AirLockAlpha.com

The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for "The Vampiric Puppet Lamentation," the tenth episode of the ABC Family network's show, "The Middleman."

I must be on to something with my finding similarities between "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "The Middleman." This week, Wendy even says, "Ah ... I'm gonna get my Buffy on."

This time, we get back to good ol' "Middleman" business by returning the major focus to the ongoing characters.

Here's what happened: To prevent the resurrection of every vampire that has ever lived, The Middleman and Wendy search for a possessed puppet that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler. Meanwhile, Noser pulls a disappearing act.

With the baddies being vampires this time, we get a lot of vampire lore mentioned, including: Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's "Tomb Of Dracula" Marvel Comics series; the "Blade" movies; the John Seward Home of the Criminally Insane; and the fact that "Van Helsing might as well been Dutch for 'Middleman.'" The fact that puppets and vampires were combined could also be a nod of the hat to "Angel."

We also see that Wendy may have connections to mystic forces when Jamie the Tarot Girl does a card reading for Wendy. While Jamie's predictions are totally off, Wendy sees her go into a creepy eye-rolling, gravel-voiced, tongue-speaking trance and says, "Young Noser will be rent limb from limb to save you."

Lacey has the beginning of a fling with slimy landlord-son Pip before she kisses and then slaps him. Of course, she really longs for "The Middleman" because Pip is wearing The Middleman's Eisenhower jacket in her dream.

We also get to visit a ventriloquist convention and see the residents in Wendy and Lacey's building tell her what they think of Pip ... while he's listening.

What Worked

All the usual fun dialogue is going on, including Wendy quoting Bon Jovi as she stakes the vampire puppets/lovers, saying, "You give love a bad name!" Also, I lost count of how many times someone said "pure Carpathian wood."

We see that Lacey and The Middleman actually are experiencing "true love," which leaves MM pining and alone at the end. We'll likely follow up on that more next week.

We see more of Lacey, more of Pip and something for Noser to do besides sit and quote song lyrics ... overall, a pretty good week!

What Didn't Work

I know he's not a regular, but I missed Tyler. He ought to be on the show every week, I think.

I find it interesting that every time I try to find some specific example of a bad moment, when I think about it, it was actually very funny. So I can't think of anything else to include here! It was yet another great, enjoyable episode!

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"The Vampiric Puppet Lamentation" was written by Andy Reaser and directed by Sandy Smolan. "The Middleman" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on the ABC Family cable network. It stars Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Brit Morgan and Mary Pat Gleason.

Wayne Hall, news editor for Airlock Alpha, hasn't turned into a bat puppet ... yet. Wayne's also chief of security/publications editor/webmaster for the U.S.S. Chesapeake, a local Star Trek and science-fiction club in the Washington, D.C., area.

Become a master of science-fiction with the "Masters of Science-Fiction" DVD set. Learn how you can win a set of your very own by clicking here.

Feeling a little horrific? Get your daily dose of horror news straight from The Doll, Rabid Doll that is at www.RabidDoll.com.

Hear Michael Hinman on SyFy Radio every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.

Follow Airlock Alpha on Twitter! Add SyFyMichael to your follow list today!

Become a part of the Airlock Alpha Facebook community! Just do a search on "SyFy" and join us!