The character development of the three point-of-view characters in The Surgeon is driven largely by the inner conflict they face between how they present themselves professionally and their personal struggles. These characters, Detective Rizzoli, Detective Moore, and Dr. Cordell, deal with this challenge differently, and ultimately they are all changed by the experience.

Detective Jane Rizzoli seeks to assert her confidence in her abilities as a homicide detective. She never wants her male colleagues to ever see her as weak or less capable than they are. In her desire to ensure her contributions are not minimized or overlooked, she sometimes acts rash, impulsive, or aggressive. As Detective Moore reflects, “he understood why she’d adopted that up-yours attitude; she probably needed it to survive as a female cop” (50). Despite her tough exterior, Rizzoli does struggle in private moments with feelings of anger and self-doubt at being discriminated because of her gender. As she explains to Moore, “I waste a lot of energy just trying to make myself heard” (110). When Rizzoli is sidelined after killing an unarmed suspect, she overcomes this personal vulnerability by pushing herself to continue investigating to find Hoyt’s location. She is rewarded for this tenacity by finally receiving the admiration of her colleagues.

Detective Thomas Moore’s professional identity is closely tied to his view of himself, one shared by others, as a “good cop,” earning him the slightly derisive nickname “Saint Thomas.” He is recognized by his colleagues like Rizzoli as a man with a “calm voice” and level-headed demeanor. However, privately, he is struggling to cope with the loss of his wife to a cerebral hemorrhage 18 months prior. As he thinks to himself, his colleagues “do not know the other Thomas Moore, the man who stood before his wife’s closet at night, inhaling the fading scent of her clothes” (164). This feeling of loneliness and grief is at odds with the version of himself he presents at work. His desire to reconnect with a woman leads him to make the somewhat unethical decision to pursue a relationship with victim and possible suspect, Dr. Cordell. Rizzoli criticizes him for this, accusing him of “losing his objectivity” (131) because of his affections for her. Ultimately, this inner conflict is resolved when the police arrest Warren Hoyt. With the end of the case, Moore pursues a relationship with Cordell, ultimately marrying her.

Dr. Catherine Cordell is a highly qualified and competent ER surgeon whose calm and authoritative demeanor when treating her critical patients masks the trauma and PTSD she still carries from the sexual assault she experienced at the hands of Andrew Capra. While at work, Cordell is completely in control of her environment. Multiple passages depict her performing surgery in intense circumstances, as when she saves the life of a man with an iron rod through his chest. However, at home, Cordell is still haunted by what she experienced. She is obsessed with personal security, afraid of the outside world, and has transformed her home into a “sterile prison” in an attempt to exercise her control over all aspects of her life. She is reluctant to share her personal vulnerabilities with her colleague Dr. Falco for fear she will lose his respect. She is gratified when, after she finally opens up to him about what she has gone through, he says her fortitude reflects “how strong you are, how brave you are” (352). Instead of rejecting her, he sees her expression of her personal vulnerability as a form of strength.