Season 4 (Love Desert)

The Season 4 cast.

The fourth season of Love Desert premiered on IGTV on the **20th January 2021**, and its finale released the **15th April 2021**. It's the first recorded season in the mainline series, and essentially represents a reboot of Love Desert. Spinoff Love Desert All-Stars 1 was recorded and released prior to this season.

The season is revered for branching out in terms of diversity, with more diverse body types and older ages being cast to compete. Plus, a few new creators contributed to the casting and creation of characters, making for a fresh range of personalities.

At the time, Season 4 had the smallest cast of any regular season, with only 19 sims (3 of which had competed on previous seasons). A list of other sims that were cast but cut can be found here. The cut sims were supposed to enter as two groups of bombshells, but the host decided to keep the season shorter.

### Notable Competitors Pre/Post-Show

The crowned winners of this season are Anelle Interkurs and Eryk Ty L. Disfunkshen. Eliminated contestant Fat Puss was given the judge-favourite award at the finale.

3 contestants this season had originally competed on the unrecorded Season 3, to limited success. They performed generally better this season (Stella, Lorelei and Howl). After this season, Howl competed on Season 5.

Jessica, J'Betta, Cannie, Howl (again), Kora and Fat Puss later competed on All-Stars 2, none of which won the all-star crown nor reached the top 2 couples of the season (due to the domination of Season 5), though Kora won the judge-favourite award at the finale.

Colette later competed on Season 7, and was eliminated rather early.

## Runtime

\*Originally released 21st Feb, but re-uploaded later due to a major editing mistake.

Episodes generally released weekly until the late-season, where episodes started releasing fortnightly.

## Format

Similarly to All-Stars 1, Season 4 has a set elimination structure.

* At the end of each episode, the contestants choose who they want to couple up with. The recoupling occurs according to each sim's decisions, typically based on each sim's top 3 choices.
* The judges **present during the recording** then vote with their personal opinion, listing the current couples from best to worst.
* The 2 worst couples are then calculated, and those 2 couples become a bottom 4 of individual contestants.
* The judges then vote again between this 4, to eliminate 2 contestants\*.
* The top 2 couples of the week are posted to the Love Desert Instagram's story for the audience to decide who will get a date next episode.

\*In some cases, the judges not present during recording had a chance to vote at this stage to decide who gets eliminated.

## Cast

### Episode 1 Cast

This season started off with 13 contestants, one of which being returning competitor from Season 3, Stella Ware.

Anelle InterkursAshley JuilletBanginette Defz-DiorBill TdifferentCannie C. YewColette WhippleEryk Ty L. DisfunkshenGinger FarmgirlJ'Betta BowdownJessica Financiall AidKora HarmsRebecca BishtetasStella Ware (Season 3 Return)
### Episode 2 Bombshells

On episode 2, 5 newcomers entered the villa, one of which being returning competitor from Season 3, Lorelei Brady.

Fanny C. DaweechangeFat PussGuy KaminskiLorelei Brady (Season 3 Return)Nicolette Monahan
### Episode 4 Bombshells

On episode 4, 2 contestants returned: Nicolette returned to the competition after her elimination on this season's 2nd episode, while Howl Hatter returned after being eliminated back on Season 3.

Howl Hatter (Season 3 Return)Nicolette Monahan (Returning)

## Placements

\*This is the only season where the couple that won the judge vote could still lose the vote if the audience voted the 2nd place couple higher following the episode. This means some sims such as Cannie actually have many more judge vote wins than official vote wins on Season 4. Jessica and J'Betta benefited greatly from this unique audience system while finalist Cannie missed out on multiple wins for it.

### Stats

 **BOTTOM ASSASSINS**
**(Most elimination**
**rounds survived)**
Kora Harms (3)

### Recoupling + Vote Results

The contestants coupled up at each recoupling as follows:

(Between the top 2 couples each episode, the one in **bold** won the audience vote.)

## Episodes

### Episode 1

 **BOTTOM 4** | Banginette Defz-Dior
Anelle Interkurs, Kora Harms

### Episode 2

SEASON 4 EPISODE 2
 MINI-WIN
 TOP 2 WIN
 BOTTOM 5
Fat Puss
Guy Kaminski
Nicolette Monahan
 ELIMINATED (3)
**Nicolette Monahan**
**Fanny C. Daweechange**

\*Mini-challenge was not aired, but Colette was the best baker.

