Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

Dracula the Series episode ten, “Damsel in Distress,” offers a lot of vampire action, but it’s really about family.

Cemetery plot: Teen brothers Chris and Max learn their mom Eileen, a traveling businesswoman, is doing business with Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula). They try to rescue her just as Lucard is putting the moves on her, but there’s a twist: Mom is a vampire! She and Lucard, with the help of a henchman, capture Uncle Gustav, so the kids mount a second rescue attempt. The kids and Gustav confront Lucard and Eileen, only for Eileen to be transformed back into a human at the last second. She was cured by the power of love (no, really).

Van d’oh!

King of the vampires: Lucard has a portrait of himself painted by none other than Vincent Van Gogh. The painting is destroyed during the final battle, which appears to cause Lucard intense physical pain.

Blood brothers: Mom Eileen works for the Pennsylvania Industrial Bank, which we’re told is making big waves in Europe. This was the reason why they moved from Philadelphia to Germany, so she could travel all over Europe while spending time with the boys more often.

Business mom.

The new Mina: During the rescue, Sophie stakes a vampire henchman by breaking part of a wooden door, and then opening the door so the broken piece stabs the vamp right in the chest. Buffy would be proud.

Stake master: It’s not specified whether Gustav is Eileen’s uncle or her brother. When someone asks is he’s her father, his answer is just, “Uh… no.”

Dungeon crawl.

Killer quotes: Gustav: “Lucard, let the young ones go.” Lucard: “What, and break up the family? I’m not a homewrecker.”

Slayer’s handbook: Gustav says he’s read stories about vampires turning back into humans through the power of love, but has never seen such a thing in action before now. Gustav is also bitten in this episode, but Sophie pours holy water on the bite, which prevents him from transforming into a vamp and keeping him out of Lucard’s influence.

“We have fun.”

Behind the screams: Eileen was played by actress Lynne Cormack, who has a long list of TV and stage acting credits. These days, she teaches weekend-long intensive acting classes and audition classes for up-and-coming actors.

The family unit.

Bite me: The Eileen character has barely been on the show, so it’s odd to have a whole episode devoted to her. This should be a big emotional story for Chris and Max, but we don’t really get that, in favor of chases, rescues and vampire fights. I’m in favor of chases, rescues and vampire fights, but I’m left with the feeling that this episode could have been more.

Next: They’re all going to laugh at you!

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