Second Helping

A NEW DAWN Can Buffy's little sister fill the big shoes that lay in front of her?

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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It seems strange to advertise this week's rerun of ''Lessons,'' the premiere of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'''s seventh season, as a ''Halloween Treat.'' It hasn't been very long since the episode first aired, and it would be a more appropriate treat to show season 2's theme-episode ''Halloween,'' or even season 4's ''Fear, Itself.'' But maybe it's merely strategic programming. A lot has happened in the first few episodes; revisiting some of the opener's themes may prepare us for what's coming next.

Initially, this episode raised concerns that the focus would shift to prepping Dawn as a replacement for Buffy. In retrospect, the main plotlines of Buffy training Dawn, Dawn enrolling in Sunnydale High School, and Dawn bonding with outcasts in a fight for their lives against vengeful manifest spirits all seem secondary to the subplots.

One intriguing teaser is in an opening sequence that's completely unconnected to the story. Normally the scene with Dawn and Buffy training in the graveyard would be the beginning of an episode like this. Instead it starts with a girl running from hooded figures in Istanbul. The anonymous enemy overtakes her, despite the fact that she looks active, strong and maybe even trained to fight. This could indicate the ramping up of evil forces in the world at large. Are unknown allies of our Sunnydale Slayer falling in the front lines of the latest supernatural World War? Though it's echoed by a similar sequence in the second episode, this detail has been dropped entirely. But it's bound to come up again. Soon.

Another question that's sure to develop: How will Willow deal with her magical powers, her guilt about her actions last season, and her role in a group of people whose lives she has threatened? In fact, it's all set up in Giles's assertion that, ''This isn't a hobby or an addiction. It's inside you now, this magic. You're responsible for it.'' Sounds like the classic first lesson of every reluctant superhero. Though Willow seems hesitant and unsure, the scene hints that she'll return as a true counterpart to Buffy, matching her power, her sense of responsibility, and the existential burden that comes with having to be a protector of the people.

And then there's Buffy. Is her confidence making her callous? She's fought enough big bad enemies to help her realize that she doesn't have to take dramatically loquacious ''zombie-ghost things'' very seriously. Taking banter to a new level, she impatiently taunts the dead creeps with comments like, ''What are you after? Fear? Revenge? Tasty brains?'' The hitch now, of course, is that she can't always be there to protect Dawn, which means that even garden-variety monsters could be a notable threat. Plus, we've since seen how Buffy's decisiveness plays out in the conflict with Anya, raising questions about whether she could become an authority without enough accountability.

As for other suggestive details that seem likely to return later on: Certainly we haven't seen the last of the Hellmouth, now lurking under Principal Wood's office (by accident or by design?). Then there's the fact that we still don't know who was responsible for raising this episode's threat. What seemed like a random case of cranky undead turned out to be little more personal -- these vengeful spirits were particularly pissed off at Buffy.

Finally, one last enigma: Spike's transmogrifying tormentor. Is it merely a delusionary vision? Or is it some kind of uber-evil that's tapping in to all the Big Bads that have come before? Why is Buffy the final form of that apparition, saying that ''it's about power,'' an eerie, twisted take on the stance she took during Dawn's training?

Can you predict where the show is going with these mysteries?