Bobby (a newcomer to the school) begins a relationship with Noreen, a popular girl. Noreen's brother is displeased by this romance, and brings a gun to school in order to scare Bobby. The plan goes wrong and Bobby ends up taking his Biology class hostage.

The story of the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst by members of a radical guerrilla organization, as seen by the FBI agent in charge of her case.

In the midst of the Depression, a crotchety doctor, whose practice is in the Brooklyn slums, takes an interest in a local teenager, whose hostility and erratic behavior the doctor believes is due to more than just his environment.

When alcoholic homicide investigator Valnikov is transferred to a burglary case that seems to involve a creepy dogcatcher, he's also given a new partner -- the pragmatic Sgt. Natalie Zimmerman, who's experiencing a midlife crisis and does not welcome Valnikov's company. But as these emotionally bruised cops are drawn deeper into the bizarre world of dog shows, animal fanatics and pet cemeteries, they're also drawn to each other.