Pilot (Arrow)

The first episode of *Arrow*, titled "Pilot," debuted on The CW on October 10, 2012. Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg wrote it, with David Nutter directing. The episode introduces Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), a billionaire playboy; his mother Moira (Susanna Thompson); his sister Thea (Willa Holland); his new bodyguard John Diggle (David Ramsey); his best friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell); his ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy); and her father, Detective Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne). After five years shipwrecked, Oliver returns to Starling City and takes up a bow and hood as a vigilante, aiming to correct the wrongs his father committed before dying in the shipwreck and to save the city.

Shot in Vancouver, Canada, the pilot uses two timelines: Oliver in the present fighting crime, and Oliver five years earlier during his shipwreck. The creators wanted a realistic take on the character, resulting in a practical costume and no superpowers. The episode became The CW’s highest-rated show in three years. Critics generally praised it, especially Stephen Amell’s performance, and it won three awards from several nominations.

**Plot**

Billionaire Oliver Queen is rescued from the remote island of Lian Yu in the Mandarin Pacific after five years. He returns to Starling City, welcomed by his mother Moira, new stepfather Walter Steele, younger sister Thea, and best friend Tommy Merlyn, but refuses to discuss his time on the island or the scars covering his body. Oliver and Tommy visit Laurel Lance, now a lawyer suing corrupt businessman Adam Hunt. Oliver tries to apologize, but Laurel blames him for her sister’s death and rejects him. Later, Oliver and Tommy are kidnapped and questioned about Oliver’s father, Robert. Oliver breaks free and kills the kidnappers; he later tells Detective Lance they were saved by a man in a green hood. Moira hires John Diggle as Oliver’s bodyguard.

Slipping away from Diggle, Oliver sets up a base in an abandoned Queen Industrial warehouse. He reviews a list of names, including Hunt. Disguised in a green hood with a bow and arrows, Oliver threatens Hunt to pay $40 million to the residents of the Glades, who lost homes and savings due to Hunt’s company. At Oliver’s homecoming party, Laurel tries to reconcile, but Oliver says he hasn’t changed and will only hurt her.