A 9/11-Themed Bodybuilding Competition Led ‘How To With John Wilson’ To One Of The Most Unexpected Moments On TV This Year

Before the premiere of the final season of HBO‘s How To with John Wilson, one of the best shows on TV, host John Wilson told us about how he processes surprising confessions from his interview subjects. “That’s the high that I’m chasing throughout all the work; getting to these real moments with people that we don’t usually have access to in our personal lives or in other media that we watch,” he said. In the latest episode, he had one of his realest — and most shocking — moments yet.

In “How to Work Out,” Wilson, who travels everywhere with a camera and films everything he sees, tries to improve his fitness. “The more you look around New York, the more you notice all the hard work people are doing to maintain their physiques. They make it look effortless, and you’ve never really understood how to do it right,” he said in the opening narration. “So instead of just letting gravity suck you down, stick with me, and I’ll show you how to finally get off your butt and start to work out.”

Wilson, naturally, starts his journey at a gym, which leads him to a meme-making chronic masturbator… and a literal dumpster fire… and a cat show, where he asks a photographer to take semi-nude photos of him… which are later stolen. Somehow, when watching the episode, this all makes sense.

Later on, Wilson attends a September 11th-themed bodybuilding competition where he’s handed a memoir written by a personal trainer who “discovered that a former client of his became one of the 9/11 hijackers.” Wilson meets with the trainer and asks him for his reaction when he found out what happened. “Made me feel proud,” he answered. This was the moment my jaw dropped. “Made me feel good that I’d trained somebody for something committed that they were able to pull it off. We may not agree with them, but they were committed. That’s what I liked about it.” Wilson’s only response:

Awkward kings stay winning.

How To with John Wilson is available on Max.