### Episodes 3-4 (The Villa Split!)

SEASON 4 EPISODES 3-4
 MINI-WIN
 TOP 2 WIN
 BOTTOM 4
Colette Whipple
Nicolette Monahan
 ELIMINATED (2)
**Bill Tdifferent**

### Episode 5

SEASON 4 EPISODE 5
 MINI-WIN
 TOP 2 WIN
 BOTTOM 8
Cannie C. Yew
Ginger Farmgirl, Stella Ware
Fat Puss
Kora Harms
Rebecca Bishtetas
 ELIMINATED (2)
**Colette Whipple**

### Episode 6

SEASON 4 EPISODE 6
 TOP 2 WIN
 BOTTOM 4
Kora Harms
Fat Puss
 ELIMINATED (2)

### Episode 7

SEASON 4 EPISODE 7
 MINI-WIN
 TOP 2 WIN
 BOTTOM 6
Ginger Farmgirl
Howl Hatter
Banginette Defz-Dior
Kora Harms
 ELIMINATED (2)
**Lorelei Brady**

### Episode 8 (SEMI-FINAL)

SEASON 4 EPISODE 8
 BEST VOTING PERFORMANCE (Counts as a vote win)
 3rd (Counts as a bottom placement)
 4th (Eliminated)

### Episode 9 (FINALE)

SEASON 4 EPISODE 9
 3RD PLACE
 2ND PLACE
 1ST PLACE, THE WINNERS OF SEASON 4

## Key Storylines

Season 4 is said to have some of the strongest characters and storylines in the show's history.

The season started by immediately establishing 3 powerhouse sims as well-liked and favoured by the judges:

* Cannie was in the top 2 couples for the first 3 episodes, despite always being coupled up with controversial (Kora) or overlooked (Rebecca) characters.
* J'Betta faced similar but smaller favouritism when she was voted highly with Colette, another less liked contestant.
* Jessica was voted around the middle despite being with Bill for the first couple episodes - something that would be unforgivable if Jessica wasn't Jessica.

### Cannie VS Kora: Bias VS Bias

For the first few episodes, the competition was almost entirely dominated by Cannie, but the story focused greatly on the first villain character in the show's history, Kora Harms. Kora was considered ugly and unlikeable by many of the judges, but a small few had a soft spot for her. She was in the bottom 4 on episode 1 alongside obvious-out Ashley, but also alongside two sims that were predicted to do better, oddballs Banginette and Anelle. The host was particularly bothered that Kora stood a chance at sending two of the host's early favourites home. Due to the fact that there was a tie and only Ashley went home, all 3 of the controversial bottoms made it to the next episode.

Kora continued her prowl by getting close with finale shoe-in Cannie. They developed a bond that led them to consistently couple up every episode. Judges were polarised, so this couple started with a generally positive reception for how funny it was, but things later descended into a situation where they consistently voted down into the bottom 2 couples, being voted to stay over the 2 individuals in any opposing bottom couple. Tactical voting led to both Cannie and Kora becoming the product of incessant favouritism, but since Cannie was framed as a fallen frontrunner and Kora as a ridiculous underdog, this made Cannie look bad for inability to "have better taste in women".

Even later in the season, after Kora finally left Cannie for an unremarkable filler sim (and was promptly eliminated for doing so), Cannie decided to couple up with an unironically disliked contestant who had overstayed her welcome, Ginger Farmgirl. By the time Ginger and Cannie got together, it was the semi-final, where an even worse couple, Banginette and Howl, were sent home. This pushed Ginger and Cannie to the finale, pretty much by default, and they placed 3rd of the final 3 couples.

### J'essica VS Aneryk: Frontrunners VS Underdogs

While all of this Cannie-Kora controversy was happening, two well-liked icons emerged as a couple around episode 3: J'Betta Bowdown and Jessica Financiall Aid. They immediately rose to the top, getting multiple well-deserved vote wins throughout the rest of the season.

It was assumed that J'Betta and Jessica would win the crown for being so iconic - both individually and as a couple - but there's just one more couple that emerged around episode 4: Anelle and Eryk. As mentioned on episode 1, Anelle started the competition rough. She landed in the bottom for being unpalatable to some judges, and survived by the skin of her teeth. Eryk was left alone at the first recoupling, so he also had a weak start. They first coupled up on episode 2, but just had a middling vote for not really showing up during the episode. It wasn't until the judges realised how ironic their name combination is that they flourished on episode 4, and continued to win multiple voting rounds afterwards. They had a strong "chemistry", often engaging with one another throughout the remainder of the episodes, even during a date or two. They were a niche favourite, but once the finale came around, they had the power to narrowly win the crown over J'Betta and Jessica, who were too flawless to beat the underdogs-turned-frontrunner couple.

### Other Storylines

A lot of the praise for Season 4's story can be attributed to the character development of each contestant. Nobody was a frontrunner from start to finish (other than J'Betta). Even the other contestants not yet mentioned played a role in the story, whether minuscule or important:

