BLUE MAG

So the past few episodes of “Lost” have been pretty darn good and this begs the question: why are these episodes better than the rest? I think I have an answer or at least a theory (and everyone knows this is a show with no small shortage of theories) in the form of a name: Brian K. Vaughan.

Who? Brian K. Vaughan is a comic book writer and responsible for co-creating (along with artist Pia Guerra) “Y the Last Man” and (with artist Tony Harris) “Ex-Machina” two of the most original books being published. They’re also very similar to the high concept TV shows you’re seeing greenlit these days. “Y the Last Man” concerns itself with the adventures of a man named Yorick who wakes up one day to discover he’s the only man left alive on Earth and “Ex-Machina” is about a super hero who prevents one of the twin towers from falling on 9/11 and then runs for mayor of New York. He also helped created Marvel’s “Runaways” about a group of teenagers who discover their parents are supervillians and decide to runaway from home.

Vaughan has also been credited as “executive story editor” on the last four episodes of “Lost” and finally credited as co-writer of last night’s episode. The show even had some explicit comic book references in it when Hurley and Charlie start arguing about who’s faster: The Flash or Superman. (The answer is The Flash by the way.) If you’ve read Vaughan’s comics you know he has a talent for storytelling and for extending plotlines without frustrating his readers too much. If you’ve seen the recent “Lost” episodes you can attest to the man’s talent (especially in episodes like “The Man From Tallahassee,” “Left Behind,” and “Par Avion”.)

All that praise aside, last night’s episode wasn’t great (so maybe my theory is about as good as the one where everyone’s already dead.) Again, the problem is with the flashbacks. All the stuff on the island = awesome. All the stuff in the monastery = why aren’t we back on the island? While it was nice to see Sonya Walger (who I worked with briefly and was great on “Sleeper Cell”) I really wish they’d let the flashback structure go. I think we know all these characters well enough and they have plenty of backstory now start demonstrating character through action.

Also: did anyone else notice the woman in the picture with brother Campbell? And when the hell does Locke come back?