8 Things Yellowjackets Does Better Than Lost

8. The Mysticism

One of the most obvious links between Lost and Yellowjackets, plane crash aside, is both series' strange, mystical overtones. While Lost almost immediately doubled down on the "magic island" conceit (curing cancer, restoring Locke's mobility), Yellowjackets plays its cards closer to its chest. Almost every strange happening can be explained by the survivors' trauma, isolation and paranoia.

Where Lost was very much about faith and philosophy, Yellowjackets is a Lord of the Flies style metaphor for teenage hierarchy. A group of teenage girls, stranded in the middle of nowhere, forming a cannibalistic cult isn't necessarily the result of some unseen forces in the forest wilderness. It's just as easily explained as an extreme response to teenage hormones, clique mentality, starvation and isolation.

Where the island in Lost continued to have some mystical hold on each of the Oceanic Six, the Canadian wilderness is a gaping wound for the surviving Yellowjackets. It's a reminder of how close they came to savage barbarism, something they're trying and failing to suppress in their adult lives. Was it the result of teenage clique mentality or something more supernatural? It's a more compelling story than a magic island in need of a guardian.