The Correct Order To Watch The Jesse Stone Movies
Somewhere, at this very moment, someone's dad is probably watching one of the Jesse Stone movies on DVD, and that man is having a great afternoon. After this, he might pop in "Ford v. Ferrari" for the seventh time.
The character of Jesse Stone began his life in a series of airport novels written by the late Robert B. Parker. The first Jesse Stone novel, "Night Passage," was published in 1997 and it followed the titular former LAPD detective (and divorced recovering alcoholic) as he investigated money laundering and murder in Paradise, Massachusetts. Parker had a hit on his hands with "Night Passage," and proceeded to writer eight additional Jesse Stone novels from 1998 up until his death in 2010. Jesse Stone had become an institution at that point, and other authors began writing Stone novels in Parker's style. There have been 11 additional Jesse Stone novels written after Parker's death.
Starting in 2005, Jesse Stone began appearing in a series of TV movies directed by Robert Harmon (except for "Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost," which was directed by Dick Lowry). Jesse Stone may not have the same kind of cultural penetration as the Avengers, but he has proved a reliable enough "grizzled detective" character to appear in nine TV movies. Tom Selleck plays Jesse Stone, giving the storied TV star yet another interesting chapter in his very long career. Selleck also co-wrote six of the movies, starting with "Death in Paradise'" in 2006. The Jesse Stone movies have provided steady work for some amazing recognizable actors including Viola Davis, Saul Rubinek, William Sadler, Kathy Baker, and William Devane.
There are nine films in the Jesse Stone film series. Here is the best order in which to watch them.
The release order
The release order of the Jesse Stone movies are as follows:
- Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (2005)
- Jesse Stone: Night Passage (January 15, 2006)
- Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (April 30, 2006)
- Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
- Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
- Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
- Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
- Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
- Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
The first eight films aired on CBS, while the ninth was produced, on a budget, for the Hallmark Channel.
Curiously, the first Jesse Stone movie was based on the fourth Jesse Stone novel. The second film, "Night Passage," was based on the first novel (as seen above), and might serve as a Jesse Stone origin story. Novel purists may want to watch the second film first, then follow the rest chronologically. Only "Stone Cold," "Night Passage," "Death in Paradise" and "Sea Change" are named after Parker's original novels. On "Thin Ice," Parker has a "characters by" credit, and the rest all seem to be whole creations of Selleck, Harmon, and the series' other screenwriters.
The Jesse Stone movies seem to be a wonderful ur-example of what might be called a "comfort watch." They are all set in cozy New England (where Parker is from) and feature appropriately twisty plots without ever dipping too deeply into difficult philosophies or questions about police efficacy. It may strike one as curious that so many audiences take a brisk, casual comfort in stories about violence, murder, and death, but it makes sense with some thought. Police procedurals follow straight, logical paths, and tell fantastical tales about how the criminal justice system ought to work in the best of circumstances.
To this outsider, Jesse Stone is the '00s-dad version of "Law & Order."