* Fat Puss was arguably the most overlooked contestant this season. She had potential when she coupled up with Howl, because while half of the judges voted them negatively, the other half truly saw the couple as potential winners. Unfortunately, Puss continued to be overlooked until her shocking premature elimination, which can be attributed to none other than Kora Harms on episode 6.
* Banginette Defz-Dior was a controversial and quirky character from the beginning. Although she immediately lost steam after the first few episodes and never reached the top, it was her that managed to directly defeat season-long villain Kora when they were in the bottom together on episode 7.
* Stella Ware wasn't at all memorable during her initial run on Season 3, but found her redemption upon her return to this season. Although a non-factor in the main storylines of the season, Stella and Ginger managed to swipe a vote win on episode 2 for their compatibility. Her elimination was quite emotional as the competition got real the moment her and Fat Puss were eliminated on episode 6. Stella is one of few returnees who didn't overstay their welcome, nor get eliminated embarrassingly early, while still doing better than mediocre.
* Ginger Farmgirl was a complete and utter wallflower, a wallflower that somehow stuck to the competition through to the finale. Her clever choices at every recoupling - getting with Jessica, Cannie, and getting a vote win with Stella of all people - all kept her around much longer than expected. She made her best contribution to the story of the season when Cannie and her ended up a couple at the final recoupling, the iconic cherry on top of Cannie's season-long demise.
* Due to the fact that he had much more notable appearances when Season 5 and All-Stars 2 came around, bombshell contestant Howl Hatter's first return to Love Desert isn't particularly worth noting. As mentioned, he and Fat Puss showed great potential, but that potential was cut off prematurely by some unimpressed judges. This disdain for Fat Puss/Howl as a couple led to Howl instead coupling up with Banginette, a wildcard couple that was doomed to go home eventually. They did just that at the semi-final. This unremarkable appearance from Howl acted as a great way to prime the viewers for the unhinged Howl to come on later seasons.

## The Cultural Impact of Season 4

Love Desert's 4th season, alike All-Stars, has inspired a surge in the population of sims in the Love Desert world. As more jobs are needing to be filled with new towns and cities developing, more sims are being created. Some new sims are working towards competing on Season 5, should it ever happen, while other sims exist solely as essential workers and fill the important jobs in the Love Desert world, from the bartenders, to the mail carriers, to the food vendors.

The current employment crisis in the Love Desert world has impacted the integrity of the world, with glitches and errors coming up throughout the recording of this season and All-Stars due to not having enough sims to correctly fit each role. The growing understanding of the inner workings of the world has, thankfully, led the crisis on its way to resolution.

This season raised awareness by showing how many mentors are in the Love Desert world, with notable contestants J'Betta, Jessica and Anelle all having mentors (Stella, Daddy S'Money and Seink respectively). Contestant Stella Ware directly competed against the sim whom she mentors (J'Betta), and Banginette was already a mother and mentor going into the competition, to the almost-cast Jada. Lorelei, alike Jada, has parents that also mentored her, being Season 1 winners Chloe and Kenna.

## Trivia

* This is the first season to have a mentor and the sim they mentored compete on the same season, with Stella having mentored J'Betta.
* This season had the first finale...
	+ ... with sims created by only 2 creators, Hannah and Jude. No other creators had sims make it to the finale.
		- It's worth noting that Euan had the idea and concept for finalist and winner Anelle.
	+ ... with no sims created by Ruoxi. Her only sim this season was semi-finalist Howl.
	+ ... where no bombshells made it to the final, other than All-Stars 1 which didn't have any bombshells compete in the first place.
* The crowned couple are the first winning couple...
	+ ... to be created by different people, rather than both by the one creator.
	+ ... with a member of the House of Hoele.
	+ ... with a sim created by Jude.
	+ ... with a male sim created by Hannah.
	+ ... with a sim designed by Euan.
	+ ... with a blonde sim.
	+ ... where one of them placed in the bottom on episode 1, Anelle.
* The crowned couple are the second...
	+ ... male-female couple to win a season, after Luigi and Codianna.
	+ ... winning couple with a sim created by Hannah, after Chloe and Kenna.
	+ ... winning couple to choose to move to a city other than Del Sol Valley after winning, going for Oasis Springs.
	+ ... winning couple to not couple up at the first recoupling, after Mariah and Bella.
* This is the first season in the franchise that started in 2021. With almost 90 days between the start and finish, it was the longest season of its time.
* This is the fifth consecutive season to feature a blonde and white sim created by Jude.
	+ Lewis, Zack, Cierra, Chad and Anelle represent this point on Seasons 1, 2, 3, All-Stars and Season 4 respectively.
* This is the first season to not feature an Italian sim based on the Super Mario series.
	+ Papa Mario featured on Season 1 and All-Stars, Peach on Season 2/3, and Luigi on Season 3.
	+ Season 5 returned to this trend with Princess Daisy.
* This would've been the first season to not include a contestant created by Ruoxi, until Howl's return to the competition on episode 4.
	+ This means that as of All-Stars 2, Season 4 was the only season where an all-Ruoxi couple couldn't possibly win.
* In all 3 of the groups to enter (episode 1 starters, episode 2 bombshells, episode 4 bombshells), there was exactly one Season 3 cast member that returned: Stella Ware, Lorelei Brady and Howl Hatter respectively.
	+ Coincidentally, the 3 of them were eliminated in the same order they entered, on 3 consecutive episodes, getting voted out on episodes 6, 7 and 8.

* Season 4 introduced several mini-challenges that never occurred before...
	+ The *bowling* and *painting* mini-challenges have occurred every season since their introduction on Season 4 (as of Season 6).
	+ The *selfie* and *baking* mini-challenges only occurred on this season.
* This season is also the season with the most unique mini-challenges, featuring 7 different challenges across the season: *Treadmill, Bowling, Painting, Outfit Makeover, Hair Makeover, Baking* and *Selfie*. The baking challenge on episode 2 didn't make it to the edit due to its laggy nature.