'Arrow' Season 7 Premiere Synopsis Revealed

The CW has released the official synopsis for Arrow's forthcoming season premiere, titled "Inmate #4587."

The number is a reference to one of writer Marc Guggenheim's favorite shows, Wiseguy, in which 4587 was Vince Terranova's "ident code."

"Beth [Schwartz, Arrow showrunner] and I had a phone call with BNSP, which is our censors... a very lengthy phone call about a particular scene that we never had before," episode director James Bamford said. "So, we are really trying to push the limits on the show in the gritty factor. We are trying to go as far as you can go within the confines of our network and what is expected of us and what we can do and can't do. We are not on Netflix, so we will never be able to X, Y, and Z, but we are damn sure going to try."

"One scene in the premiere, what Oliver does is reprehensible," Amell said at San Diego Comic-Con. "There's nothing about him that is heroic at all [in the episode]."

Amell elaborated a bit on that idea in a previous interview, noting that he hopes the premiere upsets fans.

"Obviously, you want to lean into things that you think fans would want, right?" Amell suggested in a previous interview. "Concurrently, I'm all for things that make fans mad, because mad is no different than happy. The only thing that I don't want is indifference. I always joke with fans about my alter-ego, Evil Story Steve. If you were to tell me, you know, that four people died in the season premiere of Arrow in season seven, I'd be very sad … but my alter-ego, Evil Story Steve, would be like, 'Oh – that's very exciting; why'd that happen?'"

"So, I think that making fans happy, clearly, is what you wanna do when you're on a show in general because you want people to keep watching, as long as you're not afraid to lean into things that may make them go, 'But why would you do that? I hate that. That's awful,' because that's not actually what they mean. If someone screams out on Twitter, 'I'm gonna stop watching the show!' they're probably not gonna stop watching the show, you know what I mean?" Amell added.

Arrow 07x01 Gallery

You can check out the official synopsis for the episode below, and see preview images in the attached gallery.

LOCKED UP

Following Oliver's (Stephen Amell) shocking decision to turn himself over to the FBI and reveal his identity as the Green Arrow to the public, Oliver has spent the past five months in Slabside Maximum Security Prison. Determined to keep a low profile to shorten his sentence for the sake of his family, Oliver is tested when he runs into old foes.

Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) have taken on new jobs and left their costumes behind but not everyone is following suit. With her focus on William (guest star Jack Moore), Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) tries to start over but when someone from her past resurfaces, things become complicated.

James Bamford directed the episode written by Beth Schwartz & Oscar Balderrama.