In the series premiere, billionaire Oliver Queen returns to Starling City after being stranded on a remote island for five years and adopts the persona of Arrow to fight crime.

Oliver heads to the courthouse to get his death certificate repealed and is pleasantly surprised to run into Laurel, who is there prosecuting Martin Somers (guest star Ty Olsson), a criminal with ties to the Chinese Triad. Recognizing Martin's name from his father's book, Oliver sets his sights on taking him down. Martin orders the Triad to "take care of" Laurel so they send their top mercenary -- China White (guest star Kelly Hu) -- after her, an act that culminates in a battle between Arrow and China White. Meanwhile, Moira and Walter (guest star Colin Salmon) ask Oliver to take over the company.

Oliver is surprised when someone shoots and kills one of his targets. As his plan is to bring people to justice vs. outright killing them, Oliver doesn't appreciate the help and searches for the gunman. He soon learns that the man, Deadshot (guest star Michael Rowe), is taking out businessmen who are scheduled to bid at an auction on an energy company and Walter is one of the bidders. Realizing he can't protect his family and stop Deadshot at the same time, Oliver enlists Detective Lance's help, but his plan has dire consequences. Meanwhile, Laurel and Tommy get caught in an awkward situation with Oliver.

Oliver still hasn't figured out how to get back in Laurel's good graces, but a late night bonding session with Thea gives him the inspiration he needs. Looking into a suspicious murder case, Oliver realizes an innocent man, Peter Declan (guest star Lane Edwards), was framed by one of the targets on his list. As Arrow, he asks Laurel to help prove Declan's innocence. Meanwhile, Walter asks one of his employees, Felicity Smoak (guest star Emily Rickards), to look into a $2.6 million withdrawal that Moira made without his knowledge.

After Detective Lance arrests Oliver for murder, Oliver tells Moira that the only lawyer he'll allow to represent him is Laurel. Laurel takes the case, which puts her at odds with her father. Oliver offers to take a polygraph in front Detective Lance but things get tense when Lance asks him if anyone else was on the island with him. Oliver flashes back to the island, when he got his first scar, courtesy of DC villain Deathstroke (guest star Jeffrey Robinson).

A gang of bank robbers, dubbed The Royal Flush Gang, hits a local bank and seriously wounds an off-duty police officer during a heist. Diggle tells Oliver he needs to deviate from his father's list and start helping the citizens of Starling City. Meanwhile, Tommy asks Thea for relationship advice, but things get awkward when she realizes he was asking about Laurel. Moira confronts Oliver about all of his recent disappearances in the middle of family functions.