When it came to his brother’s mysterious death, Steve Johnson could Never Let Him Go. This four-part ABC News true-crime series follows the events that led Steve to unearth the mystery of Scott Johnson’s 1988 murder, a cold case that would take over 30 years to solve with almost no evidence to go on. It depicts a battle against the odds, one that arrests your attention and holds it throughout the four bingeable hours.
(ABC News)
The first episode’s prologue gives a brief overview of Scott’s death. His body was found naked at the bottom of a cliff in Sydney, Australia. His clothes were folded neatly at the top. Police ruled it a suicide. They said there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.
The show then paints a picture of how growing up in a broken home set the stage for Steve and Scott to have a strong kinship. Their tight-knit bond couldn’t be severed by time and space as they went off to separate schools – Steve at Harvard and Scott at Cambridge. And as both brothers fell in love, they remained in close communication. Scott wouldn’t have departed this world without so much as a goodbye note to Steve. So the news of his “suicide” was not only unexpected but unbelievable.
From that point on, the series follows Steve’s linear investigative path to find out what happened to his brother. Connecting to human emotions, it also briefly intersects with milestones in his life, such as the birth of his children, moments that always made him yearn to share them with his Scott. Taking matters into his own hands, he circumnavigates the Sydney police in order to make a major breakthrough in the case.
In an effort to not give too much away, the way the story of Never Let Him Go unfods is both disheartening and inspiring at the same time. It makes it clear that without Steve’s persistence and access to resources, Scott’s murder would still be unsolved. And yet, it also shows just how much is possible when a story is given the proper attention in the media.
I give Never Let Him Go 5 out of 5 stars.
All four episodes of Never Let Him Go premiere September 6th on Hulu.