AIexWiIIett

**Days** | 84

**AIexWiIIett** was the winner of Big Brother 7: The Sounds of Music.

When this season kicked off the way it did, I didn't see Alex sticking around for the long haul. Her previous history on the Survivor side of TSM often had her in the center of drama and she wasn't great with handling the pressure, as seen when she walked from Heroes vs Villains. Now that she was in a season with Wilted, someone with whom she shared bad blood, I was worried this rivalry would cloud her judgment going forward. Additionally, the Week 1 blowup placed Alex and Blue on opposite sides of the house, so now Alex had to overcome her tunnel vision when it came to targeting the duo of Blue and Wilted. However, despite facing these obstacles and being situated in the minority alliance, Alex did have inroads to the other side through her Final 2 deals with Turt and Zeph. Week after week, her minority allies found themselves on the block and at the majority's mercy, but Alex's social game allowed her to avoid nomination altogether. She had the most connections with the majority alliance out of anyone from the minority, but nevertheless she was viewed as the de facto leader of her side of the house. It seemed most everyone from the minority trusted Alex and looked to her for guidance, which can be seen when Veronica, Time, and the Duet all trusted her with their Triplet Veto pieces. She won the POV to save the Duet on Week 5, and then used the TPOV to save Time in the Double Eviction, but despite her best efforts her allies in Evette, Turt, and the Duet were all gone before the jury even hit. Although she had done well in terms of self-preservation thus far, Alex's allies were quickly dwindling and she knew something had to change soon before she was the only one left. Thus, Alex utilized her connection with Zeph to get through to Briana, setting a plan in motion to change the course of the game. Alex was a very persuasive talker, and it didn't take long to convince Zeph and Briana it was time to flip on the majority. Using this new 3-person alliance, Alex ensured Briana nominated Frost and Wilted with Blue as a replacement nominee. This move not only took out her arch-nemesis in Wilted, but it also removed the majority's ringleader and caused its collapse. Now that the majority had imploded, the game opened up like never before. Although she had spent the first half of the season protecting her Minority X allies, Alex saw an opportunity to realign her position and took it. After Young plotted to keep Wilted behind her back and go after Zeph, she made the choice to turn her back on him in favor of protecting her Final 2 with Zeph. As a result, Alex's power in the game continued to grow, but it came at the cost of Young and Time. At this point, Alex had the trust of nearly everyone remaining. She had an alliance with Zeph and Briana, an alliance with Mimi and Veronica, and even a half-baked alliance between her, Blue, Veronica, Briana, and formerly Time. When Frost won HOH and went after Time, it was Alex who plotted for Briana to expose this alliance as it would put Veronica and Time in the target zone over herself. Despite Alex being in that alliance as well, Frost still had a level of trust in her. Although Alex was extremely well-positioned socially, her true allegiance was to Zeph and she knew it was time to start taking out major threats. First, when Blue won HOH in the Final 7, Alex escaped nomination once again despite feuding with Blue after the first Double Eviction. She then took this opportunity to evict a big player in Briana while Blue tried to get even. After Alex and Zeph turned on Briana, Zeph won the next HOH and not only kept Alex safe but took out Frost for her as well. Alex was sending home all of the biggest threats to her game, but Zeph was taking all of the blood. When the Final 5 rolled around, Alex finally locked in a Final 3 deal with Mimi and Zeph after Blue and Veronica linked up to go against them. This alliance proved beneficial as Mimi put up Blue and Veronica during her Final 5 HOH reign. Alex was nominated for the first time all-season after Veronica won the POV, but even then Mimi kept her over Blue when she had the sole vote to evict. Finally, Alex won the Final POV of the season to guarantee her own safety and send home the last of her old allies in Veronica. Despite a rocky start, Alex had masterfully navigated her way to the Final 3 with her Final 2 deal still in the game. She was unsure of whether or not to take him to the end, but before she could compete against Mimi in Part 3 of the Final HOH, Zeph and Mimi were expelled from the game for cheating. Regardless, I see Alex winning the Final HOH and persuading a jury to vote for her in the end, even over a dominant player such as Zeph. Overall, Alex was an extremely crafty player. She's the only TSM Big Brother winner to never win an HOH, which is a testament to how well she could direct the course of a week without being in power. Her social game was also phenomenal, as shown by her not touching the block a single time until the Final 5 and gaining the trust of numerous players from both sides of the house. Despite winning no HOHs, Alex did keep up physically with 2 veto wins and she showed throughout the season that a lack of safety wouldn't make her back down from a fight. She was extremely adaptable and knew how and when to cut people loose to advance her game. Alex's game was cutthroat but perfectly hidden under the guise of loyalty, which is why by the time her allies finally caught onto her game it was too late. All in all, I commend Alex for her unique gameplay and respect how she was able to fluidly maneuver her way from the bottom all the way to the top. Truly a breath of fresh air and a great story to go with it.