George is astonished that Kramer indeed broke into acting in Los Angeles as he vowed. Jerry has been invited on The Tonight Show with airfare and accommodations, so he invites George along to L.A. in search of Kramer. George drives Jerry to exasperation with his overpreparation for the short trip.
In L.A., Kramer looks for work, having somehow already gotten blacklisted from Murphy Brown. His neighbor Helene, seemingly a faded actress, makes apocryphal claims of appearing in a Three Stooges film and being engaged to Mickey Rooney. She desperately implores him to give up and stay with her.
Shopping around his own spec script, "The Keys", Kramer hands a copy to Chelsea, a fellow auditionee, then pushes another copy on Fred Savage, who slips away from him. Chelsea is later found murdered by an unidentified serial killer, and a hardboiled police detective finds Kramer's script on her.
Going through airport security with George inspires Jerry to write some jokes, but, at their hotel, the housekeeper, Lupe, throws out his notes. George, indulging in free amenities, requests that Lupe not tuck in his blankets, then pressures Jerry to request the same despite his indifference.
At NBC Studios, Jerry leaves George alone backstage. George meets Jerry's fellow guests Corbin Bernsen and George Wendt, trapping both in dull conversations with him. George's delusions of sparkling wit are deflated when both Bernsen and Wendt, on air, scornfully recall his inane suggestions for their respective shows. Jerry stumbles over his newly written jokes, and blames Lupe.
Meanwhile, the detective interviews Helene, as well as one of the hippies Kramer rode with, and issues an arrest warrant for Kramer. George and Jerry see Kramer identified as the "Smog Strangler" on TV news, and look at each other in disbelief.
George and Jerry try to convince themselves of Kramer's innocence. George is starving due to refusing to eat breakfast during East Coast lunchtime, but Jerry is anxious to set the record straight with police. They stop at a payphone, and Jerry uses George's name to call 911.
George and Jerry are summoned to the police station, but they cannot find their own way. A police car picks them up, and the two become insatiably curious about police privileges and unaccountability, even asking to play with the car sirens. They are dismayed when a roadside carjacking interrupts their ride, and they are forced to sit together with the cuffed carjacker.
George and Jerry wager a housekeeping tip on whether Lupe will tuck George's blankets, but George does not know how much to tip. They ask the carjacker, who turns out to tip far better than Jerry. Before they get to the station, the car is dispatched to apprehend Kramer. Jerry and George tag along, leaving the car unlocked, and the carjacker escapes.
In lockup, Kramer is nonchalant and carefree to Jerry and George, but quickly cracks and is dragged away screaming. Under interrogation, Kramer's protestations are silenced by the detective, who zealously profiles his psychology and motives. Kramer is reduced to a blubbering mess by the relentless accusations, but another victim is found while he is detained, proving his innocence. He celebrates "the murderer struck again" with Jerry and George.
Overlooking the San Fernando Valley, Kramer relates, but disavows, the struggle of making it in Hollywood, and declines to return with Jerry and George. Jerry apologizes for their falling-out, and everyone hugs. Lupe has tucked in George's blankets after all, leaving him tossing and turning sleeplessly. He is still disappointed days later back in New York, but realizes he forgot to tip her.
Kramer returns without fanfare as though nothing had happened, and he and Jerry trade keys once more. Back in L.A., TV news identifies the true Smog Strangler as the escaped carjacker, who remains at large.