"Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016)

Starring Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders and Danika Yarosh
Written by Richard Wenk, Edward Zwick and Marshal Herskovitz
Directed by Edward Zwick
Rated PG-13: Language, violence
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Trailer

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) has gone back to his drifter lifestyle after helping to take down a corrupt sheriff who led a human trafficking scheme. He develops a friendly phone-relationship with his army contact, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), and he decides to visit her in Washington, DC. But when he arrives, he discovers that Turner has been arrested and charged with treason.

Despite her requests that he stay away, Reacher digs into Turner's case and quickly uncovers a conspiracy to frame Turner. But Reacher gets more than he bargained for. The conspirators have dug into his past and found a weakness: A 15-year-old girl named Samantha (Danika Yarosh) who might just be the pressure point they need to get Reacher off their backs.

Or so they think.

"Mission: Impossible" (1996)

Starring Tom Cruise, Jon Voight and Emmanuelle Beart
Written by David Koepp and Robert Towne
Directed by Brian de Palma
Rated PG-13 - Violence, language
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Trailer

Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) of the IMF has just been framed for the murder of his entire team. They were tasked with preventing the theft of a non-official cover or NOC list from an American embassy in Prague, but the mission went disastrously wrong. Worse, Hunt learns that as the only survivor, he's now the prime suspect in the agency's mole hunt and that the list was a fake to draw out the mole.

Hunt has no other choice but to go on the run. He soon finds another member of the team has survived: Claire (Emmanuelle Beart), wife of team leader Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). Together, Hunt and Claire hatch a plan to draw out the real mole, this time by stealing the actual NOC list which happens to be kept in one of the world's most secure locations: CIA headquarters.

"The Frozen Ground" (2013)

Starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens
Written and directed by Scott Walker
Rated R - Language, violence, drug use, nudity
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Trailer

In Anchorage, Alaska, in 1983, a young prostitute named Cindy (Vanessa Hudgens) claims that Robert Hansen (John Cusack) abducted, raped and held her captive in his home. But since Hansen is an upstanding member of the community with a wife and kids, the police won't even bother investigating him. One officer, however, thinks more is going on here than meets the eye and hands the case over to the Alaska State Police, catching the attention of Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) who is investigating a series of bodies found strewn throughout the Alaskan wilderness.

Halcombe begins to suspect that Hansen might be a serial killer, and attempts to connect him to more than a dozen murders across more than a decade. Even as the evidence mounts, however, Halcombe discovers that it may not be enough to catch the meticulous and overly-cautious Hansen. And when Hansen discovers that Cindy is helping the police, she becomes his next target -- the one that got away.

"Sabotage" (2014)

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia Williams and Sam Worthington
Written by Skip Woods and David Ayer
Directed by David Ayer
Rated R - Strong violence, language, nudity
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Trailer

John "Breacher" Wharton leads an elite squad of DEA tactical agents. On his team are James "Monster" Murray (Sam Worthington) and his wife Lizzy Murray (Mirielle Enos), Julius "Sugar" Edmonds (Terrence Howard), Joe "Grinder" Phillips (Joe Manganiello), Tom "Pyro" Roberts (Max Martini), Eddie "Neck" Jordan (Josh Holloway), Bryce "Tripod" McNeely (Kevin Vance) and "Smoke" Jennings (Mark Shlegel). And together they have just stolen $10 million from a vicious drug cartel during a DEA raid. But later that evening when they go to retrieve their stolen payout from its hiding place, they find that someone's taken the money.

Worse, the DEA figures out that $10 million is missing from the raid and puts the team under intense scrutiny. Six months later, the team is splintered. They've lost their trust in each other. And things are about to get worse: Someone starts picking them off. One by one, the bodies are found mutilated in ways that implicate the cartel, and Breacher partners with Atlanta PD homicide detective Caroline Brentwood (Olivia Williams) to find out who's offing his friends.

The closer Brentwood gets to the case, however, the less it seems to make sense. Who is playing whom? Who are the real killers? And what happened to all that dirty money?

"Gone Girl" (2014)

Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike and Carrie Coon
Written by Gillian Flynn
Directed by David Fincher
Rated R: Violence, strong language, nudity, sex
Running Time: 149 Minutes
Trailer

On the morning of her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) disappears. Her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck), comes home to find their living room in disarray and calls the police. Detectives Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and James Gilpin (Patrick Fugit) arrive and are immediately suspicious of Nick.

