It's speculation on my part but this, to my outside eye, has as much to do with the season and it's reception as it does Alex himself. He has such a work ethic and the season (up until the last two eps) hasn't been going well, it must have been weighing heavily on him and combine that with the fact that his workload actually increased, it can't have been easy for him.

He just has to think about himself and not the show for a little bit, so they can both be stronger.