Frontline: Season 29
Season 29 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Frontline Season 28.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 29 Progress Shield
Death by Fire
Oct 19, 2010
At the center of the national death penalty debate today is the controversial case of Cameron Todd Willingham, put to death for the arson-murder of his three little girls. But was
The Spill
Oct 26, 2010
Frontline investigates BP's record of safety violations and accidents in the years leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf.
The Confessions
Nov 9, 2010
Frontline looks at the case of the Norfolk Four in which four men were convicted of the rape and murder of a woman on the basis of coerced confessions.
Battle for Haiti
Jan 11, 2011
In the chaos of the earthquake that devastated Haiti, thousands of the country's worst criminals seized the opportunity to stage a mass escape from the National Penitentiary. One y
Are We Safer? / Flying Cheaper
Jan 18, 2011
Are We Safer?: Dana Priest investigates the terrorism-industrial complex that grew up in the wake of 9/11. Flying Cheaper: A follow-up to Season 28's Flying Cheap examines the tre
Post Mortem
Feb 1, 2011
A collaboration with NPR and ProPublica reveals how dysfunction, low standards, and lax oversight impacts investigations into sudden or suspicious deaths.
Revolution in Cairo
Feb 22, 2011
A look at the April 6 Youth Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
Money and March Madness / Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei / The Private Life of Bradley Manning
Mar 29, 2011
Money and March Madness: An inside look at the multibillion-dollar business of the NCAA and its brand of amateur college sports. Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei: How Ai Weiwei dares to
Football High
Apr 12, 2011
High school football has never had a higher profile ... but is winning worth the risks?
The Silence
Apr 19, 2011
Frontline reveals a little-known chapter of the Catholic Church sex abuse story: decades of abuse of Native Americans by priests and other church workers in Alaska.
Fighting for Bin Laden
May 3, 2011
The fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Kill/Capture
May 10, 2011
Goes inside the "kill/capture" program to discover new evidence of the program's effect and its costs.
WikiSecrets
May 24, 2011
The inside story of Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange (WikiLeaks) and the largest intelligence breach in U.S. history.
The Child Cases / Educating Sergeant Pantzke
Jun 28, 2011
The Child Cases: Ernie Lopez to prison for 60 years when a child dies under suspicious circumstances. Now a Texas judge has moved to overturn Lopez's conviction, and questions are
The Pot Republic / Doctor Hotspot / The Atomic Artists
Jul 26, 2011
The Pot Republic: FRONTLINE and The Center for Investigative Reporting team up to investigate California's marijuana market. Doctor Hotspot: Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his team are p
Top Secret America
Sep 6, 2011
A report from the Washington Post on US government intelligence spending
An Optimist in Haiti
Sep 27, 2011
The struggle of one man to develop a tourist destination in Haiti and bring economic prosperity.
The Man Behind the Mosque
Sep 27, 2011
The struggles of Sharif El-Gamal to build a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center.