WARNING: The following contains spoilers for 30 Coins Episode 4, "Memories," now airing on HBO.
HBO's 30 Coins has given little insight into Father Vergara, apart from a botched exorcism years ago that killed a young Italian named Giacomo. Viewers are led to believe that incident is why he came to the small Spanish town of Pedraza after spending time in prison, but bit by bit, it becomes clear it has more to do with him and a mysterious coin that a sinister cult wants.
Now, in "Memories" a bit more backstory about the disenfranchised priest is revealed, and it's a lot scarier than one might've imagined.
Flashbacks reveal a younger Vergara in '90s Rome during his time at Catholic seminary school, acting out against teachers like Lombardi. He's shown not wanting to accept the bible but question it. Vergara claims he's acting this way so he can better understand Satan, which makes teachers dislike him. Eventually, his classmate and close friend, Fabio Santoro, takes him and Sandro to a warehouse where a mysterious man is chained up.
After they arrive, they're shocked to learn the man claims he's possessed. He tells them evil is part of God's plan, so in a sense, God is the Devil. It's the kind of conversation that fits the paradoxes Vergara's thinking about, but when an overwhelmed Sandro tries to leave, the possessed man magically sets him on fire. Vergara puts his buddy out, but Fabio's entranced as the man opens a door to Satan. Vergara refuses to enter, watching as the hot blue light seemingly incinerates Fabio.
Years later, Vergara takes Sandro to Jerusalem where he sees Fabio, but after confronting the man they thought went missing, Fabio doesn't recognize his former friend. Vergara's interest is further piqued when he sees Fabio get into a car with other shady priests, not realizing this is the cult from their early years. These events broke Vergara, and as he meets Sandro in the present, Sandro says he should have stayed hidden. Sandro's shielded by the evil souls in a Rome prison, teaching the good word and boxing with inmates, but Vergara admits after his experiences in Pedraza, he can't stay in hiding anymore.
What's more troubling, though, is when Vergara got sucked into the mystical mirror in Episode 3, he saw Fabio with the cult and believes he's helping bring about the end of days. Sandro's just as scared, still haunted by their experience with the demon, and this leads Vergara to meet with the Pope at the Vatican after an older, more patient Lombardi advised him about the war to come.
Lombardi makes it clear the coin's the least of Vergara's worries because, for some reason, the cult sees him as a pawn -- undoubtedly because Fabio might have told them about him. All of this then comes to a head when the Pope reveals to Vergara that he has a team working to stop these fanatics and introduces his chief Cardinal: Fabio. The episode ends there, but Vergara's left stunned, not knowing who to believe, what Fabio's endgame is or who's inside his body.