Trust but Verify

"Trust But Verify" is the eleventh episode of season 1. It is scheduled to air on January 23, 2013.

Synopsis
Diggle is shocked when Arrow's next target is his former commanding officer and mentor, Ted Gaynor. Oliver suspects that Ted was involved with recent armoured truck robberies. As the vigilante, Oliver infiltrates the security company Ted works for. While confronting Gaynor, Diggle intervenes and Oliver is forced to improvise a quick escape, during which he steals a drive containing secure information. Gaynor gives Diggle a job at the security company. Oliver decides to use this to his advantage.

While on a shopping trip with Thea, Moira recieves a call from Malcolm Merlyn. She agrees to stop one of her contacts from going against a plan developed by Merlyn in exchange for proof of Walter Steele's life. Thea witnesses their meeting, and believes that Malcolm and Moira have been having an affair. She brings this to Oliver and also mentions that Moira and Robert Queen had been fighting for some time before the sinking of the Gambit. Oliver confronts Moira, who reveals that Robert had been repeatedly unfaithful and asks Oliver never to tell Thea about it, as it would tarnish her father's legacy in her eyes. Oliver agrees.

Tommy Merlyn, while working on the construction of the new club, receives a call from his father, apologizing for his harsh words and inviting him and Laurel to dinner that night. Tommy, after some encouragement from Laurel, hesitantly agrees. The dinner goes well; however, Malcolm attempts to get Tommy to sign over a free health clinic that had been run by his late mother. Tommy refuses angrily and storms out.

Oliver gives the secure drive to Felicity, saying that it's a scavenger hunt with a case of high-class wine at the end, and asks her to crack it for him in exchange for a bottle. Meanwhile, Diggle and Gaynor discuss old jobs at the restaurant where his sister-in-law works. Diggle is re-introduced to Paul Knox, also a former soldier, but not someone Diggle got along with very well. Felicity cracks the drive, and finds information on it about the truck robberies. She forwards this information to Oliver, who says that he will hand it over to the police. However, he winds up disrupting one of the robberies in his vigilante persona, seriously wounding one of the men.

In flashbacks to the island, Oliver obtains a disguise and goes back to rescue Yao Fei. His attempt is uncovered by Edward Fyers, who knocks him out and has him locked up.

At the Queen house, during Thea's 18th birthday, she recieves a car, but she also recieves a new drug called 'Vertigo' from some friends. She goes upstairs to hide the drugs and witnesses Moira and Malcolm meeting. There are no overt sexual overtones, as Malcolm is simply providing the proof for Moira of Walter's safety, but Thea is furious. She storms off, but not before telling her mother that she should have been on the Gambit the day it went down.

Oliver meets with Diggle at the party, who informs Oliver that Gaynor could not have been responsible for the attack, as he'd been with him during the attack. Oliver acknowledges this, and Diggle lets him know about Knox. Oliver asks Diggle to poke around at the security company, as one of the men had been badly wounded and there would likely be blood in one of the vans. Diggle agrees, and Oliver discreetly plants a bug on him in case something goes wrong.

Diggle locates the van used in the robbery; however, he is confronted by Knox and Gaynor, who was in on the whole thing. They are down a man due to Oliver, so they coerce Diggle into participating in the next heist by kidnapping his sister-in-law and threatening her life. Oliver overhears all this and sets out to help Diggle.

Meanwhile, with her emotions running rampant, Thea takes her new car for a drive. She veers over into the wrong lane, overcorrects to avoid oncoming traffic, and gets into an accident.

Diggle is armed with the grenade launcher, while Knox and Gaynor are in a van with Diggle's sister-in-law and the other weapons. He fails to launch the canister at the armored truck and lets it go by. When he is confronted by Gaynor, he fires the launcher at him and Knox, creating a distraction for their hostage to escape. Gaynor takes off after her, Diggle sprints after Gaynor, picking up a pistol on the way. Knox grabs a weapon and is about to shoot Diggle in the back, but Oliver arrives in time to disarm and kill Knox before he can get a shot off. Diggle catches up to Gaynor, but finds himself unable to shoot him when Gaynor draws his weapon. Oliver is forced to kill Gaynor before he can kill Diggle. Diggle is arrested, but let go when he claims he did what he did under duress.

Oliver and Moira go to visit Thea in the hospital. She wants nothing to do with Moira, but later leaves her room with Oliver, having been cleared. They are confronted in the hallway by a police officer, who arrests Thea for driving under the influence as she had taken the Vertigo given to her before getting into her car.

In the final flashback, Fyers tells Oliver that his men wear balaclavas so that only their eyes are seen, as you can learn everything about a person from his eyes. At this, the soldier with Fyers, who had also been the first to talk to Oliver earlier, lifts his balaclava. It's Yao Fei, who has apparently been working for Fyers this whole time.

Production
Preparation ran from October 22 until October 30, 2012. Shooting ran from November 2 until November 13, 2012.