Is Copenhagen Cowboy: The Sequel of Too Old to Die Young? Let’s Find Out
Nicolas Winding Refn’s new TV series, Copenhagen Cowboy, recently made its debut on Netflix. The series, which we already talked about in our review, is divided into six episodes and tells of the young Miu’s neo-noir odyssey in the criminal underground of Copenhagen. Between criminal gangs and drug trafficking, violence and kung fu, Copenhagen Cowboy is also, however, a journey steeped in mystery, spirituality and the supernatural, elements that become particularly evident in the second part of the work, which culminates in an enigmatic finale open (here you can find an analysis of the series).
Is Copenhagen Cowboy: The Sequel of Too Old to Die Young?
As if that weren’t enough, some clues also allow us to glimpse a much broader underlying mythology, which borders on science fiction and, above all, seems to trace a common thread that unites Copenhagen Cowboy to the other TV series created by the talented Danish director, Too Old to Die Young, distributed on Amazon Prime in 2019. Although it is one of the most audacious and ingenious works of the new millennium, Refn’s first TV series failed to achieve the desired rating success, and unfortunately faced a premature cancellation. But maybe, the story isn’t over yet: what if Copenhagen Cowboy was the sequel to Too Old to Die Young?
The Origins of Miu
Of the origins of Miu, the petite heroine in a blue overall played by Angela Bundalovic, we initially know nothing, except for the fact that, by all accounts, the girl is an authentic human lucky charm, capable of propitiating almost impossible events. In the course of the series, however, we manage to grasp some clues, which turn out to be increasingly bizarre. In the second episode, it is Miu herself who provides us with a first piece: “When I was seven years old, I was abducted by aliens” she reveals, before setting fire to Rosella’s house. What followed that traumatic event, however, is unknown even to the protagonist herself, who knows only that she was transported to Europe years later by the criminal boss Miroslav, who manages the traffic in and out of any kind of illegal product.
Later, in the fifth episode, Miu interrogates Miroslav to find out once and for all what happened between the alien abduction and his arrival in Denmark. “You appeared – replies to the boss – suddenly: you were a little girl. Birds flew over you waiting for you to die so they could eat you, but you didn’t die. Your skin was as white as snow. You were freezing, you weren’t warm like humans. No newborn could survive alone under such snow. We didn’t believe you were human. Then there was a woman: she said she was your mother, but it wasn’t true. I knew her well. She started breastfeeding her, and it killed her. I don’t know what you are or what you’re capable of, but the people around you die, or get a new life from you.” As Miroslav speaks, we see Miu moving in the darkness, guided like a puppet by invisible strings of neon, red and blue light.
Miu’s Powers
Miu received her powers from aliens, who subsequently brought her back to earth to fulfill a mission: to purify Copenhagen of evil and corruption. While not entirely human – as Miroslav observes with awe and deference – the young heroine is not alien either. Miu herself clarified it shortly after, reiterating that she still has human features and that she is a woman. After all, the protagonist remembers well that she was kidnapped at the age of seven, and that she comes from our planet. Apparently, you Miu is a hybrid, a “mutation”, a being half human and half alien.
During the six episodes, Refn never shows us his mysterious captors, but rather explicitly identifies them with the flashing in the dark of two flashes of blue and red light, an element that gives them decidedly mystical and incorporeal traits. It is from these aliens that all of Miu’s supernatural powers come: during the course of the series, we discover that the protagonist can perform authentic miracles, such as curing the sick and seeing the spirits of the dead. Even her fighting skills have the same origin: it is no coincidence that during her duel against Mr. Chiang, the neon beams become visible again, which seem to connect the protagonist’s arms and legs directly with the sky.
Wait… Did You Say “Aliens”?
The eruption of the science-fiction element into a story like that of Copenhagen Cowboy can certainly leave you amazed, but in hindsight, it is by no means the first time that aliens have made their appearance in Refn’s works. One of the most enigmatic scenes of Too Old to Die Young is undoubtedly the one that follows the brutal killing of the protagonist, Martin (Miles Teller), at the hands of the Mexican criminal Jesus. After the echo of a heartbreaking cry, we see some mysterious entities observe the scene. Curiously, also in this case their appearance is preceded by two beams of red and blue light, which flash in the dark. Shortly thereafter, the same entities manifest themselves in a dream to Diana (Jena Malone), the new-age social worker and healer who secretly guided Viggo and Martin in their crusade against pedophiles and criminals.
