Have no idea what’s happened during awards season? Here are the highs and lows you missed

We did it.

After months of virtual shows, designer pajamas and celebrity pooches stealing the spotlight, we're finally nearing the end of our first (and please, dear God, last) pandemic awards season.

The 93rd Academy Awards, airing Sunday (ABC, 8 EDT/5 PDT), promise to offer some relief from the laptop-screen hellscapes we've been trapped in for the past year: The ceremony will air live from Los Angeles from different venues (as the Grammys pulled off remarkably well last month with a garden party-style event), with most nominees largely expected to appear in person to accept their awards or smile graciously for the person who did.

Ahead of the Steven Soderbergh-produced show, we look back at the best and worst moments from this totally surreal (but not all terrible) awards season:

HIGH: Viola Davis’ emotional journey winning best actress at the SAG Awards

Many awards pundits had been predicting Carey Mulligan ("Promising Young Woman") to take best actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which may explain why Viola Davis was seemingly shocked when she won the prize for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." Her hilarious reaction gifted us the most meme-worthy content since Oprah Winfrey's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex interview, as Davis threw up her arms, slipped in her chair, and managed to recover with a sheepish smile before kissing husband Julius Tennon. If her performance in "Ma Rainey" wasn't already so Oscar-worthy, we'd give her the statue just for this shot.

LOW: Daniel Kaluuya’s uncomfortable muted moment

The Golden Globes were already in hot water going into February's show, after a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the Globes, has no Black members in its 87-person voting body. So it was hardly a good look when not even 10 minutes into the telecast, best supporting actor winner Daniel Kaluuya ("Judas and the Black Messiah") was nearly played off without giving a speech when his Zoom audio failed. The Black British actor was eventually unmuted and recovered nicely, but the awkward moment hung over the rest of the technologically inept event. He joked about the snafu when he hosted "Saturday Night Live" this month, saying, "I felt like I was in the Sunken Place!"

HIGH: Alan Kim’s tearful victory for ‘Minari’

Alan Kim must be protected at all costs. The 8-year-old "Minari" breakthrough is the closest thing we have to an awards season star this strange pandemic year, charming fans with precocious interviews and precious reaction videos, including him "meeting" his acting hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. But no moment was more pure than watching Kim win best young actor at the Critics Choice Awards and, overwhelmed with happiness, proceed to sob through his entire, mostly inaudible speech. Don't sweat this one, kid: We see plenty more acceptance speeches in your future.

HIGH: Jodie Foster’s bedtime-ready speech

To glam or not to glam? It's the question that's faced every actor since last September when the Emmys pulled off a surprisingly seamless, Zoom-centric awards show. While many stars chose to look red carpet-ready at the virtual Golden Globes and SAG Awards, none made a bigger impression than Jodie Foster, who took quarantine chic to a whole new level as she accepted her supporting actress Globe for "The Mauritanian" in her pajamas, snuggled up with her dog and wife Alexandra Hedison at home. Although her Prada PJs cost way more than what we pay for one month's rent, it still made us want to buy some cheap and cozy sleepwear of our own.

HIGH: Jason Sudeikis’ bold hoodies

Speaking of comfort goals: Jason Sudeikis looked like your perpetually stoned college boyfriend at the Golden Globes, only with more talent and fewer box sets of "The Wire" in his dorm room. Zooming from London, the charismatic "Ted Lasso" star turned heads with his choice of a tie-dye hoodie while accepting best comedy actor, but he later revealed the sweatshirt is actually from his sister's dance and exercise studio. (Aww.) His swoony sweater streak continued at the SAG Awards, where he sported a $1,100 Gucci top supporting reproductive rights, emblazoned with the phrase "My Body My Choice."

LOW (BUT HIGH): Tracy Morgan’s ‘Soul’-ful mishap

Nothing can ever top John Travolta butchering Idina Menzel's name at the 2014 Oscars. (Adele Dazeem, may she live forever.) But Tracy Morgan certainly gave Travolta a run for his money at this year's Golden Globes, when he presented best animated feature to ... "Sal?" The "30 Rock" funnyman meant to say "Soul," the title of Disney/Pixar's latest, and apologized on Twitter that night, saying he was just thinking of getting pizza from a guy named Sal. Honestly, we can't argue with that logic.

HIGH: Yuh-jung Youn’s subtle shade of the Brits

Forget the parties and red carpets: If there's one thing we regret not having more of this season, it's endearing speeches from South Korean film star Yuh-jung Youn, who picked up Screen Actors Guild and British Academy Film awards for best supporting actress for her wry and moving turn in "Minari." The 73-year-old gave one of this year's most memorable speeches when she shared her candid thoughts on the British while accepting her honor at the British Academy Film Awards. "Thank you so much for this award," Youn said. "Every award is meaningful but this one, especially recognized by British people, known as very snobbish people, and they approved me as a good actor." The lighthearted dis had British presenter David Oyelowo doubled over laughing on stage as her speech closed.

LOW: Nominees’ cringey Zoom purgatories, broadcast for the world to see

Speaking as the most awkward person on every Zoom meeting, we totally sympathized with every actor forced to take a virtual L this season. In attempts to recreate the feeling of being in the same room, nominees in each category at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards were forced to sit on screen as winners delivered acceptance speeches, leading to some very stilted and disappointed reactions. The Globes ratcheted up the discomfort by making nominees interact virtually before commercial breaks, which often backfired as actors texted (Catherine O'Hara), napped (Al Pacino) and mostly stared in silence. Even the incomparable queen herself, Jane Fonda, had a humorously cringe moment over Zoom, when she tried to praise the team behind Amazon's "Small Axe" anthology series, only to learn she wasn't even on the broadcast and no one could see or hear her.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oscars: Recapping the highs and lows of 2021's virtual awards season