First Cow Ending Explained [SPOILER!]

SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!

Two travelers, on the run from a band of vengeful hunters in the 1820s Northwest, dream of striking it rich — but their tenuous plan to make their fortune on the frontier comes to rely on the secret use of a landowner’s prized dairy cow.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First Cow Plot Summary and Synopsis

In present day, a woman walking her dog on the riverside discovers two skeletons lying together in a shallow grave.

In 1820, Otis “Cookie” Figowitz is a quiet chef traveling in Oregon Country with a group of loud and aggressive fur trappers who harass Cookie for not bringing them enough food while foraging. One night, he comes across King-Lu, a Chinese immigrant on the run for killing a Russian man. Cookie allows Lu to hide in his tent for the night and watches him escape across the river the next day.

Cookie and Lu later reunite and spend several days bonding at Lu’s shack. Lu talks about his past traveling the world and his desire to own a farm. Cookie talks about his ambition to one day open either a bakery or a hotel in San Francisco. Cookie learns of the first milk cow in the region, owned by the Chief Factor, a wealthy English man with the only proper house in the settlement. The cow’s mate and calf died on its journey to Oregon, making it the only cow. Cookie reminisces about his days as a baker’s assistant in Boston and tells Lu that he could use some of the cow’s milk to make baked goods. They sneak onto the Chief Factor’s property at night, Cookie milking the cow and Lu keeping watch from a tree. They manage to get enough milk to bake a batch of biscuits without being caught. While Cookie is unsatisfied with the result, wishing it could be sweeter, Lu points out that it tastes better than any food the outpost has and that it could easily sell for a lot of money.

They take their biscuits to the market and offer to sell them. When asked how they’re made, Lu claims it’s a “Chinese secret.” The biscuits become popular instantly and they sell out their first batch within minutes. In the days that follow, lines begin to form for people to try their biscuits.

One day, they are asked to reserve a biscuit for the Chief Factor, who has become aware of their business and is intrigued. The Chief Factor enjoys it greatly and asks Cookie to bake a clafoutis for an upcoming meeting he has with a local captain and a Native American chief. At the meeting, the Chief Factor offers tea with cream to the captain, remarking that despite the high quality breed of his milk cow, it is producing very little milk, which puts both Cookie and Lu on edge. He takes the captain, the chief, Cookie and Lu to see the cow, which recognizes Cookie and nuzzles him. After this meeting, Cookie wants to end the business and move on with Lu, but Lu wants to sell one more batch of biscuits, saying that they just need a little more money. Cookie reluctantly agrees and they go back the next night to milk the cow one more time.

A man living inside the Chief Factor’s estate happens to be outside that night. Lu, seeing him, attempts to signal to Cookie, but the branch he is leaning on snaps. Cookie leaves the cow, knocking over the milk in the process, and goes to check on Lu. The Chief Factor’s man hears the noise and alerts everyone in the house, believing they are under attack. Cookie and Lu run off. The Chief Factor realizes that Cookie and Lu are stealing the cow’s milk and says he intends to kill them. A hunt ensues; the Chief Factor and his men corner Cookie and Lu at a cliff by a river. Lu jumps in the river and swims away while Cookie instead hides in nearby bushes. Cookie tries to run away after the Chief Factor’s men leave but falls down a hill and sustains a head injury. He wakes up in a shack owned by a Native American couple, saying that he needs to find his friend.

Meanwhile, Lu hires a man who owns a canoe to take him downstream. He eventually returns to the shack, planning to retrieve the money from the tree in which they have concealed it. He hides after seeing the Chief Factor’s men arrive at the shack and destroy it. After they leave, he takes the money from the tree. Cookie regains his strength and returns to the shack. He walks by the cow, now surrounded by a fence. Unbeknownst to him, the man who heard them before begins to follow Cookie, carrying a gun. Lu and Cookie reunite at the shack, and Lu suggests they catch a ride on the nearest boat going south. Cookie, still suffering from his injury, has difficulty keeping up with Lu.

First Cow Ending

Eventually Cookie lies down, his injury getting worse. Lu lies down beside him, saying that they will be safe there, unaware that they are being tracked.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).