The latest Jesse Stone - Crisp and Edgy

locoowl

This latest Jesse Stone feature is the first one of the series which is not based on a Robert B Parker novel. Even so, it rings true to the series and is, in my opinion, one of the best written in the series.

While the interaction between Rose (Kathy Baker) and Jesse (Tom Selleck) is not as warm and caring as the relation between Jesse and Molly Crane (played by Viola Davis in previous episodes), the dialogue is crisp and taut with meaning. It is good to see Kathy Baker given some major time in one of these episodes. The same thing holds with Jesse's dealings with Suitcase. The dialogue is crisp and razor sharp with all the wit and irony that I expect from Robert Parker characters.

A previous reviewer talked about this episode being character driven. I think that is true of all of them, but definitely more so than usual in this episode. The dialogue in this one helps define and shape the characters as never before. I thought it sparkled. The back and forth between Jesse and the woman who is investigating him, Sidney Greenstreet - who saw that one coming? - is ironic, witty, urbane, and has just the right feel to it. The same is true for some of the scenes with Kathy Baker. There is a lot of irony and an attempt on Jesse's part to seem more hard-nosed than he actually is.

Some may think that the plot lines were rather weak, but they were really not as important to character development as the dialogue which builds up the growing relationships between Jesse and Rose, Jesse and Suitcase, and Jesse's new female interest, Sidney.

******** WARNING! Here may be spoilers! Read at your own risk! *******

There must be some unstated rule that Jesse will always be in conflict with the town council. While it demonstrates Jesse's desire to do the right thing, no matter what the cost, the conflict in this episode seems a bit contrived, but we do get to see Jesse push back, and it does tend to set up the forthcoming episode - where we hope, Jesse will prevail, once again.

Obviously, there are lots of loose ends to tie up with Captain Healy and the motive for the non-stakeout stakeout that opened the show. While we know who shot Healy and that Jesse got him, we still do not know what the motivation was. Hopefully that will be cleared up in the next episode.

I confess that the plot involving the kidnapped child was a bit weak, but Camryn Manheim gave the mother's character more depth and poignancy than might be expected. Her performance also gives substance to the conflict between Rose - who wants to open up the investigation - and Jesse - who is against it. Yet we see that Jesse's heart is in the right place as he allows Rose to investigate on her own time and even helps her. While the relationship between Rose and Jesse is not the same as that between Jesse and Molly, I think we can look forward to some deepening between the two in the next episodes - assuming Kathy Baker is willing to reprise her role. I hope she does. This plot line gave us a glimpse of both Jesse's and Rose's inner workings.

I really appreciated the fleshing out of Jesse's relationship with Suitcase. Again the back and forth banter between the two signal a growing intimacy which was lacking in previous episodes. I look forward to how this relationship will develop.

All in all, this was a satisfying new episode in this series. It bodes well of things to come!

score 10/10

locoowl 7 July 2009

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2092616/