The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation

"The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation"

Plot
Wendy and the Middleman investigate ghosts seen in the local sorority house.

---

At Middleman HQ, Ida is tracking emergency channels when Tyler Ford arrives in the lobby. Ida reviews their former attempt to recruit him as a Middleman when he got struck over the head and stricken with two-day amnesia after defending Wendy. Wendy is eager to see him but The Middleman warns that Tyler is a possible danger. Ida confirms that he was only there because he found the address in his notebook and doesn't remember anything. The Middleman warns that any reawakening memories could cause Tyler to remember everything.

Wendy heads home while chatting with her mother, and Tyler comes over to admire her car. Wendy ignores her Middlewatch pager as Tyler explains what happens, and how he's trying to piece together his missing two days. He is sure of one thing: he met his soul mate during those two days. Wendy throws away her Middlewatch when it beeps again, while Tyler shows her a check from the Booty Chest. He worked there for 90 minutes and the manager gave him the address of a waitress he flirted with: Lacey.

Back at HQ, Wendy calls Lacey who is happy that Tyler has tracked her down. Tyler has asked her on a date and Lacey admits he left an impression on her. Wendy cuts her off and gets the news from Ida: she's intercepted a call from Louis, a fraternity brother calling from a sorority where he says he's being attacked by a female ghost. The Middleman warns that ghosts are dangerous and they head to Reitman University and the Omega Theta Nu sorority. They go to where Louis is being kept and The Middleman tries to find out about what's going on. They're interrupted when Louis is brought out: in a dress. He explains he was pledging a fraternity by sneaking into Omega Theta Nu when a ghost attacked him. The Middleman scans him and determines he has no pineal gland due to brain surgery.

Back at Middleman HQ, Ida works to duplicate a non-pineal ghost scanner. The Middleman notes that he can't sneak into a sorority, but Wendy can get the secret handshake from Lacey, whose mother was in Omega Theta Nu. Back at the sublet, Lacey tries to make sure Wendy is okay with her dating Tyler, and Wendy claims to barely remember him.

Equipped with a pair of Pineal-Blocker glasses so she can see but not hear the ghosts, Wendy goes in after being brief on the Cold War spy rules compliments of The Middleman. She's greeted by Eleanor, who doesn't seem to know the handshake but claims they exchange hugs. As Eleanor hugs Wendy, a wind springs up. Wendy dons the glasses… and sees five female ghosts begging her for help.

Eleanor gives her a tour while talking about their upcoming party. They bump into Alley, am Omega Theta Nu who is suspicious of Wendy. Eleanor introduces Wendy to the sorority president, Dana, and Wendy sees a ghostly version of the president standing next to her physical form. Wendy goes to the bathroom and briefs The Middleman on what's going on, and The Middleman tells her to collect readings.

Tyler comes to visit Lacey and spars musically meanwhile with him. Wendy is assembling scanning equipment when she hears a noise outside the bathroom door and finds Alley listening at the door. They're interrupted when Wendy gets a message from Lacey with a photo of Tyler. Alley sees it and offers romantic advice, then apologizes. Alley is surprised that Wendy knows the sorority handshake and says they need to talk but slips away when Eleanor arrives.

Wendy goes downstairs and finds the five female ghosts who point to a photo showing their all sorority officers. They try to mime a warning about Eleanor to her but Alley covers Wendy with a pillow case and hauls her outside. Wendy drops the glasses, breaking them, and triggers the Middlewatch alert. Outside, everyone chants the Omega Theta Nu welcome chant but Eleanor and the five executive officers don't now it. Under cover of the noise, Alley explains Eleanor and the other five don't know any of the sorority traditions, and Eleanor is a pledge but is acting like she's in charge and won't leave Alley by herself. The Middleman arrives and claims to be Wendy's brother, and a campus security guard to explain his uniform.

Tyler finally gets into Lacey's apartment where she gives him the tour but he notices a zombie video and Lacey explains zombies are Wendy's thing. Tyler sees Wendy's painting of the Mexican wrestlers and thinks he's remembering Lacey from the Booty Chest, and kisses her.

Ida has identified Eleanor as having a background in physics and they conclude she's a burgeoning mad scientist. With the glasses destroyed, Wendy comes up with a new plan: take Louis into the house and have him talk to the ghosts. They explain that they were invited to the Sweetheart Court which Eleanor told them was at the physics lab. The Middleman goes to the lab and finds five bookish types unconscious and strapped into a quantum processor. Eleanor arrives and The Middleman realizes she's projected the souls of five of her friends into the five executive board members. They'll throw a party that will get the sorority shut down, giving Eleanor her revenge against the women who refused to make her a member. The Middleman tries to shoot her but the quantum processor blocks his ray gun and Middlewatch. She then triggers the body-switching mechanism and puts her soul into The Middleman's body while ejecting his spirit.