In the following days, as the evidence mounts against Nick, the public begins to turn against him. Even his loyal twin sister, Margot (Carrie Coon), always at his side, begins to wonder if he's not being entirely honest. Slowly, Nick's life begins to unravel. His year-long affair with one of his students is exposed, and the police come ever closer to pressing charges against him even without having found Amy's body.

What is Nick lying about? Where is Amy? And what was she so afraid of?

"A Walk Among the Tombstones" (2014)

Starring Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens and Brian "Astro" Bradley
Written and directed by Scott Frank
Rated R - Violence, strong language
Running Time: 113 Minutes
Trailer

Matthew Scudder (Liam Neeson) is a former New York cop and a recovering alcoholic. Not quite a private detective, he does "favors" for people who, in return, give him "gifts." One night he's approached by someone from his AA group who says his brother is in need of some help. That brother, Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens), turns out to be a drug trafficker and someone has just murdered his wife.

It seems Kenny's wife was kidnapped, and when Kenny paid the ransom, his wife was returned to him - cut up into little tiny bags. Against his better judgment, Scudder takes the case.

But the more he looks into it, the murkier things seem to get. It seems Kenny's wife isn't the only victim. It seems, somehow, that the DEA is involved. It seems, somehow, that even the other victims have secrets. And the killers have already identified their next target.

'Hannibal' Season Two (2014)

Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelson and Laurence Fishburne
Developed by Bryan Fuller
Trailer

Criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is in custody, accused of being a serial killer. The real killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelson), has now taken Will's place at the FBI, assisting Special Agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) in catching brutal murderers along the East Coast.

While Will awaits trial, Jack is under investigation for his mishandling of Will, perhaps he is even to blame for the murders Will is accused of committing. Will maintains his innocence, telling anyone who'll listen (or won't) that the man they really want is Hannibal Lecter. 

With the bodies piling up, Jack, Will and Hannibal play a dangerous game. One of them or all of them might be killers. And none of them can trust each other.

"Oldboy" (2013)

Starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley
Written by Mark Protosevich
Directed by Spike Lee
Rated R - Violence, language, nudity, sex
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Trailer (Red Band)

Joe (Josh Brolin) is a drunk. One night after missing his daughter's birthday party and screwing up an important meeting with a client, Joe wakes up in what at first appears to be a motel room. But he quickly learns it is, in fact, a prison cell. A cell in which Joe spends the next twenty years. Over those years, Joe manages to avoid going insane (barely) and eventually quits drinking and gets himself into shape in the hopes of finding his young daughter, Mia.

One day, his wish is granted and Joe wakes up having been released into the outside world, of which he knows only what he's managed to see on TV over the years. He's given money, clothes and a cell phone that he doesn't quite understand how to use. He hooks back up with his old friend Chucky (Michael Imperioli), who owns a bar, and meets a young nurse named Marie (Elizabeth Olsen) who helps him recover his health.

Soon enough, Joe is out for revenge. He wants to know who put him in a box for twenty years, and why. And he'll kill or hurt anyone who gets in his way. Unfortunately for Joe, he's not the hunter... he's the hunted. He just doesn't know it yet.

"Veronica Mars" (2014)

Starring Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring and Enrico Colantoni
Written by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero
Directed by Rob Thomas
Rated PG-13 - Violence, language
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Trailer

It's been nine years since Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) left her hometown of Neptune, California. In those nine years, she's gone to law school and reunited with her college boyfriend Stosh 'Piz' Piznarski (Chris Lowell). She's now on the verge of accepting a position at a prestigious New York law firm, but fate once again interrupts to draw Veronica back to Neptune.

A pop singer named Bonnie DeVille (Andrea Estella) has been found murdered, and the evidence points to Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), Veronica's old boyfriend. Logan and Veronica haven't spoken in nearly a decade, but Logan calls Veronica for help, prompting her to return home - against Piz's wishes. Back in Neptune, Veronica finds the town has both changed and remained the same. There's still a brewing battle between the haves and the have-nots, but corruption is now rife within the county sheriff's department.

Veronica hooks back up with her father, local PI Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) and her best friends Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Mac (Tina Majorino), who beg her to come to their 10-year high school reunion. Despite everyone's warnings to stay away, Veronica digs deeper into Logan's case, trying to help him come up with a viable defense. The problem is, the deeper she digs, the closer she gets to Logan... the 'bad boy' that she'd left behind for a reason.

'Hannibal' Season One (2013)

Starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and Laurence Fishburne
Developed by Bryan Fuller
Based on characters created by Thomas Harris

Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is a gifted criminal profiler with a somewhat unique ability to put himself into the mindset of the nation's sickest serial killers. Recruited to assist on FBI investigations by Special Agent-in-Charge Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), Graham goes to work on a case involving young women gone missing. The case becomes more intriguing to Graham when one of the girls is returned, and he suspects this is actually an apology from the killer.

