Jesse Stone: Thin Icebroke a couple of franchise traditions - and ended on the bleakest note of the entire series.Thin Iceis the fifth entry in theJesse Stonemovie series, which adapted the Robert B. Parker novels of the same name.Parker gave Selleck two rules to follow while adaptingJesse Stone; one, Stone will always be hung up about his ex-wife Jenn, and two, he will always have a problem with drink (viaTV Insider). This formula keeps the character trapped in a toxic loop, butThin Iceneeded to mix things up after four movies.
The TV movie features the same cast of characters - thoughViola Davis' Molly left after the fourth entrySea Change- as previousJesse Stonemovies, with Selleck’s grizzled police chief looking into two cases. He’s looking into who shot his friend Captain Healy (Stephen McHattie), and a cold case involving a kidnapped baby dubbed “Baby Boy Blue” by the media. By this point in the franchise,Thin Iceknew what viewers wanted - but it also marked a shift in direction as Selleck took more control over the series.
Jesse Stone, Tom Selleck’s Detective Franchise, Is Basically “Old Man Reacher” And Perfect To Watch While Waiting For Season 3
Tom Selleck has played Jesse Stone across nine movies, and is the perfect franchise for Reacher fans to watch during the painful wait for season 3.
Thin Ice Is The First Jesse Stone Not Based On A Robert B. Parker Book Or To Feature Any Deaths
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice took the movies away from Parker’s novels
The fifthJesse Stonehas a startling opening, where Healy and Jesse are fired upon while on a stakeout; Jesse is left wounded while Healy is put in a coma. Any other installment would have seen Stone gunning down the would-be assassin at the end or engineering their demise.Thin Icedoesn’t do that, since both HealyandInternal Affairs officer Greenstreet (Leslie Hope) warn him off this path.Jessedoesget his revenge by getting the shooter sent down for parole violations- but at least he gets to live.
Thin Iceis most notable for being the firstJesse Stonenot based on a Parker book. Instead, Selleck co-wrote the story alongside Michael Brandman and Ronni Kern, with the latter penning the screenplay. By this juncture, Selleck and his co-writers had become experts in the world ofJesse Stone, and every following entry featured an original story.Thin Icestays true to the core tenets of Parker’s bookswhile diving into how Stone’s bad habits and talent for making enemies are finally catching up to him.
Thin Ice’s Lack Of Killing Was A Positive Step For Jesse As A Character
Not every Jesse Stone story needs to end with a shooting
The first fourJesse Stonesend with Selleck’s chief either gunning down the main villainor inNight Passage’scase, watching the villaingetgunned down by someone else. Stone has an old-fashioned sense of justice, and has proven willing to bend (or outright break) the law to see that wrongs are righted. In the past, he baited most of those criminals into lethal confrontations too, so that he could justify the shootings later. WithThin Ice, Jesse gets called out for this bad habit a few times.
… even if Jesse’s methods for dealing with the shooter are still suspect, it’s a healthier step than deciding all problems must be fixed by a gun.
It appears his therapy sessions with Dix (William Devane) are starting to pay off too, since he decides to take a different path. He could easily have pushed the shooter, Leaf (Fulvio Cecere), into another “justifiable” shooting to satisfy his personal need for revenge - but he doesn’t. He resists that temptation and even if Jesse’s methods for dealing with Leaf are still suspect, it’s a healthier step than deciding all problems must be fixed by a gun.
After CBS dropped theJesse Stonefranchise after 2012’sBenefit of the Doubt, The Hallmark Channel produced the most recent entry,Lost in Paradise.
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice’s Shock Ending Is An Emotional Rugpull
Thin Ice’s subplot carries the biggest shocker of the series
There is something comforting about the formula of theJesse Stonesaga, where two cases often unfold side by side. InThin Ice, this is where the mother of a supposedly deceased baby presents evidence her boy may be alive - and living in Paradise. Jesse and Rose (Kathy Baker) look into this, and for a brief moment, it appears there will be a happy resolution.Thin Icethen unloads the most devastating ending of the series, where they learn the child was indeed taken to Paradise but died years laterduring an ice skating accident.
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Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise
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None of the movies end on particularly uplifting notes, since that’s not in the nature of the character or the noir genre. Still,Thin Ice’s(which refers both to Jesse’s shaky position within the Paradise police department and the accident that resulted in “Baby Boy Blue’s” death) finale is the most haunting, since Jesse and his team invested in the idea the boy was still alive.The story closes with Jesse being suspended by the town council for his conduct, and boarding a bus to tell Baby Boy Blue’s mother what happenedto her child.
Jesse Stone: Thin Icemay have broken away from Parker’s original books, but it reassured readers the movie series was in great hands. It delivered on the formula audiences expected but still managed to add some surprises and even give Jesse a tiny piece of personal progress.
Jesse Stone
The Jesse Stone franchise is a series of television films based on the novels by Robert B. Parker. The series follows Jesse Stone, a former LAPD detective who becomes the police chief of the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts. The films are noted for their character-driven plots, focusing on Stone’s battles with alcoholism, his troubled past, and the crime investigations he leads.
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice
Cast
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice is a crime drama film directed by Robert Harmon. Tom Selleck returns as Jesse Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts, who is recovering from a gunshot wound sustained during an unsanctioned investigation. As Stone grapples with both personal and professional challenges, he becomes embroiled in a complex case involving a missing child and a mother’s quest for answers, testing his resolve and detective skills.