Wendy runs to the lab to find the possessed Middleman outside. Eleanor maintains the masquerade and claims he's disposed of the quantum processor and Eleanor. Wendy suggests she go to the sorority but Eleanor says they should give the girls some time. Wendy goes back to her sublet to find Tyler there waiting for Lacey. they're going to the Vegan Palace but Wendy passes on the office and prepares to watch Zombies of Maru Tau Wendy defends it as a way to clear the palate of gory zombie movies, and Tyler gets the concept. They head out for dinner and Wendy stays in to watch the movie, only to find it reminds her of Tyler. She turns it off and calls Alley to get a relationship talkdown. Wendy hears a party and Alley explains that Wendy's "brother" is there leading the debauchery.

Wendy prepares to leave only to find Louis outside, translating for The Middleman. He soon convinces Wendy he is who he says and they go to the party. The Middleman insists they call the police but Wendy convinces him that would destroy the sorority. He comes up with another plan, using the emotion rerouter in the Middlemobile. Wendy brings it in and triggers it, and everyone becomes instantly depressed. Only Eleanor in The Middleman's body is unaffected. She squares off against Wendy, using The Middleman's muscle memory. The two end up out on the yard in a slap-and-bite fight. Eleanor gets the upper hand but some fraternity brothers intervene and Eleanor gets to the Middlemobile, which recognizes The Middleman's body and offers to provide directions to the Middleman HQ.

Wendy wakes up and realizes where Eleanor is heading. She calls Ida who doesn't initially believe her but tricks Eleanor into revealing she's not The Middleman. Ida steps out to get a tranquilizer but Eleanor has tapped into the communications system and knows what they're saying. Eleanor activates the panic room protocol and puts the HEYDAR into overload. When the place blows up in five minutes, Eleanor's spirit will return to her body automatically.

Ida engages the emergency incursion protocol, cutting off communications and climbing through the ducts. Lacey calls and The Middleman discovers that she's dating someone else. Alley takes the phone and tells Lacey to back off. They get to the physics lab and Wendy hits the red button that shuts off the quantum processor. Ida falls out of the ventilation shaft and lands on The Middleman. He says he's restored to his own body but she tranqs him to be on the safe side and then shuts down the HEYDAR. Wendy takes Eleanor and her friends into custody.

Later, Wendy and The Middleman commiserate over their injuries and The Middleman assures her he's just concerned about Lacey's happiness. He wants to help Wendy with her emotional problems because they're teammates. He tells her that Tyler's in her life and she must keep an eye on it so they know if his amnesia is lifting.

Wendy returns to the sublet and Lacey informs her she broke up with Tyler. Wendy says she wants Lacey to be happy but Lacey lies that she doesn't have any feelings for him. However, they both decided it wasn't working. Lacey points out that Wendy and Tyler are perfect for each other. Wendy goes to Tyler's home where she finds him coming back from the Booty Chest with some buffalo wings. He talked to a busboy and determined that although he doesn't remember anything, he did meet a pretend waitress: Wendy. Tyler seems to vaguely remember what happened and they decide to have some wings and enjoy Zombies of Mora Tau.

Pop Culture References
General Pop Culture Reference Theme: Ghostbusters
 * Louis, the student who first sees the ghosts in the Omega Theta Nu house, is named after the movie character Louis Tully, played by Rick Moranis.
 * The college referenced is called Reitman University. Ivan Reitman is the director of the Ghostbusters movie.
 * The Address of the Omega Theta Nu House is 55 Ray Parker Jr Avenue - Ray Parker Junior wrote and performed the Ghostbusters theme song.
 * The code names Keymaster and Gatekeeper are also used in the movie Ghostbusters.
 * Eleanor's educational achievements include the Egon Spengler award and that she was shortlisted for the Ivo Shandor Medal. Egon was the ghostbuster played by Harold Ramis, and Ivo Shandor was the leader of the Cult of Gozer and the primary antagonist of Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
 * Louis claims that when he saw the ghost, "I don't know if she had legs, but she definitely had arms because she reached out for me." This line is taken directly from the librarian at the beginning of Ghostbusters.
 * Louis, while listening to the Middleman in ghost form, tells Wendy that she needs to trigger a total protonic reversal to shut down Eleanor's machine. This effect is what Egon warned of if they were to ever "cross the streams."

Interjections

 * Ghosts of the Living!
 * Great Caesar's Ghost!
 * Holy Wachowski Brothers!

Aliases
Dr. Stantz and Dr. Zeddemore - the names of two of the Ghostbusters played by Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson in the movies.

Wilhelm Scream
While the Middleman (possessed by Eleanor) is fighting Wendy, Wendy kicks him in the groin, causing the Middleman to give the well known scream.

Quotes

 * Wendy: What's all that noise?  It sounds like Caligula's raging in the living room.
 * Allie: I don't know who Caligula is, but if she's like a total drunken slut, then yeah.