It's 5:30 a.m. in Los Angeles, and in the pre-dawn darkness, the streets are desolate and still. One glossy, black, BMW SUV cruises the streets alone. Alone, except for that camera crew driving alongside it.

Jackie's on her way to the gym, and while she drives, she's on the phone with Mimi. Jackie's awake because she has to go to work. Mimi's up because vampires sleep during the day.

Jackie tells us, “If I said that we broke up every time Mimi walked out or had a fit, we'd be broken up about every other day.” In last week's episode, Mimi walked out on dinner after yet another argument. I wonder how much food Jackie's had to throw out since she met Mimi. Someone from the L.A. Regional Food Bank really ought to give Jackie a call.

In her office, Jackie's on the phone with her mother, Karen. “My mother and I have a very strained relationship--she hates the fact that I'm gay. My mom is a born-again Christian who converted to Mormonism.” A born-again Christian turned Mormon: Would make her a Bor-mo-gain? That's something you don't run across every day--if you're lucky.

Jackie and her mom are talking about her mom's upcoming visit to Los Angeles. “Mom, so, OK--let's talk about your stay here because you've called me three times. Obviously something's upsetting you about me not wanting you to stay here more than five days,” Jackie says to her mom via speakerphone.

“Five days is my max,” Jackie tells us, and we know exactly what she means. On her mom's last visit, Jackie had to kick her out. “The last time she was here, Mimi and I broke up for about four months. My mother chooses that time to come and visit me. I could not stand having her in the house. I finally told her she had to go.”

“I like to put you on the plane crying,” Jackie jokes over the phone. Her mom can't see the glee that passes briefly over her face, but we do. Heh heh.

Going back to work, Jackie consults with a new client, Tess. As they chat about gastric bypass surgery versus diet and exercise, I notice the artwork on Jackie's walls. There's a LeRoy Neiman-style painting of a Chihuahua hanging on one wall, and on the other, behind Tess' head, is a portrait of Gandhi. I like the juxtaposition of the playful and the meaningful. That's why I keep my great-grandmother's pearls in a Hello Kitty lunchbox.

Tess starts to cry. She doesn't want to be the woman for whom diet and exercise is not enough, as her doctors told her. Jackie assures her it's not true; together, they're going to make it happen. Her body will crave new things--protein and stuff--which is fine, because she can satiate herself with one boiled egg and a small apple. Tess should be crying harder.

At 270 pounds with a 58-inch bust, Tess says, “I'm ready to get to the person I know I am.” You go, girl.

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