The season premiere of The Vineyard opened with a narration by Katie. She explained the atmosphere of Martha's Vineyard amongst the seasonal employees who come to work at the famous Black Dog House. The episode slowly evolved with introduction of all the young adults in their summer house, which was provided for them. The gathering of the young adults was tense and hormonally motivated. Some new faces arrived eager to rock the boat and assert themselves, while other veterans of the vineyard experience returned with history.
The cast is compromised of Katie, Jackie, Gabby, Emily, Cat, Ben, Daniel, Jon, Luis, Taelyr, and Sophi. Jackie and Gabby are working as managers for the summer of the Black Dog, so they gave Katie the hookup with a job and the nicest room, which immediately caused tension with the other girls in the house. Cat is a local who also works at the Black Dog, teaching all the summer workers. Ben is also a local who is returning to the island after leaving the Coast Guard. Emily, Daniel, Jon, Taelyr, Luis and Sophi are all on the Vineyard just for the summer working. On the first morning of work Luis was late., but stopped in to say hi to Katie. After work, some cast members were on the beach talking about relationships, and which guys they wanted to mark for themselves. Cat returned to her mother's house to retrieve a dress, but things deteriorated into an argument. During the argument about her future and need for maturity, Cat let slip that her male love interest Ben had been kicked out of the Coast Guard. She was sworn to secrecy about that by Ben earlier, but in a fit of frustration with her mother she revealed the news. Cat then asked her mother not repeat that fact and stormed out of the home.
Back at the group house Emily confronted Luis during his workout to discuss Katie. Meanwhile, Jackie was outside the Black Dog talking to an old friend, Shawn when Jon interrupted trying to assert himself, but was dismissed by Shawn. Afterward at the home of the Black Dog owners, an introduction party for the employees was held. The party started with an introduction by the owner and then the employees mingled. Ben ran into Shawn outside in the streets and explained he left the Coast Guard and looking for work. Shawn explained that rumors are spreading he was kicked out, and Ben asked if he spoke with Cat.
Then Jackie sat down with her mother over food and discussed men. Meanwhile, Ben was waiting outside Cat's home to confront her about telling people about his secret. Katie and Lu went to the dock swimming together, and talked about Lu's search for love. Daniel and Jon decided to crash a party of the locals, but Cat warned them not to. It turns out when they tried to walk into the party, Ben was there and started an argument, so they walked away. Lu returned home and was flirting with Katie, but as soon as he left the room, Emily started arguing with her about leading him on. Emily said that Lu clearly likes her, but Katie insisted nothing is going on.
There was a beach bonfire, where all the locals and summer workers were hanging out. Lu gave a toast to new friends and a great summer. The guys from the party that wouldn't let Jon and Daniel in started walking towards the bonfire. Jon and Daniel walked up to them and started badgering them. The group of guys said that if you show us a good time, we will show you around the island. Jon and Daniel decided to let them in the bonfire. Cat and Luis were talking, when Shawn and Ben showed up, Ben ignoring Cat. Ben approached Sophi and they exchanged numbers. Katie and Jon were talking, but Luis came and warmed him to stay away. Jon and Luis then started fighting, and Emily made a comment to Katie.