The creator of Jesse Stone gave Tom Selleck two simple rules to follow when it came to adapting the character – but the tenth film should finally break them. Magnum, P.I. may remain Selleck’s most famous role, but he’s been fortunate to have a few across his decades-long career. There’s also Police Commissioner Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods, which is drawing to a close after 14 seasons in 2024. There’s also the Jesse Stone movie series; a collection of TV films that follow Selleck’s titular police chief.
The original entry Stone Cold was a shock hit for CBS in 2005, leading to a run of sequels. The most recent was Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise, the only installment produced by The Hallmark Channel after CBS dropped the series. Selleck’s Blue Bloods schedule kept him from returning to Jesse Stone, but now his schedule is freeing up, fans are hopeful he will don the PPD cap at least one more time. For now, a tenth Jesse Stone has yet to be greenlit.
Author Robert B. Parker’s Two Jesse Stone Rules Explained
Tom Selleck has always honored Parker’s request
In a 2015 AV Club interview, Selleck described Jesse as a “… good man with some rather toxic habits.” That description is borne out by the franchise itself, where Jesse is always willing to do the right thing – even if it means bending the rules or making his own problems that much worse. The movies often underline Jesse’s alcoholism, where he spends his nights sitting alone and opening a fresh bottle of scotch with only his dog for company.
No matter how he tries to improve himself – be it seeing a therapist or diving into police work instead of drinking – Jesse always comes back to the same issues. Jesse Stone was created by the late Robert B. Parker, and Selleck (via TV Insider) recalled the rules the author set out that are key to understanding the character.
The two things that Robert Parker told us when we started doing the movies was that Jesse must continue to have a drinking problem and continue to be hung up on his ex-wife. Those are both still true.
When Stone Cold begins, Jesse is still mourning the end of his marriage to Jenn, though the two still talk regularly on the phone. Fans of the series will note that no matter the storyline or where the character finds himself in life, two things are always consistent: Jesse drinks more than he should, and he will have at least one call with Jenn that usually makes his drinking worse.
Parker’s Rules Reveal Why Jesse Stone Is Only Happy When Working
Jesse’s entire psychology can be traced back to Parker’s tenets
Even when he’s reluctant to, Stone tends to open up to sardonic therapist, Dr Dix (William Devane). One of their most revealing exchanges came with Jesse Stone: Sea Change, where the PPD chief revealed he drinks more when work gets slow, so Dix encourages Jesse to seek out work to keep him busy. Jesse takes it as a point of pride that he doesn’t get drunk on the job (though he famously turned up drunk at his job interview in the prequel Night Passage) – as that wouldn’t be “professional.”
| The Jesse Stone Series | Release Year |
|---|---|
| Stone Cold | 2005 |
| Jesse Stone: Night Passage | 2006 |
| Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise | 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 |
No matter his faults or bad habits, Jesse is shown to be a great cop. Work is the one thing that distracts him both from drinking and his love life – even though the latter appears very healthy on the surface. Jesse is constantly seen getting into romantic entanglements, but his undying love for Jenn sees that he never actually commits to any of them. Jesse and Jenn are trapped in a mutually toxic loop; she confides in him emotionally about her love life, seemingly unsure if she should sever their connection for good or not.
Robert B. Parker’s rules make Jesse Stone a tragic noir hero; he can’t get past his one true love and turns to drink whenever he doesn’t have work to distract him.
Thus Jesse – in eternal hope – is waiting to see if she’ll come back to him someday. Parker’s rules make Stone a tragic noir hero; he can’t get past one true love and turns to drink whenever he doesn’t have a case to distract him. This isn’t good for him, but for viewers, Parker’s Jesse Stone rules make for great drama.
Jesse Stone 10 Should Break Both Rules
It’s time for Jesse to move on
When Tom Selleck signed on for Blue Bloods, he intended to work on the latter and Jesse Stone side by side. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to pass. The star did reveal that if Jesse Stone 10 (via TV Insider) happens, “It wouldn’t be a final one because everybody loves it.” He also said it would be fascinating to catch up with Jesse a decade on from Lost in Paradise and see how he’s changed. If another outing happens, it should also – respectfully – break Parker’s rules.
The next Jesse Stone doesn’t have to end the series for good, but it would be nice to see him make a little personal progress.
It would be a sign of growth for Jesse to shed the idea he and Jenn will ever reconcile, and either develop a healthier connection to drink or ditch it completely. After all, Jesse has had a full decade of offscreen development, and it would be tragic if nothing at all had changed in that time. The next Jesse Stone doesn’t have to end the series for good, but it would be nice to see him make a little personal progress.