Graham's friend, Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) is worried about Will's emotional state and requests that Jack bring aboard a psychotherapist named Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) to assist. Soon after, another girl is found murdered and mounted on deer antlers. While the FBI initially assumes this is the killer's next stage of escalation, Graham believes that the case has garnered a copy-cat. Graham and Hannibal eventually track the killer, a man named Garrett Jacob Hobbs. When they arrive at Hobbs' home, they discover that someone has tipped Hobbs off, and he's already killed his wife and wounded his daughter Abigail (Kacey Rohl). Graham kills Hobbs to save Abigail, but that is only the beginning.

Tormented by what he's done, Graham begins to see Hannibal as a patient. And as their cases grow more and more grotesque, the specter of Garrett Jacob Hobbs grows like a cancer in Graham's mind. He begins to suffer delusions and lost time. But Hannibal, in the guise of a therapist, may not have Graham's best interests in mind.

Because Hannibal Lecter also has a secret: He himself is a serial killer, and a cannibal... working for the FBI.

'Continuum' - Season One (2012)

Starring Rachel Nichols, Erik Knudsen and Victor Webster
Created by Simon Barry

In the year 2077, corporations have replaced government in ruling the people. While this dystopian future is advanced and many people live lives of comfort, freedom is a thing of the past. People are born with "life-debts" that they can never erase, always forced to work for the corporations for "life-credits" to earn their amenities.

Police officer Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) is ordered to witness the execution of a band of terrorists, the leadership of a group known as Liber8, who blew up a corporate congress building and killed thousands. But when the execution gets underway, the terrorists reveal their secret plan: In a flash, they travel back through time to the year 2012 and prepare to begin their revolution again in an earlier time, to rewrite history in their own image.

What they didn't count on was that Kiera would be thrown back in time with them. Posing as a government agent, Kiera works with the Vancouver Police Department, partnered with Detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster) to track down these terrorists and put them away for a long, long time. She also forms an alliance with a young technical genius, Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen) who in the future will run one of the world's largest and most impressive corporations - and only young Sadler knows the truth about Kiera's identity.

As Kiera attempts to adjust to life in 2012, the members of Liber8, including their vicious and charismatic leader Edouard Kagame (Tony Amendola), grow more cunning in their methods to undermine government and police authority. And at the end of the day, Kiera wonders if, even after she's defeated Liber8, will she ever be able to go home to her husband and son?

"World War Z" (2013)

Starring Brad Pitt, Mirielle Enos and James Badge Dale
Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard
Directed by Marc Forster
Rated PG-13 - Zombie violence, peril, language, frightening situations
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Trailer

Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is a former investigator for the United Nations who left his job to spend more time with his wife Karen (Mirielle Enos) and children. One day, an outbreak of an unknown virus spreads quickly across the entire world and Gerry and his family are caught in a riot in Philadelphia. Gerry witnesses a man bitten by another person, and then sees that man reanimated as some sort of flesh-eating creature in under fifteen seconds.

Escaping Philly, Gerry is contacted by his old boss Thierry Warmbrunn (Ludi Boekin) who offers Gerry's family safe passage aboard a UN vessel in exchange for his help tracking down the source of the infection. Gerry and a team of United States Navy SEALs heads to South Korea to investigate a memo dated a week earlier that may be one of the earliest mentions of the outbreak. As the world's governments crumble and the population is being turned into ravenous, bloodthirsty zombies, Gerry and his dwindling group of allies must discover the source of the outbreak and, hopefully, find a cure before it's too late...

"Jack Reacher" (2012)

Starring Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike and Jai Courtney
Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie
Rated PG-13 - Violence, language, drug use
Running Time: 130 Minutes
Trailer

When a former Army sniper, James Barr (Joseph Sikora), is arrested for the brutal slaying of five innocent people in Pittsburgh, the police believe they have an airtight case. Given the opportunity to confess, he writes only three words: "Get Jack Reacher."

But Reacher (Tom Cruise) is no easy man to find. He's a drifter, with no address, no drivers license, no cell phone. Luckily, Reacher knows where to find them. Reacher has a past with Barr, one that compels him to seek out he truth when he suspects that the evidence against Barr is a little too perfect. Together with Barr's lawyer, Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), who also happens to be the daughter of the powerful district attorney (Richard Jenkins), Reacher sets out to find the real killer. But the closer he gets, the more dangerous the situation grows.

