He's grown a beard. We all know that a well-groomed, neatly-trimmed beard is a sign of the protagonist going through some tough times.
At this rate he'll develop a "drinking problem" and have some entertaining "rock bottom" episodes before going through conspiracy nut rehab and coming out stronger somehow.
It’s commonly held opinion that Alex narced on Bill Cooper and usurped his audience, thus starting his career. Alex might not be directly responsible for Cooper’s death, but he stood to benefit personally. Unlike Cooper, Alex is unlikely to ever take a guns blazing mentality. What Alex did was remove the alien stuff from Cooper’s conspiracy theories, which allowed for more mainstream audience, and made 9/11 islamophobia more central to the package.