The series' backstory is inspired by The Surgeon. Boston detective Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) was investigating a serial killer named Warren Hoyt (Michael Massee) some time before the series began. Hoyt, who was banned from medical school for fondling a corpse, used his vast medical knowledge to systematically torture and kill vulnerable women. Eventually, he captures Rizzoli and pins her to the floor with scalpels. As he prepares to cut Rizzoli's throat, her partner, Vince Korsak (Bruce McGill), shoots Hoyt and saves Rizzoli's life. The series pilot, "See One, Do One, Teach One", is largely based on The Apprentice. Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander) investigate a killer with Hoyt's modus operandi, plus an interest in necrophilia. Rizzoli and Isles discover that the copycat was a soldier that met Hoyt in medical school, had his identity erased for CIA black operations, and mimicked Hoyt's MO in a killing spree during said operations. Meanwhile, Hoyt escapes from prison and rejoins his apprentice. They capture Rizzoli and attempt to kill her, but she manages to disarm them by tasing them and impaling Hoyt in the eye with a flare. She shoots the apprentice to death and, when Hoyt reaches for his scalpel, shoots him through the hands, giving him injuries similar to the ones he gave her