Once upon a time, a young and ambitious cartoonist named Rebecca Sugar created a TV show called Steven Universe. She worked on it alongside some of her close friends, including Ian-Jones Quartey (who previously worked alongside her during her stint on Adventure Time as a writer/storyboarder).

It started out simple enough: an optimistic young kid/gem hybrid named Steven went on magical (and sometimes intense) adventures with his powerful gem family, The Crystal Gems (made up of the powerful Garnet, rowdy Amethyst and perfectionist Pearl), and occassionally his human friends in the eccentric town of Beach City. It was a little goofy, sometimes serious, but always ambitious. (Did I mention the wonderful songs?) The first few episodes however were a little disjointed in terms of plot and animation.

However, halfway through the first season, everything went from 0 to 100 faster than you can say “Plot development!” Steven could control his magical gem abilities, got a girlfriend named Connie, exposed himself to “gem fusion” in the best way possible, adopted a fluffy pink lion, learned about his relationship with his mother , the legendary Rose Quartz, and in the mid-season finale, discovered that there were a whole species of gems after releasing a gem named Lapis into freedom.

Then the second half of the season occurred–and hoo boy. This is where the show became a masterpiece of modern television animation, arguably surpassing the benchmarks set by Adventure Time and Gravity Falls. Steven finally witnessed his mother in the form of a heart-warming videotape, discovered Amethyst’s dark origins and fused with Connie into a beautiful metaphor for a perfect gender-neutral relationship. Meanwhile the Crystal Gems discovered a new threat at the former Galaxy Warp: the elusive Peridot, a green tech-oriented gem intent on destroying all life forms with her robonoids…but for what purpose???

The last 5 episodes of Season 1 premiered as an infamous “Steven Bomb” during early March 2015. These episodes were nothing short of fantastic; Steven helps Pearl grapple with her loss of Rose in a truly powerful scene (a scene that almost brought me to tears), Lapis returns via a foreboding video transmission, and all the known gems (plus a mighty, intimidating new gem named Jasper) return in a two-part season finale that is truly terrifying at first, but gives way to a touching revelation that Garnet is a fusion made up of two lesbian gems!! After she kicks Jasper’s you-know-what and the Gems land back on Earth, Lapis is convinced by Jasper to fuse into a hideous monster in a climactic scene that spells the end for Steven and his family…until Lapis seizes control and submerges their fusion in Beach City’s ocean.

And so begins Season 2, which only improves on the amazingness of the first season. It kicks off with Steven struggling to tell Connie about his most recent adventure in a depressing excursion. Don’t let that turn you off; some very light-hearted episodes are in store along with the serious plot ones. Steven reenacts Connie’s favorite book series in Rose’s room, meets Uncle Grandpa in what is perhaps the most stupidly funny crossover of all time, and learns about how his laid-back dad met the Gems as a low-key rock star in the 1980s. He also gets Connie involved in some awesome sword-fighting lessons with Pearl, chases down Peridot with the Gems, and witnesses Garnet being used by Pearl so she can have fun fusing rather than sticking to the plan, which breaks up the team for a little while. After a few episodes, when the team chases Peridot to an abandoned spaceship (thanks to some re-engineered gem tech by Pearl), Garnet and Pearl are trapped in one of Peridot’s death traps together. Pearl is broken. Tears fall down her face as she realizes she can’t function on her own. Soon enough Garnet confesses: she un-fused out of spite for Pearl’s petty screw-up and realized that she misunderstood Pearl’s actions. In a moment of self-realization, they fuse one more time to break out of the death trap. This scene is so beautiful and deserves more appreciation from the fan base.

Fast-forward a few episodes and we come across an episode that involves the gang…killing Peridot in the first 4 minutes. When she kidnaps Steven to fix the Galaxy Warp with his healing spit so she can get a response from her leader Yellow Diamond, the plan backfires. “This was it…this was my last shot…” Peridot cries out of frustration………..and then the Gems come and she’s killed. Woah.

Worrying about Peridot’s well-being, Steven rescues her from Garnet’s bubble and, once she chills out, explains to Steven why she was sent out: she was checking on the Cluster, a monstrous being in the earth made of several Gem shards ready to expand and take over the entire universe. Over the course of several episodes, some major stuff happens–Peridot discovers rain, bonds with Pearl after beating her in a sweet mech fight, learns the discrepancy between jokes and bullying in Amethyst’s birthplace, and…..wait for it…..betrays Yellow Diamond with a gem communicator from the moon after realizing how life on Earth is not a waste after all. AS A RESULT SHE BECOMES A NEW MEMBER OF THE CRYSTAL GEMS!!!!! HOW FLIPPIN’ SWEET IS THAT?!?!?!?!?!

Ahem–excuse me. Now here we are, waiting patiently for new episodes of this show to return. Who knows what the future might bring…the return of Rose perhaps? New gems? Enemies becoming allies? We’re not totally sure what’s coming, but I know one thing for sure: it’s going to involve creative plots, beautiful imagery, catchy music and the wonderful world that Rebecca and her crew have bought to life through the infallible art of animation. Thank you.