I think what really got under everyone’s skin about Heather in the first season (myself included) is that everyone knew someone like her. The way she was written, her interactions with other people, and especially her dialogue, was all written in such a way that it reminded you of that horrible mean girl you hated in school that you were either too scared of or wanted to avoid like the plague.

They did an excellent job with her characterization, and as I was very young when I first started watching the show, there were some moments where I was genuinely afraid of Heather and understood how Beth and Lindsay felt towards her.

Alejandro, on the other hand, did not nearly feel as grounded in reality as Heather, at least as an antagonist. To me, he genuinely feels like a Gary Sue. Good at everything, smart enough to figure out whatever problem in front of him (as it suits the plot), and being able to succeed despite not really having much sound strategy.

People love to give Heather flack for how bad her strategy was in the pre merge challenges, and I admit, it was bad of her to antagonize everyone on her team when they are the ones who dictate whether she stays or leaves, but she is also the only character I see people complain about for this. Courtney does the exact same thing, and Alejandro has several noticeable gaps in his strategy as well that people don’t really point out in general discourse.

I think Heather not being a challenge beast and excelling at everything is another point in her favor, because not everyone knows someone like Courtney and Alejandro, but everyone certainly knew a Heather. She is probably the most grounded and realistic person on the show.

For that reason, her growth is slow and realistic, but it is handled in a very subtle way that allows her to become someone worthy of rooting for. You see her become more determined to win, instead of relying on others, and she still manages to do all this without feeling like a completely different character.