Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost

In this episode, Jesse is still the retired ex-chief of the Paradise police force and his replacement is a man easy to dislike. Cindy Van Alden was a young woman that was a close friend of Jesse's until she went off to college and they no longer stayed in touch. Suddenly, Cindy is found dead in a vehicle on the side of the road in Paradise and the preliminary conclusion is that she died of a drug overdose. Determined to learn the truth, Jesse does some investigation on his own and faces a lot of pushback. Cindy had been in a rehab clinic and as Jesse investigates, it appears that she was worse off when she was released than she was when she checked in. Healy is involved in a case where a young black man is accused of murder and while he has no proof, he believes the man is innocent. At that point, he hires Jesse as a consultant and this time Jesse requests a badge. He then uses the authority that the badge gives him to probe both cases. Being Jesse Stone, he presses people to the point where they resist, yet his superb investigative skills allow him to “solve” both cases. People familiar with the Jesse Stone series of films will recognize the formula where Jesse gets stuck and consults mobster Gino Fish, a dangerous man that likes Jesse and has some scruples in his illegal business dealings. As is the case with the Parker books, the dialog in this video is sharp, concise and deadpan humorous. Selleck is the perfect actor to play Jesse Stone, he has the size, stern look even when friendly and he plays the functional drunk to perfection. In spite of his flaws, Jesse Stone is a superb police officer.