HBO’s scariest show, 30 Coins, is perfect Halloween viewing

polygon.com:

My pitch to you is simple: There is only one show with a boxing ex-convict priest performing exorcisms, and you should be watching it.

30 Coins’ premise is straightforward enough. The HBO Europe mystery series follows Father Vergara (Eduard Fernández), who recently relocated to the small Spanish town of Pedraza as he tries to move on from an exorcism gone wrong. Before too long, weird paranormal shit starts happening — like a human baby born from a cow — and try as he might to avoid it all, Vergara is pulled into figuring out just what the hell is going on. And though he is more keen to play the skeptic, it all seems to relate back to a mysterious silver coin he owns, making it impossible for him to ignore what’s happening.

If you’re thinking to yourself, Wow — the title and a mysterious silver coin make me think that maybe this is a Judas connection, you’re in luck. 30 Coins’ captivating opening credits sequence minces no words and pulls no punches in clarifying the stakes of this supernatural mystery.

This all paints a picture of a show that could skew too hokey or too big, or even simply rest on its laurels — but I will reiterate that we’re dealing with a boxing, ex-convict priest who is fighting demonic forces through monster-of-the-week setups. From the jump, 30 Coins proves its bona fides: The cold open shows a gunman nonchalantly shrugging off bullets as he robs a bank, only to retire to the safety of the back of a luxury car, nestled next to a mysterious priest. The sequence is taut and intriguing, not out of pace with some of the best action thrillers out there. And 30 Coins continues from that point, always feeling smarter than it has to be, and always ready to move on to the next beguiling mystery (and