Popaz

Once again, Alec is taking some of my advice. 

Group hug

After a full and fruitless day of campaigning yesterday, he had an animated chat about Big Brother fandom last night with Topaz and Peter.

Debating crashing next year's open calls in disguise

There's been a weird dynamic between Peter and Topaz for awhile, and I think it boils down to a twinge of jealousy. Topaz has always known that Alec cares about Peter more than her, which Alec basically admitted last night in this conversation, describing Peter as the friend he'll keep after the show, and Topaz as the "sexual friend". 

Ouch. 

Peter has played into Alec's hints of dislike for Topaz all season, even as he's grudgingly accepted that Alec has to spend time with her at least for game purposes.

All of them know that the bromance beats the cuddlemance,  but it's still always been an unspoken bit of tension between the two of them.

Still hating everyone else

The Buck Chargers have been hard at work trying to drive a wedge between Peter and Topaz, with Topaz being pulled into a fake girls' alliance, and Emmett and Jillian trying to rope Peter in. That's why it was so interesting to see them end their day this way, laughing loudly together over their shared love of Big Brother. 

Granted, everyone in the house is being fairly nice to everyone else in spite of all the competing alliance dramas, but this moment stood out. If I had to guess, I'd say that both Peter and Topaz know, from the campaigning they were doing all day, that they're both on the outs and may have to team up when Alec leaves Thursday.

The one thing they haven't done yet is strategize and form a concrete alliance. I anticipate that happening before Alec's eviction, with him possibly negotiating along with them. Topaz isn't much for forming alliances, especially since all of hers have evaporated, so it may take Alec and Peter deputizing her as a Shield member - can you imagine? Actually, now that I've typed that, I really want it to happen.  

The only question is, will Peter and Topaz survive the Double Eviction? If neither of them can win a competition, it's doubtful. 

Big Brother Around the Web: Facts You (Maybe) Didn't Know About Peter

Peter's college buddy Karl offers up five interesting facts you may not know about Peter via his website. 

Mastermind of...?

Karl doesn't seem to be following the live feeds, or else he'd already know the following facts: 

1) Peter's game is being massively overhyped by the show's editing,

and

2) We know all about the chicken fingers thing. 

This was Pete's dinner last night, while the rest of the house was eating surf and turf and sushi for a task that he'd passed:

Surf and turf Wings and things

Yes, that is a caesar salad, one of the few semi-healthy food items he can tolerate.

If Alec goes on Thursday, which is looking more and more likely after Emmett and Jillian flipped back late last night - as of right now I see Topaz or Peter following him right out the door. If Peter was really playing the savvy under-the-radar game he's trying to play, he'd be strengthening alliances and trying to chip away at the Buck Chargers either by positioning himself with Topaz or with Andrew/Talla, but instead, he's slipping into an outsider position and not doing much to counter it.

No caption, I just needed an excuse to use this cap.

I want to root for Peter - I tend to like the weird, strategic underdogs - but just like Alec, I'm disappointed by his game so far. 

It's not over until he's out the door, of course, and Peter is still playing a good under-the-radar strategy. The problem is that at this point, being off the radar is going to mean he's an easy target to slide right out the door without leaving any upset allies at a final six or five HOH. 

Confidential to Alec

Dear Emperor of Doom,

You've been listening to me the last few days, it seems.

Dr. Won't

I said that I wanted you to come to your senses and recognize your mistakes with Topaz, and boy, you listened, creating maybe the best tragedy Big Brother has seen in years. Shakespeare couldn't have crafted it any better himself. This villain redemption arc should play out quite memorably on Canadian cable TV, and bravo to you for it.


So, it's done, and your time playing the game of your life is winding to a close. You've lost. You're going to hang out with Gary and AJ in a ski lodge somewhere for a few weeks before coming back to cast a final vote and try to figure out a way to party with the US reality stars in Vegas next summer, which seems to be one of your primary motivations for doing the show. (You should totally hit our New York City BB15 Premier Party in June, by the way, but we can discuss that later. Moving on.)

What do you do next?

There's one major thing Alec needs to do in order to preserve a Big Brother legacy for himself, and it's the one thing that hasn't occurred to him yet.

He needs to sit Peter and Topaz's asses down stat, and make them realize that if they can't crack the Team Nova Scotia/Buck Chargers/whatever alliance (Buck Chargers is TNS + Talla), they've got to trust each other and work together 100%.

Peter and Topaz are both poised to lose Alec as their key ally, and this is simply not a good time to be playing solo in the game. Peter needs Topaz's fire and aggression, and Topaz needs... well, she needs a warm body to align with, and Peter is that, at least. If it takes a mutual desire to avenge Alec in order to unite them, fine, but if they continue to be distant, their games are over and they'll be hanging with him pretty soon.

+

-

=

Well, maybe. It'd still take a good HOH/POV run, but that's always going to be easier with two people than with one.

Alec's gameplay is the perfect illustration of why strategic alliances matter more than alliances with people you actually like. Hell, it's perfect if they can't stand each other, all the better - just as long as they stay loyal. The fact that they've barely spoken the entire game means that if they can keep it quiet, no one will see them coming until it's too late, as obvious a pair as they are.

Alec's best move at this point is to quietly accept his fate and work to see that his loyal allies are established in the game before he scoots out the door on Thursday. If so, he might actually have someone worth voting for in the finals. If not, well, they'll have a fun April together in the Jury House.