What’s Worth Watching: Tatau: Islands in the Scream

Tatau, “Episode 1” (Saturday, April 18, 10/9c, BBC America)

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, ok?”

Listen, when someone tells you that—especially before downing a hallucinogenic drink in a dark, tropical jungle—it’s really best to believe they aren’t playing. Just ask Kyle (Joe Layton) and Budgie (Theo Barklem-Biggs), Londoners on vacation in the Cook Islands who receive the ominous warning about the trippy effects of a local elixir. At the outset of this new thriller, an absinthe from Hell does some serious damage to the guys, particularly Kyle, whose hangover comes complete with visions of a dead girl nobody else can see. But is it just the ancient cocktail messing with his head? Has it triggered some sort of supernatural mojo connected to Kyle’s new Maori-inspired tattoo? Or has there really been a murder? Turns out, it’s a little bit of all of those thing, plus a twist at the end of tonight’s finale that is chilling enough to keep you coming back for seconds.

Just don’t say we didn’t warn you, OK?