The following contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 7, "All That Glitters" which debuted Thursday, Nov. 10 on NBC. This article also contains descriptions of assault and violence.
Jet Slootmaekers and Detective Jamie Whelan are looking fancy while they pose as yet another undercover TV couple browsing for an engagement ring. They talk with Jay, who works at the jewelry store and is their sting operation's focus. They're looking for an international criminal, Mikael Abramov, who smuggles gold and then launders it by selling it to local jewelry businesses. A woman with a duffel bag enters: their supposed criminal courier. Whelan, Detective Elliot Stabler and the no longer rogue Detective Bobby Reyes chase her as she leaves. But when Stabler tackles her, he gets a surprise: it's Tia Leonetti, an old friend from his days on the vice job in Rome.
Whelan, Jet and Reyes try to guess just who Tia is as Stabler debriefs with Sgt. Ayanna Bell. She asks about their time undercover and Stabler looks a little sheepish. It turns out she's working the same Abramov case; the suspect's only in town for 48 hours, so looks like they'll be working together for the next two days. Stabler interviews Jay as Tia observes from the other side of the glass. Stabler plays the "fear of Abramov" game well and Jay spills names.
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Elsewhere, one of Abramov's contacts oversees a gold production operation when Abramov himself shows up and accuses him of skimming off the top. Predictably, things go south for the guy as henchmen kill him by pouring molten gold over him, early Game of Thrones-style. He asked for more gold, he got more gold -- you always have to be careful how you word things.
Tia pays Stabler a visit at his apartment with the intelligence reports. He points out where his mom stays (though she's away with his kids now) and Eli's room (though he's away at college). She asks how he's holding up following his wife Kathy's murder. There's some below-the-surface tension simmering there. She seems lovely but she's no Olivia Benson. Stabler prods, though -- why is she really in the States? He recognizes the signs of being obsessed with a case.
She admits that she had Abramov two years ago but things went south and two children died, then her whole case fell apart. Tia carries guilt and she wants to get him for good this time. They plead their case to set up a bust before Bell and Bell eventually relents. She can't use Elliot undercover anymore due to his Brotherhood fame, though, so she sends in Reyes again. Bell wonders why Tia's office hasn't responded to her yet, but Tia brushes it off.
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While all this is happening, the Silas case isn't going away. Whelan meets up with Pearl Serrano to discuss the very sensitive information she had to share about her shady husband Teddy Silas. She all but confirms that he was responsible for Henry Cole's death and gives Whelan a flash drive with incriminating evidence against Teddy.
At the police headquarters office, Reyes and Tia are getting into character. Bell confronts Stabler about knowing that Tia was on her own rogue mission and he says that he owes Tia for helping him get his mojo back at a down time in his life -- and Kathy loved her. While Reyes goes undercover, Jet and Whelan stake out in a car. Whelan apologizes for his ad-libbed crack about her parents not paying for her wedding while they were undercover; it struck a nerve because it was true. Jet was married at 20 and divorced soon after, and her parents didn't pay for it. Or talk to her after that.
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But Reyes meets with Abramov and they seem to get along swimmingly. The young woman who serves them, Joy, looks visibly upset and Reyes notices her green hands. Abramov seems receptive to doing business together, but he'll make Reyes wait a little bit. Though they didn't get the Abramov deal within the timeframe they need, Reyes thinks he can get the girl to talk. He knows her hands were stained by her relentless work in the gold operation.
Still undercover, he speaks with Joy on her way home, dropping his fake accent to win her trust. She tells Reyes that she witnessed Abramov kill her sweatshop boss. It's more than just a factory -- they smuggle girls in and abuse them. She doesn't know where the factory is; however, Jet can help! She just needs details about the van ride and she'll put it all together. And she does -- it's by the water and has ties to a front company called Monte Cinto. The squad swarms the location but it's since been cleared out. However, something catches Bell's eye and Stabler's nose and they find a gold-coated human skull in an incinerator.
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Jet's lab reports tie the gold on the skull to Monte Cinto in Sudan, where Abramov has ties. Stabler and Tia drive over to the Sudanese Embassy as they reconnect and discuss how Elliot was born for this job. At the embassy, the conversation isn't so smooth. The embassy doesn't want to admit to helping Abramov, even by accident. Stabler wears the representative down with words and the man slyly shows them Abramov's flight manifest. His plane is due to take off in 45 minutes.
As Abramov prepares to board, suitcases of gold bars are loaded up. But Stabler, flanked by more cops, speeds up and a shootout immediately starts. Abramov manages to get on board his plane and they begin to take off. Stabler starts to sneak on board when a wounded baddie lifts his gun to him, but Tia shoots him first. Stabler and always in charge Bell make the arrest. The police cut into storage containers and rescue the remaining women enslaved. It's a win for both the American and Italian police.
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Elsewhere, Pearl returns home... but Teddy is waiting for her. Pearl asks him to run away from this life with her -- leave New York, his father and the casino behind. She wants to start over but he's frustrated at the suggestion. What's wrong with her? He flippantly brushes her off and she says he doesn't even understand the pressure she's dealing with. There are shades of Upstead on Chicago P.D. but no one's going to Bolivia.
Stabler looks at a picture of him and Kathy as Tia calls. He answers and they chat all friendly-like about how she doesn't want to go back home, mostly because of him. She wants to stick around. She asks if he's home right now because she could use a drink -- she's already outside his door. As he walks to his door, neither opening it nor hanging up yet, she asks: "Are you going to let me in?" Well, Elliot? What's it going to be?
Law & Order: Organized Crime airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. on NBC and streams on Peaco*ck.
