Plot summary
While Steven (Zach Callison) and Amethyst (Michaela Dietz) are watching the fictional cartoon Crying Breakfast Friends, the broadcast is interrupted by a transmission from Peridot (Shelby Rabara), an agent of the hostile Gem homeworld who is stranded on Earth and attempting to contact her superiors. Garnet (Estelle) deduces that the signal is coming from the Gem Communication Hub, which the Crystal Gems destroyed in the earlier episode " Coach Steven ".
The Crystal Gems travel to the Communication Hub and find the antenna has been rebuilt. Previously, Garnet and Amethyst destroyed the antenna by fusing into Sugilite, but Sugilite's destructive personality got out of control, so Garnet rules out fusing with Amethyst this time. Instead, she asks Pearl (Deedee Magno Hall) to fuse with her.
Pearl is thrilled by the offer, and she and Garnet form Sardonyx (Alexia Khadime), who destroys the Communication Hub while boasting about her intelligence and grace. After defusing, Garnet and Pearl celebrate with Steven while Amethyst sulks, feeling excluded.
The next day, the television broadcast is interrupted again, and the Gems return to the Communication Hub to find it reassembled once more. While Sardonyx disassembles it, Amethyst sings the song "Tower of Mistakes", blaming herself for Sugilite's recklessness.
That night, Steven and Amethyst go to the Communication Hub to catch Peridot in the act of rebuilding it, but are shocked to find Pearl rebuilding it instead. Later, when Garnet and Pearl are about to fuse to break down the antenna a third time, Amethyst and Steven stop them and reveal that they know that it was Pearl who rebuilt it. Pearl confesses that she was just trying to create an excuse for more opportunities to enjoy the emotional thrill of fusing with Garnet. Amethyst comes to Pearl's defense, but Garnet is enraged and disgusted by Pearl's betrayal, and demands that Amethyst fuse with her to destroy the Communication Hub for good.
Sometime later, back home, Steven and Amethyst are watching Crying Breakfast Friends. Garnet is not speaking to Pearl. As the characters on Crying Breakfast Friends forgive each other, Amethyst wistfully remarks that "it sure would be nice if things worked out the way they do in cartoons."
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Cry for Help (Steven Universe). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.