But whoever is behind this conspiracy and whatever it is they're after, they made one mistake - they tried to mess with Jack Reacher.

"The Lincoln Lawyer" (2011)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillipe and Marisa Tomei
Written by John Romano
Directed by Brad Furman
Rated R - Violence, language, mature themes, sex
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Trailer

Michael Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a slick-talking defense lawyer who sometime back lost his license.  In order to get around, he hired one of his clients to be his chauffer (Laurence Mason) instead of paying his legal bills, and rides around in a Lincoln Towncar.  He mostly defends scumbags, but one day his friend Val (John Leguizamo) urges him to take a meeting with a young man named Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe).  Roulet has been arrested and charged with rape and attempted murder of a young prostitute (Margarita Levivita).

At first, Haller is excited to take on a case that will surely pay him a good deal of money, as Roulet comes  from a rich family that owns a real estate empire.  He hears the details of the case and hires his friend Frank (William H. Macy) to be his investigator.  His ex-wife, prosecutor Margaret McPherson (Marisa Tomei) with whom Haller has a child, isn't too happy he's taking this case.

Soon enough, the details of the case begin to get muddled.  Haller and Levin suspect that their client may not only be guilty in this case, but in a string of murders over the last few years - including one in which Haller himself gave up his client to life in prison instead of the death penalty.  When Roulet confesses such to Haller, and threatens Haller's family if he doesn't get him a not guilty verdict, Haller finds himself between a rock and a hard place.

How can Haller protect his family and bring Roulet to justice without violating the laws and rules he swore to uphold?  He can't tell the police, or he'd torpedo his entire career and the case would be thrown out anyway. But if he doesn't try his hardest to get his client off, he's in the same boat.  With no one to turn to, Haller concocts a devious and dangerous plan that if it goes wrong could cost him his future, and his family's lives.

"The Skulls" (2000)

Starring Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker and Leslie Bibb
Written by John Pogue
Directed by Rob Cohen
Rated PG-13 - Language, sex, violence
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Trailer

Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) is a working-class orphan struggling to get through Ivy League college and then figure out a way to pay for law school.  He banks on being invited to join a secret society known as the Skulls in order to afford Harvard Law.  His best friends Will (Hill Harper) and Chloe (Leslie Bibb), whom Luke has a crush on, are not supportive of Luke's plan.

But Luke is offered membership in the Skulls, which he greedily accepts, putting him on the outs with his friends.  But within the organization, he makes new ones: Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker), the cocky son of powerful Judge Litten Mandrake (Craig T. Nelson) the current chairman of the Skulls.  The Skulls are set up with a unique buddy system called "soul mates", and Luke and Caleb are partnered together.  Litten's soul mate, Senator Ames Levritt (William Petersen) takes a liking to Luke, and offers to mentor him in the ways of the Skulls.

Luke's life begins to turn around - he's pre-accepted to the law school of his choice, large sums of cash appear in his bank account, and he's given an expensive car to drive.  Not long after, Will is found dead of an apparent suicide, but the police learn that he was murdered and the suicide staged.  Luke discovers that Will was doing an expose of the Skulls for the student newspaper when he was killed, and comes to believe it it Caleb who is responsible, and decides he needs to take down the Skulls to get justice and to take his life back.

But the Skulls are an organization comprised of powerful men.  They control the school, the police, and everyone Luke might turn to for help will be in danger.  Who can he trust?  How can he gain leverage over the most powerful men in America, or perhaps the entire world?

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" (2011)

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Noomi Rapace
Written by Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney
Directed by Guy Ritchie
Rated PG-13 - Violence, language, brief nudity
Running Time: 128 Minutes
Trailer

"More of the same" is sometimes what you can call sequels of this ilk.  But when it's enjoyable, is that really a problem?

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is investigating the biggest case of his career.  The world's greatest detective not named Bruce Wayne has connected a series of crimes and terrorist acts to one Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), but is unable to prove it.  Tensions are rising between France and Germany as a series of bombings in both countries point towards the other.  Holmes' brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry) warns Holmes that a summit is approaching, and that war between the two powers may be inevitable.

Meanwhile, Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) is about to be married to his fiancee Mary (Kelly Reilly).  Holmes uses Watson's bachelor party as an excuse to track down a Gypsy woman named Sim, whose brother is somehow connected to Moriarty's plans.  But Moriarty informs Holmes that he cannot allow Holmes to interrupt his schemes, nor can he ignore Watson's involvement in them, and sends a hit squad to kill Watson and Mary on their honeymoon.  Holmes intervenes, rescuing the two, and he and Watson set off to France with Sim to find her brother, uncover Moriarty's nefarious plan and stave off worldwide war.

