Alec and Topaz: Who Plays the Players?

Overnight at Jokers Updates, posters were speculating about Alec's BBUK fandom and a report that he called Big Brother UK Season 12 one of his favorites. (I didn't hear that, but did catch him discussing Faye's secret task last week.) The reason why this is significant is that BBUK 12 winner Aaron was notorious for playing a blistering mindfuck of a game, confounding production and viewers alike for weeks*.

*For the record, in the end, Aaron was not playing the girl, he and Faye are still together a year and a half later, thank you very much.

Alec seems to be heading down that road to an extent, confusing viewers about his intentions, especially with Topaz.

His physical attraction to her seems legit - I've heard him cite BBUK's Noirin as being one of his Big Brother crushes, so it's not surprising that he cuddled up to Topaz on the first night. But what about after that? You can't exactly break up with your showmance in the Big Brother house - even if you want to.

Then there was Showergate, an incident that I thought was rather Aaron-like back when it happened. I still do think that Alec's overreaction was genuine (as were most of Aaron's), especially after hearing Aneal and Kat discussing it on a recent podcast. Aneal pointed out, and Kat agreed, that the corner where Alec went to "hide" during his Diary Room session is the natural place in that room to go to avoid the camera. The breakdown was probably legitimate.

But many skeptical viewers have pointed to Alec's own master's thesis, defended just last year. In the thesis, Alec explores the sexual attractiveness of a variety of emotions, most notably shame, and finds that with certain situations, male displays of shame can be sexually appealing.  That finding is not consistent, though - and Alec's hyper-awareness of the physical presentation of shame could have actually been what caused him to overreact and lose his cool in the situation. (That, and the slop.)

Hot or not? Alec's actual research

Alec has admitted that his social psychology scholarship was inspired by Dr. Will Kirby and his love of Big Brother. So, it opens up the question - just how far will Alec go to manipulate in the Big Brother game? 

We know he's playing Topaz, but Topaz suspects it, too. She's called him out for withholding personal information and doubted him in her private conversations with Gary. She knows she goes farther with Alec than without, so at this point, she's putting up with him as much as he's putting up with her. She seems casually attracted to him, but also annoyed by his cautious personality and reluctance to consult her on game decisions.

There's one big difference between how Alec privately discusses Topaz and how Topaz privately discusses Alec, however.

Topaz at least sees the value in keeping Alec in the game as long as possible, and is looking out for his interests. When he won Head of Household, she cautioned him to use his power to make deals with people rather than automatically guaranteeing them safety, but he brushed her off and privately told Peter that she was getting too big for her britches.

Alec openly has no qualms about cutting Topaz, even next week if it comes down to it. This wouldn't be a bad strategy if he wanted to throw suspicion away from their showmance, but he seems quite serious about it. He's much more open in his game talk with Peter and even with Andrew and Emmett at times than he is with Topaz.

The fact that Topaz is becoming a fan favorite in her own right is also hurting Alec's public popularity right now - he's plummeting in the Joker's ratings poll, and could be in danger if there's a fan vote that puts him at risk.

As a viewer, I find the Alec-Topaz dynamic fascinating. Showmances that lack tension are boring, and players that jump in the sack right away and refuse to come out until their eviction tend to clog up the feeds. Showmances are entertaining when there's tension, though. Usually that means some kind of sexual tension, as relationships build over time. Alec and Topaz are something different, something we haven't seen before.

This isn't the first strategic showmance - that prize goes to Chilltown, who invented the strategy (and claim they invented the word 'showmance'). What Alec is doing is also not at the level of a Mike Boogie/Erika game, to his credit. Topaz is sharper than the average showmance, and Alec hasn't exactly been subtle about the fact that she's not his number one. She's appropriately suspicious of his intentions, and Alec is at least respectful of her.

They just don't seem like a compatible couple outside of the game, and both seem to be consciously aware of that. So, what do you do?

The unfortunate part of all of this is that both Topaz and Alec are astute gamers, whose skills complement each other's deficits. Alec has the cool head that Topaz lacks, Topaz has the heightened perception that Alec lacks, and the two of them could really control the entire house... if they tried.

The only way that can happen now is if Peter and Gary leave before Alec and Topaz and force them to work together. It's not out of the question, but it's looking less and less likely every day.