WARNING: The following contains spoilers for 30 Coins Episode 2, "Ouija," now airing on HBO.
HBO's 30 Coins does a great job at keeping the mystery behind Judas' pieces of silver in the shadows. In the opening credits, it recreates Jesus Christ's crucifixion, Judas receiving the coins for his betrayal and his suicide, but at no point does it hint at what happened to the items and who collected them, which is the premise of this show. This way audiences are kept guessing, as there are no faces to put a villainous tag to; however, as the opening two episodes unravel, it turns out the villains are a demonic cult occupying a very familiar Christian establishment.
Episode 1, "Cobwebs," opens with a man robbing a bank, but as the guards fire on him, he keeps walking through the hail of bullets. He eventually robs the safe and makes away with a coin. In the backseat of the getaway car, a priest removes the minion's chain, causing him to die, which implies he used him as a demonic foot-soldier.
It gets weirder later on when a cow gives birth to a human baby in the town of Pedraza, where Father Vergara is hiding out. The village's outcast, Antonio, later kidnaps and tries to kill the baby, deeming it an abomination. He warns about the piece of silver which Vergara has, before giving up the kid and jumping off the building. However, Antonio doesn't die; he ends up in the hospital, pleading with Vergara to do the right thing and save the town.
The second episode confirms the enemy at hand is indeed the Vatican. The priest from the prior episode makes his way to Rome and meets the Pope and his red-garbed council, admitting he's failed to get Vergara's coin. The Pope warns he must give it willingly, which frustrates the priest. However, the head of the demonic cult admits there are backup plans.
At the end of this episode, after Vergara exorcises the possessed Sole, Antonio is somehow healed and huddled in the corner of his room. He's talking to a shadow, and from the headgear, it's clearly someone from the Vatican. Antonio calls the shadow "your eminence" before it disappears, and he gives the camera a demonic look to end the episode.
It seems that Antonio's been playing Vergara all this time, and when he told the priest to do the right thing, he didn't mean to fight off evil and save Pedraza. Antonio meant he should give the coin up to the invading demonic forces.
Starring Eduard Fernández, Megan Montaner, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Macarena Gómez, Pepón Nieto and Manolo Solo, 30 Coins premieres Monday, Jan. 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.