As the first entry in the Jesse Stone series, Stone Cold does a terrific job of setting up the character without going through the steps of his origin story, which its 2006 prequel, Night Passage, would do in greater detail. Instead, the film immediately establishes just how intriguing a character Jesse Stone can be, aided by an iconic performance from Tom Selleck.

Jesse Stone: Death In Paradise Dives Into Organized Crime

The Action Ratchets Up In This Third Entry

Death in Paradise aired a few months after Night Passage, although it returns the series to the “present day,” after the events of Stone Cold. Stone is haunted by his girlfriend Abby’s murder and spends his off-hours drinking alone at his home on the water. But he continues to talk to his ex-wife back in L.A. who convinces him to see someone about his drinking problem. Meanwhile, Stone deals with a girl’s murder after her body is discovered floating in the lake. As a seasoned detective, Stone gets down to business.

What transpires is a journey into organized crime and the depraved desires of a successful writer whose appetites make him the prime suspect for the murder — though not everything is quite as it seems on the surface. Jesse Stone proves to be a far more capable action hero in Death in Paradise, having eschewed the more contemplative and depressive nature of his arc in Night Passage. With the stakes higher than ever before, Stone shows exactly why he’s been placed in charge of his small town’s protection by bringing down a massive threat lying just under the surface.

Jesse Stone: Sea Change Features An Award-Winning Performance

Tom Selleck Won An Emmy For His Role

There have been tons of action movies released over the years, specifically since 2019. But, only the best of those dominate Rotten Tomatoes.

Jesse Stone: Sea Change sees the titular detective is still having trouble with drinking, despite advice from his neighbor to listen to Brahms. His ex-wife, Jenn, tells him not to call because she is seeing someone who thinks it’s weird that they talk so much. With things slow at the department, Stone throws himself into a cold case to keep himself from turning back to the bottle. He reopens the murder of a bank teller and begins to search for answers that lead him to a money laundering scheme and a sister who was recently returned to Massachusetts from California.

Side plots include an 18-year-old charging an older man with rape and a deputy who is in a coma following a robbery. In Sea Change, Tom Selleck really came into the role, all while defending the reputation he had built as the character in Death in Paradise. The actor eventually won an Emmy Award for his performance in the made-for-TV movie, with Stone exuding a moody gravitas that drew in more fans than the previous films had.

Jesse Stone: Thin Ice Showcases Some Familiar Faces

A Wounded State Trooper And Bereaved Mother Seek Stone’s Help

Jesse Stone: Thin Ice arrived in 2009, two years after Sea Change. At that point, this was the longest period between Jesse Stone movies. The story of Thin Ice involves two different cases. In one, a state police officer gets shot and wounded. Stone ends up investigating the incident and uncovering a prostitution ring. In the other case, a mother appeals to Stone for help finding her missing child. The child disappeared seven years ago and was declared dead. Desperate for answers, the bereaved mother, who never believed that her child was dead, demands that Stone reopen the case to find out what really happened to her son.

While not quite reaching the heights of Sea Change, the fifth installment in the Jesse Stone series proved that Tom Selleck’s eponymous detective was far from finished. While the film is missing some of the series’ main cast, including eventual Academy Award winner Viola Davis, it managed to land well with fans and critics, even going on to win several awards for outstanding cinematography.

Jesse Stone: No Remorse Allows The Supporting Cast To Shine

As Stone Stumbles Into Personal Problems, A Friend Asks For Help