Lore Season 2, Episode 4 review: The curse of the Prague Clock

Lore Season 2, Episode 4 took us to Prague. Focusing on the legend of the curse, the story didn’t quite hit the mark this time.

I went into Lore Season 2, Episode 4. The first of two episodes that aren’t based on an episode from the podcast, this was a chance to show more visually. Allow us to see the mechanisms of the clock and the beauty of the details.

While the episode certainly focused on the mechanisms, the story wasn’t the easiest to follow this time. This is one of those stories that I knew absolutely nothing going into it and I still feel like I don’t really know anything.

I like to try to focus on positives and negatives in my reviews and that’s what I’ll do with this one. Here’s a look at my thoughts on “The Prague Clock: The Curse of the Ojilo.”

Beautiful attention to details

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A lot of focus was put on the clock. Despite Lore Season 2 all being filmed in Prague, this was the only one that didn’t get to use the Prague setting. The real clock was closed for maintenance (ironic, much?) so the setting had to be done indoors. This was a set built from absolutely nothing and how beautiful it was.

You could see the detail in the gears, the disciples at the top, and the full setting of the church, of Prague, and of the time period. You can certainly see where the extra money has been spent on the series when looking at this set.

This certainly did help to bring the episode to life. You could feel like you were in the clock itself. But was it enough for the series?

This one missed the narration

So far, I’ve liked the season without narration. The method of storytelling has been different. With the first episode, I got that link to Punch and Judy and memories of the past, while the Elizabeth Bathory episode had the animation. However, Lore Season 2, Episode 4 just didn’t quite work without Aaron Mahnke narrating the episode.

It needed the extra context. While we had the narration of one of the characters, who was telling the brothers his story, this episode needed more. I feel like it would have worked better with that added atmosphere.

This could be ironic considering it’s not an episode off the podcast, but I feel that would have added the extra layer and connected it back to the audio episodes. We’d had felt like we were actually watching an episode of Lore.

The flashes just didn’t work

When the individuals touched the clock, they got flashes of the future. They saw wars, bombs, fire, and so much more. It was clearly meant to be the reason the individuals were going mad and the reason for their deaths, but it took me out of the episode.

What I’ve loved about the previous episodes is they stuck to the facts. They didn’t offer theories, except for “Hinterkaifeck” where the theories worked because it was a murder mystery. “Elizabeth Bathory” avoided the tale of vampires and “Burke and Hare” just stuck to the tale of them going from grave robbery to murder.

With the flashes of the future, we went into the theories and not the legend. Maybe someone did share that they saw images of fire and explosions, but nobody would have ever been able to go into the details of what they saw. And they all saw the exact same pictures, which just didn’t work for me.

While the costumes and the set were beautiful, this was just one of those episodes that wasn’t for me. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop watching. After all, I’m onto “Mary Webster: The Witch of Hadley” next.

What did you think of Lore Season 2, Episode 4? Did you enjoy “The Prague Clock?” Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Lore Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Amazon Prime Video now.