Gary: What I Like About You

While we've got some time on our hands, I wanted to devote a few minutes to Gary "Glitter" Levy, one of the more interesting products so far from Big Brother Canada.

I admit, I didn't expect much from Gary in the beginning. Maybe the fact that he was neither the only minority nor the only gay cast member should have tipped me off - Big Brother Canada has been more diverse from the jump, and many of its star characters have proven to be much more complex than they seemed at the first impression, for better or for worse.

Gary defies the stereotypes - he knows his role on the show and plays into it with glee, but there's far more to him than meets the eye.

Gary and Luxury (RIP)

Gary is a complex character - one moment he's immature and selfish, the next he's surprisingly thoughtful and insightful. Part of this may be due to his age. At twenty-one, Gary is still on the cusp of childhood, and it shows. One minute he's creating a fake party task and pissing everyone off, the next he's astutely calling Alec out for his machinations with Topaz, the next he doesn't understand why the Have Nots are upset to be giving him a pedicure, the next he's standing up to the house's herd mentality to support Suzette on her way out the door.

Those glimmers of strategy and guts are what make Gary so interesting as a player. The first hours of his Head of Household reign were incredible to watch, as he subtly manipulated information out of the entire house and used it to push for what he wanted (Tom's eviction) while making everyone else think it was their idea (no, Alec and Peter, it wasn't).

In many ways, he reminds me of Daniele Donato, who I found to be extremely immature and whiny on Big Brother US Season 8, but transformed into a gutsy, self-assured rebel by Big Brother 13. Britney Haynes also showed a great deal of growth as a player between her young appearance on Big Brother 12 and her slightly older one on Big Brother 14.

Pwned

I don't think Gary is going to win this season - he can't, from the outside of the herd mindset in this house - but I could easily see him owning a future All-Stars season once he gets some more life experience under his belt and figures out how to wield his skill set to his advantage. And this guy is a shoo-in for All-Stars.

Gary is extremely confident in his own skin. That goes without saying, of course, but there's another layer to it. We've seen so many openly flamboyant men on these shows who harbor insecurity based on years of being bullied and ridiculed for their fabulousness. That kind of thing leaves bitter scars into adulthood, but if Gary wears those scars, he doesn't let them show. He loves who he is, and expects everyone else to love him until they say otherwise. He's not bitter or resentful as a result of his uniqueness, which is probably a credit to his family, who seem to be supportive of him.

Gary does possess one of the fatal flaws of big characters on reality television - he wants to be famous, and discusses it frequently on the feeds. (Seriously, we hate that shit.) When he discusses the fame he wants, though, he often frames it in terms of wanting a platform and a message, instead of wanting to just soak in attention. Obviously he wants the attention, too, but he wants to be a role model.

And he should be.

Seeing beyond the obvious

Gary has seen his closest friends go out the door, back to back - Danielle, Suzette, and now possibly Topaz, depending on the outcome of the veto(*)

(*)If you're Alec, who do you get the house to go after, between Topaz and Gary? Both probably hate you to an equal enough extent now, but Gary is the bigger competitor. At the same time, Gary isn't going to freeze you out for the next week, but that may make him more dangerous, so yeah, Gary is probably the target right now.

Despite pressure from the house last week, Gary refused to join the group that was isolating Suzette. As depressing as he found her in the last week, and as much as he knew it was risking his own game to spend time with her, he was unable to adopt Alec's strategy of forgetting that people are human, and did his best to keep her from being entirely isolated during her last days in the house. He knew better than to try and flip the game to save her, but he couldn't bring himself to mix the personal and the game and cut her out like the others, as hard as it was for him.

I've got a golden ticket

So where is Gary now? As we saw last night, he now seems to realize that the "Fourgy" alliance he thought he had with Topaz, Peter and Alec is worthless. Either Gary or Topaz will probably go home this week, and Gary has his veto replacement power to play on this week. During last night's feed leak he seemed to be trying to strategize with it, but he and Alec disagreed on its nature, so look for the interpretation of the power to be something Gary plays to his advantage. 

If Gary does succeed in rolling through this week, he's got to get over his annoyance with the other houseguests and use his house knowledge to assess the power dynamics and try to forge an alliance from what's left. Peter and Alec aren't going to do it for him, Gary and Talla don't seem to get along, and Emmett and Jillian are untrustworthy. Andrew and Gary have a very weird relationship and Andrew seems to be targeting Gary at the moment, but Andrew's flipped all over the place with Alec and might be willing to work something out. Who knows?

In the meantime, as much as I like both Gary and Topaz, I'm not sure that Topaz has much more to offer to the game once she's unleashed her fury on Alec. Her bridges will be burnt, and her options will be limited. Gary, on the other hand, has the ability to try to slip his way a little closer to the end if he thinks it over and draws on his skills.

Should Gary walk out the door on Thursday, I don't think it will be his last time on reality television. And I'm just fine with that. This world could use few more Garys in it. 

Real Talk: BBCAN Alliances

In the wake of the first (?) double eviction, with loyalties shifting and truths revealed, let's revisit where the house alliances stand.

Just passing by

Actual, Genuine Alliances: 
-Secret Wedding (Gary + Topaz)
-The Shield (Alec + Peter)
-The Three Stooges (AJ + Andrew + Talla)
-Jemmett (Jillian + Emmett)
-Suzette (??)

Looser, Less Genuine Alliances: 
-Alec, Peter, and Emmett are still loosely arranged via Quattro (Trio?) and seem to be staying loyal to each other so far.
-The Shield and Secret Wedding combined in Fourgy, but despite a second week in power, it doesn't look like that will stick.
-Emmett and Gary are fond of each other and interested in working together.
-Peter is building a friendship with Jillian with an eye towards bringing her in for a refreshed Quattro.
-Alec is totally sure he and Andrew are best buds. (He's wrong.)
-The Three Stooges think they can pull Jemmett over to help them take out The Shield. (They're wrong.)
-Peter has it in his head that he "controls" Talla, for reasons that aren't clear. (He doesn't.)

Who puppets the puppeteers?

Getting orphaned Suzette out of the way this week makes sense for almost everyone, but Alec is in trouble if he has to put a Stooge like AJ or Talla in the line of fire. Andrew is already starting to rev the engines in his direction and the ship is turning. The Stooges want to try and align with Emmett and Jillian for a strong five, but are seemingly unaware of Quattro and its remaining alliance structure.

The central house power seems to lie in Jemmett + Secret Wedding + The Shield (basically, a combination of Fourgy and Quattro, putting Alec and Peter in a power position), but the Stooges are starting to build alliances to chip away at that, and might be successful. The "power" six have a number of weaknesses - distrust between the Shield and Secret Wedding members, and a lack of connection between Jemmett and Secret Wedding. They're not a solid six, and the Stooges may get an opportunity to swoop in and scoop up some combination of the six into their own power alliance.

Free bird

Suzette remains a non-factor. Given the way the game is shaping up, it wouldn't hurt any of these groups to try to scoop her up and save her this week as an alliance partner going forward, but no one seems especially interested in that right now.