After surviving being shot and stabbed at the end of The Stepfather (1987 film), Jerry Blake is institutionalized in Puget Sound, Washington (U.S. state). Blake has meetings with his psychiatrist. He escapes the institution after murdering the psychiatrist and a guard. He dons the guard's uniform to help him escape. After robbing and killing a traveling salesman, Blake checks into a hotel, alters his appearance, assumes the identity of deceased publisher Gene F. Clifford, and travels to Palm Meadows, Los Angeles.