It was these creatures who communicated with her and identified each time the victims to be eliminated, to cleanse the world of depravity. In short, in the noir-tinged narrative universe of the Danish director, aliens are benign entities that seek to influence human affairs and direct them toward justice. But are we sure that even in that case they were extraterrestrials? The definitive confirmation comes to us from the final episode of the series, in which we are presented with an unusual piece of news. Apparently, a bizarre “tablet-shaped spaceship” was sighted in the skies over California: the encounter represented an authentic ecstatic experience for Commander Scott, who continues to talk non-stop about how much the contemplation of the UFO was pleasant and relaxing. After a brief sympathetic communication, the commander reports that he is certain that the aliens are here because they want to propitiate peace and harmony on Earth. Diana watches TV and smiles, revealing she already knows about it.
Is Miu Martin’s Heir?
In Too Old to Die Young, the aliens’ plan is momentarily thwarted by the brutal killing of Martin at the hands of Jesus, who is in turn led by the High Priestess of Death, Yaritza. In her dream, however, Diana receives a mysterious vision that comforts her: apparently, the forces of good have already prepared a plan B to continue their crusade on Earth. Is it possible that our Miu is the new heroine sent into the world by aliens immediately after Martin’s killing? In light of the connections between the two series, the hypothesis seems more than plausible.
In the latest episode of Too Old to Die Young, Diana witnesses the alien sighting on TV, and grins hysterically when a blasphemous “opinionist puppet”, Monkey Puppet, scoffs at the news and invites viewers to ignore it and let the planet burn. Shortly afterward, before finally taking leave of the spectators, Diana, as if in a trance, launches a sinister prophecy that intertwines spirituality and politics: things will degenerate again until racism, ignorance and violence will be everywhere, and even the camps will return to concentration.
However, not everything will be lost over time, the forces of good will redeem themselves, and “they will awaken the true fury of the world” with the advent of a “new mutation”, which will arouse “a wave of blood and silence”. That day will be proclaimed “the dawn of innocence”. And if this “new mutation” was Miu, the first human-alien hybrid? Apparently, with Copenhagen Cowboy, Refn seems to continue the “cosmic story” that started in the previous show…
To the Giants!
Another point of conjunction between Too Old to Die Young and Copenhagen Cowboy seems to be represented by the appearance, in both shows, of the famous video game developer Hideo Kojima, father of the Metal Gear Solid saga and the recent multimedia phenomenon Death Stranding. Of course, it’s nothing new that Refn and Kojima are good friends and share a common artistic path (recently explored in the “Brain Structure” podcast on Spotify), but the Japanese artist’s final cameo seems to reveal the existence of a connection between the two series also from an exquisitely narrative point of view.
In the fourth episode of Too Old to Die Young, Kojima appeared in a completely silent scene, in the role of a prominent criminal of the Los Angeles Yakuza. With an elegant black dress, and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, his character performed the bloody Japanese ritual of Yubitsume, which consists of amputating the little finger of a criminal with a katana, to purify him of his evil deeds.
At the end of Copenhagen Cowboy, Kojima refers to Miroslav and Denmark with the expression “up in the North” (well compatible with a geographical location in Los Angeles), and sports the same outfit seen in Too Old to Die Young, looks otherwise unusual for the Japanese developer. In all likelihood, therefore, Hideo Kojima could play the same character in both TV series. A character who would be in contact with the Giants, a new group of otherworldly entities, capable of keeping up with the aliens and Miu. Now we just have to wait for news of a second season of Copenhagen Cowboy or a new artistic project by the talented Danish director…
Director’s Confirmation
In reconstructing the common mythology between Too Old to Die Young and Copenhagen Cowboy we have so far used the conditional, but what we have exposed to you in this article is something more than a simple theory. During the world premiere screening at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, it was Nicolas Winding Refn himself who addressed the issue on the sidelines of the screening, answering questions from some fans. With the usual openness that distinguishes him, the Danish director defined Copenhagen Cowboy as a “narrative sequel to Too Old to Die Young“, and confirmed to us that the aliens seen in the two series are the same entities. So, while waiting to know how this bizarre “NWR Cinematic Universe” will continue, it’s better to catch up – or review! – soon the excellent Amazon Prime series that precedes Copenhagen Cowboy.
