4 of Copenhagen Cowboy starts with us back at Nicklas’ estate as Miu begins wandering the grounds. She’s determined to figure out what Cimona’s spirit is doing there. By the lake, she sees visions of Cimona drowning and then a couple of unnerving segments featuring Nicklas watching her. Miu realizes that Nicklas is responsible for her death. He gives her 10 seconds to run… and run she does.

That rotating camera is back and Nicklas begins chasing her through the estate , straight into the pig pen. Miu gets the jump on him and knocks Nicklas down. Composing himself, Nicklas continues to stalk toward Miu, who stands warily watching him. The pair fight but Miu makes swift work of him, knocking the guy down into the pig pen and constantly besting him in combat. Eventually she kicks him in the head and knocks him out. While he’s downed, the pigs surround him.

Miu walks away, diminishing any threat this man may have posed before this episode, and finds herself confronted by Mr Chiang’s men just outside the estate. Chiang wants to see her and she’s forced to follow.

At the fight club, Chiang is surrounded by women. He has her work the same magic as before, touching his temples and getting rid of his migraine. Miu tries to bargain with Chiang, suggesting that in return for removing his pain (which she does very effectively) she wants him to return Hulda’s daughter to her mother.

Chiang refuses, at least until Miu offers herself up as collateral with the promise of him doing whatever he wants. However, there’s no negotiations… until Miu threatens him with putting the proverbial nails back in his head and causing his migraines to return. Chiang wavers a little offering to make the exchange but only if Miu can pay off a debt in 7 days. If she can do that, they have a deal. After, Miu promises Hulda that everything will be good again soon.

Miu shows up to see a lawyer, Miroslav, the same one who happens to be the defence for several of the immigrants who killed Andre’s men. She’s told to head back the following day, but instead Miu waits patiently outside his office for him to be done. When he fins out that Miu is a “lucky coin”, he agrees to meet her in the dead of the night.

These two have ties going way back it seems, and Miu asks him for a favour. Specifically, a job and a place to stay. Miu also claims she’s no longer a lucky coin. The lawyer agrees to give her a job, given she owes him, but not a place to stay. She wants an illegal job that’s high pay, something that can, of course, help to pay back Chiang’s debt that’s now over her head.

Miu is shown to his Import/Export business, where Polixen and Bjarke are there to help and take over. Miu is going to be given the role of sales and is quickly given a burner phone too, which she must keep on her all the time. Danny is the one who’s apparently going to be showing her the ropes and subsequently paying her.

In the middle of the night, Miu is confronted by Chiang’s men, who warns that time is running out for her. However, she meets with Danny first who gives her the instructions on how this works between them. When Miu gets a customer, Danny will give her a key. She’ll come down and take what she needs in the bag and then put it back, then go to the customer. She’s under strict instructions not to take the bag with her.

Miu eventually makes it to her contact, taking out a trio of girls who try to stop her with a Stanley knife. She hands over the gear and makes the exchange just as promised. Danny sees great promise in her and has big plans himself to rise up to the top himself. That doesn’t seem like the same fate for Miu though, who’s dead-set on saving Hulda from the tyrannical grip that Chiang has over her.

Speaking of horrible fates, Nicklas is still alive, barely. He’s been mauled by the pigs and it seems his body will never be the same. His penis has been eaten by the pigs so he’ll need a prosthetic. Naturally, Nicklas’ father has big plans for this. He wants to create the “ultimate resurrection” for him.

The Episode Review

It’s still confusing to see how Nicklas is actually going to feed into the grand scheme of this story. So far he’s had one run-in with Miu and she’s easily dispatched him without even breaking a sweat. It completely undermines any sort of threat he had leading up to this chapter, and it seems Miu has got her revenge in her bid to try and honour Cimona’s memory. So where now?

The series still hasn’t told us much about Miu, although we can piece together that she has ties with a lawyer called Miroslav because of something that occurred between them in the past. Her story has been somewhat underwhelming if I’m honest, because this late in the game it’s basically Miu moving between places, experiencing the underbelly of Denmark without much rhyme or reason.

While the artistry can certainly be commended, and there’s a lot of interesting camera work and unusual visual motifs, when it comes to the core story, this one’s definitely lacking a spark.