'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' - Season One (1999)

Starring Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay and Richard Belzer
Created by Dick Wolf

Some TV shows go down easy, a kind of simple junk food, empty calories for the brain.  Some shows are incredibly complex, requiring you to watch every episode in order to grasp everything coming at you or that feature intense subject matter.  And then there are some shows that are a bizarre mixture of both. 

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is an episodic police procedural, meaning that the stories are mostly based around showing the solving of individual cases and don't feature much in the way of ongoing storylines or excessive character development.  The show focuses on the detectives of New York City's Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes.  The primaries on most of the cases are Detectives Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), a veteran and family man, and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), the daughter of a rape victim who joined up to get justice.  Other members of the team include Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer), a former Baltimore Homicide detective, Munch's young partner Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters) and Monique Jeffries (Michelle Hurd).  The team is led by Captain Don Cragen (Dann Florek), a man who must struggle with the politics of the New York Police Department, as well as his own status as a recovering alcoholic.

The SVU detectives tackle the worst and most depraved crimes in the city: rapes, molestations, slavery, child pornography and sex-related murders.  This often takes an intense toll on the personal lives of the detectives; sometimes it becomes too much for them to bear. 

"Insomnia" (2002)

Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank
Written by Hilary Seitz
Directed by Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan makes damn fine films.  Sure, they can be flawed, but they're always highly engrossing and entertaining films.  2002's "Insomnia" is no exception.

In the small fishing community of Nightmute, Alaska, a teenage girl is found murdered.  Los Angeles Police Detectives Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) arrive to assist the local police in their investigation.  They're partnered with young, enthusiastic detective Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank).  At dinner, Hap reveals to Dormer that he's been offered an immunity deal by Internal Investigations in LA, who are looking into one of Dormer's old cases. 

The next day, while chasing their suspect, Dormer shoots and kills Hap in a dense fog.  Dormer claims it was the suspect he was chasing that shot Hap, and Ellie is pulled off the dead girl's case and assigned Hap's killing.  Dormer continues to look into the girl's murder, but in the town of Nightmute, the sun never goes down.  Dormer finds that he can't sleep, and the 24-hour sunlight begins to mess with his head.  Soon after, he begins receiving phone calls from Finch (Robin Williams) a local crime author who claims that killing the girl was an accident.  He knows Dormer killed Hap, and begins to lay the seeds of blackmail to make sure that both he and Dormer come out of the investigation clean.

'Veronica Mars' Season Three (2006)

Starring Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni and Jason Dohring
Created by Rob Thomas

And so it was that despite an uptick in the ratings and more critical praise than you can shake a stick at, the CW for some reason decided that it would not order a fourth season of "Veronica Mars."  The show would end on a cliffhanger, with a number of unresolved storylines, which leaves me with an unfulfilled feeling of frustration at viewing this third season, despite the quality of the episodes contained within.  Unlike the previous two seasons, Season Three does not feature a single mystery spread over the course of the entire season.  Instead, it features two larger mysteries and then ends with a series of standalone episodes. 

Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is now a freshman at Hearst College, along with her boyfriend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), best friends Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Mac (Tina Majorino), and Logan's roommate and surfing buddy Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen).  She also befriends Mac's roommate, Parker (Julie Gonzalo) and Wallace's roommate, Stosh "Piz" Piznarski (Chris Lowell).  Veronica's father Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) continues to head up Mars Investigations, often butting heads with glory-hound local sheriff, Don Lamb (Michael Muhney).

'Veronica Mars' Season Two (2005)

Starring Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantani and Jason Dohring
Created by Rob Thomas

The sassy teen detective Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) returns for senior year of high school in the second season of the CW's only good teen drama.  After the events of Season One, movie star Aaron Echolls (Harry Hamlin) is in jail awaiting trial for the murder of Veronica's best friend, Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried).  Veronica's father Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni) has been redeemed in the eyes of the public and has written a successful book about Lilly's murder.  And Veronica is once again dating Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn).

Veronica no longer works as a private detective at school, nor as her father's assistant at Mars Investigations.  Instead, she has a hostess job at a local coffee spot, trying to live her life in peace.  But trouble is stirring once again in Neptune.  No longer outcast by the town's elite, Veronica is now shunned by those she'd championed the year before who believe she's betrayed them for status.  When a bus full of school students drives off a cliff, killing everyone on board, a bus she would have been on if not for being left behind by Duncan's vindictive ex Meg (Alona Tal), Veronica is pulled back into the detective biz to figure out who did it.