What Happened To Alec?

Last night was an interesting one in Big Brother Canada land, as fans tried to piece together the full sequence of events, first from what we did see on the live feeds, and later from After Dark, which airs, bizarrely, hours after the fact. 

Most of the drama was actually between Topaz and Liza, which has been brewing for awhile anyway. Alec kept trying to play down the incident and bury his emotions, making amends with Tom (though later insisting he wants Tom out), and being distant with Peter and Topaz, his closest friends in the game.

Why?

Alec is in an interesting position in the house. The PhD student in Social Psychology understands what makes people tick, and he's been very clear from the start that he doesn't want to be the ticker. He keeps his emotions in check and tries to play dispassionately, making alliances based on logic rather than based on how much he likes people. He seems to like Topaz and strongly dislikes Tom, but you wouldn't know it from where his alliances stand.

We know Alec has emotions, but he'd prefer we didn't. The guy wants to be the Spock of the house, but he's unfortunately lacking in Vulcan parentage.

Additionally, Alec's now on his third week of slop. Last week was a bit of a break, with beaver tails and poutine to snack on, but this week's punished Have-Nots are getting nothing but slop. They haven't even had any prize meals. Emmett and Jillian have been breaking down left and right, too, Emmett over the lack of his preferred protein supplement, and Jillian over being required to service feet for two and a half hours. (Okay, most people would have broken down about that even without the slop, but still.)

All of this culminated last night in Alec's embarrassment over being exposed. Would he have been as upset if he'd had a real meal in the past week? Probably not. Would he have been as upset if he'd had a chance to vent in the past few days? Probably not. He's been controlling his emotions with everything he had left, and last night, he ran out of resources to cover it.

Who's he taking it out on? The people who he's closest to - Peter and Topaz, whose sympathy and attention ultimately broke him down. 

Some have speculated that he's faking his reaction for sympathy or game reasons, but that doesn't seem like Alec's style. Sure, he's a manipulator, but last night he was genuinely mortified by his uncontrolled display of emotion. He's not that good an actor, and don't expect to see Diary Rooms from him downplaying his reaction, unless, of course, he wants to cover up to us too, which is entirely possible. 

Alec has been a pot waiting to boil over all week, and it will be interesting to see if he's able to continue to suppress his emotions, or if the effects of his stoic slop performance continue to boil over in awkward ways.

In other news: Big thanks to ChitownBB for the new background! Check out his Twitter, where he's also got a lot to say about Big Brother Canada.