Many episodes were aired out of order. This was intended to be the second episode of the series.
Ignacio Serricchio, who plays Chef Alejandro, had a recurring role on "Bones" (2005) as intern Dr. Rodolfo Fuentes
All the vampire myths are battle tactics.
Crossing running water during a battle turns an army into a small, unmanoeuvrable target.
Staying inside a fortress during the day keeps everyone safe, and enables nighttime raids on the superior force.
Appearing out of, and disappearing into fog is just how a good ambush works.
Not entering a place uninvited was because invited guests are afforded protections while in the enemies territory (think parley in Pirates of the Caribbean).
And drinking blood is just scary.
The real Vlad Dracula is far more impressive than the fictional version, or Charlemagne.
Dracula is actually a title, and means "son of the Dragon", from his father's title Dracul, meaning "Dragon". It is a title given bestowed by the Church, and means "defender of the faith".
To this day Vlad Dracula is considered a hero for his defence of his country, and a lot of Europe, against the might of the Ottoman empire. Despite his ferocious reputation, he was described as a fair and just ruler.
Dracula was imprisoned by the Ottoman Sultan at the age of 11, and left captivity a well educated, trained warrior.
His first reign as Voivode (Prince) began when he was just 16, with the backing of his former captors.
2 months later he was dethroned and exiled by Hungarian forces. He returned from 8 years in exile with an alliance with Hungary.
Vlad Dracula's terrifying actions were all tactical moves, with the sole goal of protecting his people.
His army was a fraction of the size of the Ottoman Empire's, and he was a young ruler surrounded by the men who had murdered his father and brother, so he had to get creative:
The first people he had impaled were the men who had helped tear the country apart, murdered his family, and had already deposed and exiled him once. (He probably did use their blood as a dipping sauce, but just to make his point.)
He surrounded his fortress with thousands of impaled enemy soldiers as an effective way to make the enemy think very carefully about whether dying slowly on a spike was what they wanted in their future.
And nailing Ottoman envoy's turbans to their heads, was a very clear message to the world that he would not be intimidated, or taunted.
Charlemagne became King of the Lombards after a 50 year campaign by the Roman Catholic Church to force Christianity on the Kingdom.