Answer the medium hopes to get at a seance (8,5)

'medium hopes to get at a seance' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'answer' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'answer' could be 'reply' (synonyms) and 'reply' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'spirited' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?