For anyone living under a TV rock, FX’s The Bear shattered Emmy records last year, earning 11 awards for its second season. The previous record holder? You guessed it: season one of The Bear, with 10 wins. With Season 4 slated to return next month, let’s briefly revisit the absolute glory that is The Bear.

Before we go any further, I feel like I need to be honest—when I started working with a personal trainer last year, I sent him a photo of Jeremy Allen White (the star of The Bear, duh) and said I wanted to look like him. Since that time, my BMI has escalated to overweight and my neck hurts fairly often. In other words, operation ‘have great biceps’ like my man crush J.A.W. was an utter failure.

Speaking of utter failures, my time in the restaurant industry was a rough go. I got a gig at a fast casual restaurant after college that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hosted by my arch-nemesis Guy Fieri (it’s a long story, don’t ask). They were slammed daily, and the intensity in the kitchen, especially from the high-strung owner, still makes me shudder to this day. Also, to the customer that returned his steak wrap because I forgot you didn’t want lettuce – fuck you dude. Just, fuck you. You didn’t have to walk back in the store, open the wrap and show everyone. I’m still in therapy for the hell I received for that mistake and it wasn’t even shredded lettuce it was just a giant piece of spinach. I didn’t need to hear your bogus ‘I’m allergic to lettuce’ excuse either. Who’s allergic to a leaf?  What a bitchass allergy. And sure, arugula does give me a tummy ache sometimes, but that’s besides the point!

The Bear stars J.A.W. a Michelin level chef who (in season 1) takes over his late brothers mess of a restaurant after he tragically takes his life. The employees give zero fucks about J.A.W.’s past success and are resistant to any of his proposed changes. It’s almost the exact opposite of when pirates took over Captain Phillips’ ship (great movie, if you haven’t seen it), and one of them iconically said, ‘I’m the captain now.’ J.A.W. was no captain my friends. I’ll admit I struggled with the kitchen staff’s blatant disregard for my homie J.A.W., considering he was such a badass in Shameless. But as the episodes go on, he wins them over through sheer culinary execution. You can’t deny delicious food.

Season 1, episode seven is an incredible episode of television. It enjoyed it so much I even tweeted about it to my 17 followers (don’t let the bots fool you). Sheer chaos ensues when they try online ordering, but accidentally leave pre-orders on and suddenly find themselves swamped. J.A.W. goes absolutely apeshit, just like my former head chef used to, and it reminded me of the days I’d retreat to the walk-in fridge, binge-eat cookies, and have a good cry.

Season two follows J.A.W. and his crew as the restaurant undergoes a renovation and they chase an upscale vibe. We witness the kitchen staff level-up as they operate under the pressure cooker of financial strains, city health officials and the mad dash to prepare for launch. Episode 6 ​​”Fishes” was a particularly wild, flashback episode showing J.A.W. ‘s family dynamic and the mayhem of his unstable Mother played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

If I’m being completely honest and I hope you won’t smash me in the face with a soldering iron for saying this (subtle Joe Dirt reference, anyone?) — I haven’t finished season 3 of The Bear yet. A Reddit user summarized it quite well, “I got halfway through episode six of the third season and just didn’t feel like watching anymore. When I happen to open Hulu to see if there’s a show I want to watch, I see that unfinished episode sitting in my ‘Continue Watching’ row and think, ‘Nah…’ It’s been sitting there for months, and I’m not sure I’ll bother.” I hate to say it, but I agree with this users sentiments. Season 3 just didn’t hit the same.

With season 4 on the horizon, I plan to catch up, but if nothing else, seasons 1 and 2 of The Bear were absolute dynamite. So if you missed the Bear train, now’s the perfect time to hop on the ol’ bandwagon.

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Seth Borkowski is a NYC-based writer, podcaster, and paranormal enthusiast. He’s the host of The Spiritual Skeptic, a comedy podcast exploring aliens, spirituality, and other weird shit too.