Spy Jinx?

What the heck happens now? Above all else, Abrams urges you not to panic. ''I think you can tell by the way the show ended that we're not going to suddenly be in simple-story-land,'' he says. Translation: The Rambaldi mythology still lingers. Also, Sydney hasn't seen the last of slippery ex-SD-6 chief Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who'll morph into a greater enemy. ''He is far more active and more insidious,'' says Abrams. Slightly less insidious (we hope) will be an outbreak of romance in CIA HQ: ''We've earned Sydney and Vaughn becoming a couple.''

Will the post-Super Bowl exposure boost the show's ratings? The 11:01 p.m. start time seems to be yet another blunder in the handling of the show, but ABC Entertainment chairman Lloyd Braun insists his hands were tied because of the network's NFL commitments and overindulgent sports division. ''I was spitting blood,'' admits Braun. ''If I controlled it, I would have thrown 'Alias' on during the third quarter.'' Braun believes the series can grow into a ''monster hit.'' Alas for ABC, series rarely see long-lasting ratings jumps following Super Bowl showcases, observes Stacey Lynn Koerner, analyst at Initiative Media. (''Malcolm in the Middle,'' which aired after the 2002 Super Bowl, is down 21 percent from last year's average.) ''I think if we haven't seen it yet,'' she says, ''we won't see it in the future.''

Forget that ratings stuff. What's up with Francie? Last May, Abrams told actress Merrin Dungey to begin training. The reason: She now plays an evil Francie double. Offering only a hint of what's to come, Dungey says, ''I kill soon.'' Okay, at least tell us if she can run Good Francie's restaurant? ''I don't think she's had time with all the killing to get her Betty Crocker on.'' (Additional reporting by Lynette Rice)