directed by Alex de la Iglesias
The last episode was marketed as a "series finale". At first I thought it was more of a season finale but after thinking about it some more and remembering how disappointing the 2nd and 3rd installations of The Matrix were in comparison to the original film, I would be content if this turned out to be a one off sort of deal. There were only eight episodes. There was very little narrative fat in this series.
The film has a little bit to attract everyone. There are attractive women and men who are both occasionally seen without much clothing. There are a few soap opera storylines which seem designed specifically to bring in women viewers. Those viewers who are keen on alternative or secret histories, who think that there are conspiracies carried out at the highest levels of society, and who eagerly read Dan Brown books will find much to enjoy in 30 Coins.
There's not a tremendous amount of bloodshed in most of the series but what there is is emotionally engaging--read shocking. It's not just popcorn mayhem designed to meet a quota of severed limbs. Lastly, the film has some very deliberate nods to H.P. Lovecraft-both his worldview and his fictional creations.
In the right, or rather, wrong hands, even one of these coins can give the holder great power. Napoleon was said to have had three while Hitler was believed to have had five.
So there's no telling what someone who possesses all thirty will be able to do. One thing is certain, such a person could usher in a new world order. Events that may forbode the end of the world start to happen in the small backwater Spanish town of Pedraza. 30 Coins has a small main cast which includes:
Father Vergara (Eduard Fernandez): A chain smoking pragmatic priest who is a heavyweight boxer, ex-con, and exorcist (though he doesn't like to talk about that), Vergara has been exiled to Pedraza after an exorcism in which he was involved went wrong. Or maybe he was exiled because the exorcism went right. In any event Vergara has decided or had it decided for him that the best thing to do is to lay low, stay quiet, and not admit the existence of supernatural Evil to most people. His experiences had convinced him that little good will come from doing that. People's brains and souls aren't ready for that.
She is also the object of alternating pity and scorn from the women of the town who gossip and laugh about how horny Elena must be but also take steps to ensure that none of their husbands are around Elena for too long. Elena doesn't bite her tongue in front of people. Some people like this. Some do not.
Paco (Miguel Silvestre): The town's young mayor and married co-owner of a meat packing plant, the handsome Paco would be having a midlife crisis if he were a decade older. As it is Paco definitely is of the opinion that he's wasting his time and his life in jobs and places that he doesn't need to be.
Although he's kind and struggles to verbalize his feelings, Paco puts a lot of the blame for this on his wife Merche. Paco also struggles to hide his growing attraction to Elena. None of Paco's issues, spoken or not, escape Merche's notice.
Like many people with leadership qualities, the sharp tongued Merche sometimes thinks that if she doesn't do it, it won't get done. That fact that this might be true doesn't endear to her husband Paco.
Still, Merche is NOT a stereotypical shrew. Merche is still attractive; she is often obviously pained and hurt by Paco's goo-goo eyes for Elena. From what Merche can see, she's been a good wife to Paco.
Elena is called to assist in the delivery of a calf. Paco is there as well. The town is sufficiently small that this event is apparently worthy of the mayor's attendance. But it's not a calf that Elena delivers. It's a human boy. When Paco and Elena talk to Father Vergara to get his view on whether this was an omen/supernatural event he dismisses the idea, telling them that someone must have switched out the calf when they weren't looking.
Elena asks Paco for help investigating this. Father Vergara wonders how much he should tell people. When Father Vergara asked Elena for the coin she refused to give it to him, repeating his own words dismissing the coin as nothing important. Merche wonders why doesn't Elena go get her own man to help her investigate paranormal activities in the middle of the night and stop hanging around Merche's. Merche thinks Elena wants Paco for more earthly nighttime activities.
This kicks off a story that slowly ramps up the X-Files vibe and paranormal activities. Later episodes bring in such locations as Rome, Jerusalem, Paris, and Aleppo to show how important the strange goings on in Pedraza are. We also see more of Father Vergara's hidden past. As mentioned 30 Coins has a heavy emphasis on what was left out of the Gospels and how these might change our understanding of God's message. Some of the bad guys are very well aware that they are bad guys but others honestly believe that they are doing God's work. The special effects are different than what I'm used to seeing in the normal Hollywood productions. Check this out.
