EA App Required Now?

The death knell tolled for me last Wednesday, 2nd consecutive black notice so no choice. Game launched OK that day and Thursday, though the app seemed grumpy about being offline. Friday, still offline, the dreaded 'Seasons' pack reinstalled itself. (!?) How is that even possible when the PC isn't connected to anything? It was installed way back when it came out but was quickly deactivated via Origin as I soon discovered the disastrous effects on gardening, which is the livelihood of most of my sims. Well, the beast is back and so are the ruined livlihoods. Is there a way to deactivate the thing under the app?